Political Prisoners in Chiapas Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit Mon, 2 Feb 1998 12:41:53 -0800 (PST) source: tedlewis@globalexchange.org Political Prisoners in Chiapas The massacre of 45 indigenous people by a pro-government death squad on December 22, 1997 focused international attention on the low intensity war being waged against indigenous people in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas. While the eyes of the world have been focused on this atrocity, however, other victims of the Mexican government's dirty war are languishing unnoticed in prisons throughout the state. These prisoners, all of whom are associated with groups in political opposition to Mexico's ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), are imprisoned solely for their beliefs and political association. This month, Global Exchange joins with The Voice of Cerro Hueco, a Mexican prisoners organization that represents the detainees, to call on the Mexican authorities to take immediate action for the release of all political prisoners in Chiapas. The Voice of Cerro Hueco The Voice of Cerro Hueco is a prisoners' organization formed in July 1996 to draw attention to the plight of indigenous people that have been illegally detained by the Chiapan authorities. The majority of these detainees are imprisoned in Cerro Hueco, a grim high security prison in the state capital, Tuxtla Gutierrez. The prisoners have been accused of a range of crimes including kidnapping, theft of property, rebellion, rape and murder. In all of the cases there are serious flaws in the procedures employed by Mexican officials in the prisoners' detention and trial. There is strong evidence to show that the crimes with which they have been linked have been either fabricated or committed by third parties. In many cases key prosecution witnesses have been threatened or paid to make false testimony against them. All of the prisoners are associated with groups that are in opposition to the ruling Institutional Revolution Party (PRI) in Chiapas, such as the Zapatista National Liberation Front (FZLN) and the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) . Global Exchange Global Exchange is an international human rights organization based in San Francisco, C.A. Global Exchange maintains a permanent presense in Chiapas through the international human rights monitors stationed at the Global Exchange Peace Center in San Cristobal de las Casas. Global Exchange's Mexico program seeks to support Mexico's democratic movement by educating the international community about the realities of Mexico and the need for change in US policy as well as providing direct support to local efforts on peacemaking and democratic change in Mexico. Since the beginning of 1994, we have organized over thirty human rights delegations to Chiapas and other areas of Mexico, including five elections observer delegations. These delegations play the dual roles of supporting the work of Mexican peace activists and educating a core of international communities who help educate and lobby for policy changes in this country upon their return. The Human Rights Situation in Chiapas Since the beginning of the Zapatista uprising on January 1, 1994, Mexican and international human rights organizations, including Global Exchange, have recorded a dramatic increase in human rights violations against indigenous people, particularly in the highlands and the northern zone of Chiapas. The arrests and imprisonment of political activists described in this report are part of a wider strategy of low intensity warfare by local, state and federal PRI authorities to undermine the social, economic, and political support base of the EZLN (Zapatista National Liberation Army). As part of this strategy, the government has encouraged paramilitary groups such as Paz y Justicia (Peace and Justice), whose tactics include rape, murder, destruction of property, and violent displacement, as well as the detention and imprisonment of Zapatista supporters. The paramilitaries work in close collaboration with Seguridad Publica, the Chiapas state security force. Until the massacre at Acteal, all of these activities were carried out in an atmosphere of total impunity. Acts of aggression against Zapatista supporters have intensified since the suspension of peace talks between the Federal government and the EZLN towards the end of 1996. Having signed a preliminary set of accords on indigenous culture and rights, further negotiations broke down due to government intransigence on a number of key issues, including the continued detention of Zapatista supporters. As the conflict has escalated in the last year, culminating in the massacre at Acteal and a vastly increased military presence around key Zapatista communities, national and international organizations have renewed their calls on the Mexican government for a shift of strategy from repression to dialogue. The release of political prisoners remains one of the basic preconditions for a return to the negotiating table. The Cerro Hueco Prisoners From start to finish of the incarceration process, the Mexican government routinely violates the