PROJECT OF OBSERVATION AND MONITORING OF THE POLITICAL AND CIVIL RIGHTS OF THE PEOPLES IN CHIAPAS 2006

MONTHLY REPORT

1 August - 5 September 2006

SIPAZ, in collaboration with the Human Rights Center Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas, Alianza Cívica, PROPAZ (Swiss Program of Observation and Promotion of Peace in Chiapas) and Peace Watch Switzerland, has been developing a project of observation and monitoring of the political and civil rights of the peoples of Chiapas, during the electoral process, as well as of the Other Campaign that will extend until December.

The aim of this project is to monitor and report any violation of the political and civil Rights of the indigenous peoples and communities, as established in the Mexican Political Constitution and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, signed by the Mexican government, as well as any grave social destabilization attempt.  By doing so, the project also tries to prevent or avoid the development of situations of violence against the people.

Below is the executive summary of August (including also the first days of September). The complete report will also be accessible, in Spanish, on the web page of the Human Rights Center Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas: http://www.frayba.org.mx

During the whole month of August, and for the first week of September, the political context was totally focused on the expectations generated by the decisions of the Electoral Court of the Judicial Power of the Federation (TEPJF/TRIFE).

Throughout these 36 days, two main factors put pressure on the TEPJF: a visible one, expressed by the mobilizations and civil resistance, in favor of Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO); and another one, invisible, exerted by power groups, the same groups that before the elections of 2 July had launched an intense media campaign to induce a vote based on fear, in favor of Felipe Calderón.

During this time, the National Action Party (PAN) and Calderón focused their efforts on creating political alliances with governors and congresspersons of the Party of the Institutional Revolution (PRI) and on meeting with entrepreneurs, calling for the “national unity” and for the formation of a “coalition government”.

As for the TEPJF, the Electoral Court ruled against a total recount of the votes and in favor of the opening of just those 9% of the ballot boxes (approximately 12.000 polling stations) in which, according to the judges, “inconsistencies” had been detected.

This recount was performed in 140 Districts - mainly PAN leaning - between 9 and 27 august. During this time, as the general perception was that TEPJF was going to reconfirm Calderón as the winner, the tone of AMLO’s declarations became harder. On 13 august, invoking Article 39 of the Constitution, AMLO called his followers to continue the blockades even after the presidential proclamation and to organize, on 16 September (the anniversary of the National Independence), a National Democratic Convention to elect a “legitimate president” and to promote five actions to transform the country: fighting against poverty and inequality; stopping the privatization of energy sources and natural resources; implementing the right to information; fighting corruption and renewing the political institutions.

At the same time, the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN), the Federal Institute for the Access to Information (IFAI) and the Federal Electoral Institute (IFE) rejected citizens’ claims for a total review of the elections.

As the day scheduled for the presentation of president Fox’s 6th and last Report became closer, a process of militarization of the whole area surrounding the Legislative Building (Palacio Legislativo or Palacio de San Lázaro) began, on 15 September. On this day, a group of congresspersons and other members of the Coalition for the Common Good (Coalición por el Bien de Todos) were violently prevented from setting up a protest in front of the door of the Congress. On 1 September, a military blockade and a de facto state of emergency was implemented around the Legislative Building, for a radius of 9 km, by 8,000 security forces officials belonging to the Federal Preventive Police (PFP) and the Presidential General Staff (EMP), supported by tanks and sharpshooters.

At the same time, rumors spread of “dissuasion groups” that would be training inside military bases to be eventually deployed in selective repressive actions against leaders of the civil resistance.

In a video made public in mid-August, Argentinean entrepreneur Carlos Ahumada admitted giving PAN senator Diego Fernández de Cevallos some videos allegedly proving the corruption of politicians close to AMLO. In this video, the entrepreneur also explained that he was following direct instructions issued by former president Carlos Salinas’, with Fox’s support, that aimed at “getting AMLO off the presidential race”.

On 20 August, TEPJF issued a decision on the 375 appeals of electoral inconformity rejecting the majority of them for “legal inappropriateness” (improcedencia juridica). Furthermore, the Tribunal established that the official result of the partial recount only led to the invalidation of 81,080 votes for Calderón and 76, 897 for AMLO, reducing the margin between the two candidates to only 4,183 votes. 

