Mexican Rights Group Sees Military Abuse in Chiapas Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Mexican Rights Group Sees Military Abuse in Chiapas MEXICO CITY, April 25 (Reuters) - Mexican military, police and paramilitary groups committed the bulk of human rights violations against indigenous people in troubled Chiapas during 1999, an independent rights organisation said on Tuesday. The Fray Bartolome de Las Casas Human Rights Centre in southern Chiapas state reported 185 cases of violations ranging from threats to physical attacks, of which 39 were allegedly committed by the Army, 36 by police and 30 by paramilitary groups. Paramilitary groups were blamed for terrorising indigenous communities by making death threats, brandishing arms and firing gunshots into the air, Rafael Landerreche, analyst and spokesman for the centre, told Reuters. "In some regions such as Acteal the people have been traumatized," he said. "You must imagine how nervous they feel at hearing gunshots in the night." A December 1997 massacre of 45 Indians in the highland village of Acteal was blamed on a pro-government paramilitary gang. The massacre was the bloodiest incident since the Zapatista rebels took up arms on New Year's Day 1994 demanding improved rights for Mexico's 10 million indigenous citizens. Last week Mexico created a special police force to investigate and disband paramilitary groups such as the armed gangs of Chiapas. In what amounted to a long-awaited official recognition that paramilitary groups opposed to the Zapatista rebels exist in Chiapas, the Attorney General's Office (PGR) established the Special Unit Against Crimes Committed by Possible Armed Civil Groups. Rising tension amid a heavy military presence in Chiapas have recently prompted local activists to seek independent human rights observers. In some communities, there is one army soldier for every eight or nine residents, Landerreche said. (c) 2000 Reuters ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytcamer-04.27.00-21:58:38-13226