human rights and rights of due process of political prisoners. Arrests Bowing to national and international outcries, the Mexican government has arrested some members of the paramilitary group which carried out the massacre in Acteal in recent weeks. Nevertheless, the vast majority of Chiapans arrested throughout the conflict have been sympathizers of the Zapatistas. By targeting opposition leaders and members for arrest, the Mexican government has attempted to intimidate communities into silence. Even when paramilitary groups or PRI supporters instigate violence, opposition members have at times been arrested on fabricated charges for the crimes. Additionally, arrests have been made with the assistance of paramilitary groups, in violation of Mexican law. Detentions In the course of detention, the police often interrogate prisoners about their knowledge of the Zapatista movement, pressuring them to give information about crimes which they may know nothing about. The police often resort to torture in an attempt to force a confession. Lawyers or translators--the prisoners frequently speak indigenous languages and have limited Spanish skills--are almost never offered, in violation of Mexican law. Investigation by the prosecutor Prosecutors' investigations into the cases of opposition members typically have been hurried and superficial. In some cases, prosecutors have even pressured--or forced--witnesses to fabricate testimony against opposition members. As Mexico has no grand jury system, whereby a group of citizens decides whether there is sufficient evidence against a defendant to instigate a criminal trial against him or her, it falls to the judge to examine the prosecutor's evidence and decide whether to proceed or dismiss the charges. All too often, PRI-appointed judges have decided to go to trial despite the lack of compelling evidence (i.e., no eyewitnesses or no clear identification of the accused) which in non-political cases would merit a dismissal of charges. Trials Throughout the course of trials, judges frequently permit violations of the rights of political prisoners. Witnesses often do not appear in court to corroborate their written declarations, in violation of the right under Mexican law for a defendant to confront his or her accuser. Court-appointed public defenders are often overworked, under-trained, and unsympathetic toward indigenous clients. Trials of political prisoners are often conducted too rapidly to permit an adequate defense of the prisoners. Sentencing Political prisoners often receive the maximum sentences permissible under Mexican law; many political prisoners in Cerro Hueco are currently serving sentences of 15 years or longer. Appeals Although lawyers have presented on appeal proof of illegal arrests and violations of due process and human rights, appeals judges appointed by the PRI have shown an alarming lack of objectivity when examining these violations. Few political prisoners have been released on appeal. Prison conditions Hopelessly overcrowded, Cerro Hueco Prison currently houses over 800 prisoners in a facility designed for 300. Prisoners sleep on cardboard on the floor and lack sanitary water and adequate health care, conditions which violate international covenants to which Mexico is a party. Furthermore, the indigenous families of political prisoners are seldom able to embark on the long, expensive trip to the prison to visit their jailed relative. The Campaign "We thank you for your help, because we've done everything we can to get out of here. We've gone on hunger strike and sent out petitions, but the government doesn't pay any attention." -- political prisoner Guadalupe Hernandez Jimenez. Despite hunger strikes and a two-month long sit-in in front of the State Capitol building calling for the release of political prisoners, only a handful have gained their freedom. Those released have been the leaders of the Voice of Cerro Hueco, a clear attempt by the government to disarticulate the prisoner's movement. On December 19, 1997, the Voice of Cerro Hueco called for an international campaign to highlight these human rights abuses and to work for the release of political prisoners in Chiapas. The political prisoner's organization urges people to "use all forums possible to denounce the existence of indigenous prisoners unjustly imprisoned in Chiapas, which are products of the low-intensity warfare that the government conducts in Chiapas." In response to the prisoners' call, and in recognition of its importance to the re-establishment of a peace process in Chiapas, Global Exchange is launching an international campaign to bring pressure on the Mexican authorities to take action for immediately release all political prisoners in Chiapas. To see more information about these cases, including prisoners testimonies translated into English, please visit our web page: www.globalexchange.org Global Exchange 2017 Mission St., Rm. 303 San Francisco, CA 94110 Phone: 415.255.7296 Fax: 415.255.7498 http://www.globalexchange.org ================================================================= 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-02.03.98-11:47:36-18123