This decision generated a total rejection of the elections by the Coalition for the Common Good and by AMLO who, claiming article 75.k of the General Act on the System to Appeal Electoral Matters ⁽¹⁾, requested the total invalidation of the 8,428 polling stations (72% of the ballots recounted by TEPJF) in which the ballots accounted for exceeded or was inferior to the number of the total ballots cast. In the first case, most of the “exceeding” votes were in favor of Calderón. Had the total invalidation of the ballots cast in these polling stations been admitted, AMLO would have won for a little over half a million votes.

The day the Presidential Report was due to be read, amid a climate of strong political polarization, congresspersons of the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) and Labor Party (PT) staged a protest inside the Congress that prevented president Vicente Fox from making his final speech. The report could only be delivered in writing in the lobby of the Legislative Building. Later on in the day, a pre-recorded presidential message was to be broadcasted on a national channel strongly criticizing AMLO and the social movement supporting him.

Finally, on 5 September, the TEPJ unanimously declared Felipe Calderón as President-Elect, rejecting all the electoral appeals presented by the Coalition for the Common Good. This rejection included those appeals alleging Fox’s interference in favor of Calderón as well as the illegal broadcast of messages, paid for by entrepreneurial sector, which impacted negatively on AMLO’s campaign. The Tribunal, while acknowledged both instances, established that “the electoral impact of both actions - if any - could not be determined”. Shortly after, Calderón made a call to “dialogue and unity” while AMLO declared that “we will not recognize a Government that lacks legitimacy”.

Next 15 September, the Mexican Independence Day, and the following day could present some problems as the ceremonies that will take place on these days, the “shout of independence” ("grito de  Independencia") and a military parade, will supposedly both take place in Mexico City’s main square (Zócalo), which is currently occupied by AMLO’s supporters.

Meanwhile, in Oaxaca, the social mobilization expressed by the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca (APPO) became stronger creating a climate of “institutional ingovernability” and forcing governor Ulises Ruiz and his cabinet to a situation of virtual clandestinity.

As a response to this, a “dirty war” was waged against the APPO by sectors of the state establishment, including acts of provocation and selective repression against the leaders of the movement.  Oaxaca’s mains newspaper “Noticias” was subjected to similar intimidatory acts.

Surprisingly, the federal government has not yet responded to the Governor’s call for an intervention by the Federal Preventive Police. The government is probably awaiting the final presidential proclamation to use the Oaxaca case to negotiate with the PRI. On the other hand, it has created a table of negotiation through the Ministry of Interior thus recognizing the APPO as a direct interlocutor.

In this context of disputed elections and instability in Oaxaca, some guerrilla groups that had previously declared a “political truce” (EPR, Revolutionary People’s Army; FARP, People’s Revolutionary Armed Forces and ERPI, Insurgent People’s Revolutionary Army) have reappeared with an even stronger presence. Another guerrilla group of more recent formation (TDR-EP, Revolutionary Democratic Tendency-People’s Army) performed propagandistic actions during the day on the federal road between Oaxaca and Tuxtepec. This event was publicly written off by the FARP as a paramilitary action orchestrated by the same governor Ulises Ruíz to justify the militarization of the Sierra Juárez region.

Impunity for drug trafficking cartels and their crimes has also continued. In recent times, while their assaults to control the territory have become even more violent, the government has not intervened and politicians have not appeared to be really interested in these events.

Finally, the Project of Observation and Monitoring has found that, given the described national context, future scenarios seem to bring high risks of a grave disrupture of the social peace. This could originate from possible eruptions of public violence which could face a violent repression the security forces, justified by the authorities as a last resort to maintain a minimum level of governability.

The Other Campaign, on its part, has kept a low profile as it was overshadowed politically and in the media by the civil resistance movement supporting AMLO, strongly criticized for months by the Delegate Zero, and by the popular movement in Oaxaca. Nevertheless, the socio-economic and political reality, has confirmed the validity of the concerns and basic propositions of the 1st and the 6th Declarations of the Lacandon Jungle.

As for the electoral process in Chiapas, it was marked by irregularities and by violations of political rights of the citizens perpetrated by all political parties and especially by the direct intervention of the exiting governor, Pablo Salazar Mendiguchía, in favor of one candidate.

The Project of Observation and Monitoring has previously detected a certain “political schizophrenia” in the way members of the various political parties were operating. In this sense, it is worth observing the inverted parallelism between the federal and state electoral processes: the “official” candidate for governor in Chiapas, Juan Sabines (Coalition for the Common Good) was declared winner by the State Electoral Institute (IEE), with a narrow margin of 0.55% and an abstention rate of 55%. This result was contested through 391 legal actions presented by the Alliance for Chiapas (PRI/PVEM) and its allies, PANAL and PAN. These actions will have to be first considered by the State Electoral Tribunal (TEE) and then possibly appealed before the TEPJF, which has the power to invalidate the elections.

Many speculate, however, that the final settlement will be secretly negotiated among the various parties (PRI, PAN, PRD and PANAL) possibly with the intervention of people like Elba Esther Gordillo and the same Pablo Salazar.

In the region hit by hurricane Stan (an area where the PRI gained a strong consensus in the state elections), a separatist movement has “spontaneously” resurfaced. It bases its claims on a historical claim threatening to “initiate self-government instances and mobilizations to make Soconusco the state number 33 of the Federation” if PRI candidate Tapachula-born Aguilar Bodegas’ “triumph” is not acknowledged.

The violations to the right to free elections have become more frequent as the elections became closer in Chiapas in August, especially in the areas hit by hurricane Stan. On the other hand, the intense official propaganda around the reconstruction works stopped as the elections ended.

In the same area, a new and strong civil campaign to make the demands of the people affected by the hurricane in the Sierra public has drawn attention to their fragile and desperate situation. This campaign has also alleged a direct responsibility of the authorities for the violation of the right life and physical integrity as well as for the violation of the economical, social and cultural rights of the people affected.

In the area of the High Plateaus (Zinacantán, Mitzitón, San Juan Chamula), some structural conflicts have also resurfaced. These conflicts, originally only linked to religion and to the arbitrary imposition of customs and traditions and are now also linked to tensions among parties (PRI-PRD).

In the “Cañadas” of the Lacandon Jungle, the displacement threats against the communities situated near the Montes Azules natural reserve have continued. The tension has somehow subdued after the visit to the area of an international civil observation mission.

In this same region of the Jungle, a farming dispute between supporters of the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) ⁽²⁾and the members of the Peasant Organization Emiliano Zapata (OCEZ) ⁽³⁾ has resurfaced and become harsher.

In the North zone, a violent law enforcement operation was organized to expel 30 Zapatista families from the community of Los Ch’oles, in the autonomous municipality of El Trabajo (Tumbalá). They were accused of having settled on private property. In the area of Tila and Yajalón, community mobilizations have taken place with new claims against the cut-offs operated by the Federal Electricity Commission.  In the Municipality of Salto de Agua, an armed confrontation occurred between two communities following a dispute between political parties (PRI-PRD).

In August, strong allegations of systematic violations of detainees’ rights by law enforcement and paramilitary members were made public.  These included intimidation, torture and even murder.

Two situations linked with the elections drew strong public attention in Chiapas:

1. In many parts of the state that were considered by the Project of Observation and Monitoring, the electoral use of public funds has been considered by the population as something “normal” and customary and not as a human rights violation.
2. In the areas and communities that had been subjected to attacks by paramilitary groups between 1995 and 2000, a fear-based consensus was expressed in favor of the PRD. This was induced by rumors asserting that the victory of Aguilar Bodegas (PRI) would mean the reactivation of paramilitary groups.

Finally, it should be noted that, according to the organizations participating to the Project of Observation and Monitoring of Political and Civil Rights, both the federal and state electoral process constitute a step back for the democratic transition in Mexico and Chiapas. Both these processes were marked by violations of basic rights such as the right to free elections, to freedom of expression and to access to information. This has worsened the discredit towards parties system and representative democracy, putting the already fragile social peace in the country at risk.

• Ley del Sistema de Medios de Impugnación en Materia Electoral
• Allied in the region with the Regional Organization of Coffee Producers of Ocosingo (ORCAO)
• Which forms parts of the National Front for the Struggle for Socialism (FNLS)