International delegation reports on the critical human rights situation in Guerrero
- Various organizations report on widespread impunity and militarization, and the criminalization of social protest.
- In terms of health and nutrition, Guerrero has dropped in the human development index, now rivaling certain African countries.
Chilpancingo, Guerrero, March 14, 2008. – Eleven representatives of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) from the United States, France, Austria, Sweden, Switzerland and Latin America concluded their seven-day visit to indigenous and campesino communities in the Mexican state of Guerrero. The delegation was organized by the International Service for Peace (SIPAZ) and the Tlachinollan Human Rights Centre of the Mountain. The members of the international delegation have ample experience in various states in Mexico and throughout Latin America in the fields of human rights, peace, reconciliation and social conflict.
The delegates stated that they had grown “more concerned [with the situation] than when we arrived,” having found the grave human rights violations that continue to occur in the state. They stressed the intensification of violence in an atmosphere of impunity and militarization, in addition to the criminalization of social protest that prevails.
The international delegation arrived in Guerrero on Friday, March 7 and visited Dos Arroyos and Los Huajes, two communities that will be affected by the construction of the La Parota dam. They participated in meetings with members of Radio Ñomndaa de Xochistlahuaca, of the Me Phaa Indigenous People's Organization (OPIM, Organización del Pueblo Indígena Me’phaa) in Ayutla, and subsequently visited branches of the community police.
In Tlapa de Comonfort the representatives interviewed members of the Tlachinollan Human Rights Centre of the Mountain and heard the testimony of agricultural day laborers and international migrants in the community of Chiepetepec.
During their stay in Chilpancingo, the delegation met with the president of the Guerrero State Human Rights Commission (Coddehum, Comisión de Defensa de los Derechos Humanos), Juan Alarcón Hernández, as well as members of Peace Brigades International (PBI), the Guerrero Human Rights Network (Red Guerrerense de Organismos Civiles de Derechos Humanos), the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Guerrero (APPG, Asamblea Popular del Pueblo de Guerrero) and students from the normal rural school in Ayotzinapa. They also met with the Secretary of Government of the State of Guerrero, Armando Chavarría Barrera, in the company of other sub-secretaries.
The representative in Mexico for SIPAZ and spokesperson for the delegation, Marina Pagès, stated that “our arrival in Guerrero marks a common drive among the members of this delegation: our concern with the socio-political and human rights situation in the state. We have to say that we leave even more concerned than when we arrived, with the understanding that we have not covered the entire state and therefore seen the tip of the iceberg.”
In a press conference that took place in the Guerrero Human Rights Network facilities, Pagès pointed out that the government entities that “we interviewed do not recognize the term ‘criminalization of social protest’ that social organizations repeatedly used in our interviews and meetings during this delegation. Moreover, they informed us of threats, repeated detentions including massive arrests both during and after demonstrations (in the cases of the Normal school of Ayotzinapa and Radio Ñomndaa), arrest warrants for their leaders or continuing legal processes (the case of La Parota).”
Stating the concerns of members of the international delegation, Marina Pagès stated that “the government repeats the same opinion with regard to the possibilities of dialogue: they highlight their availability and the large number of meetings they have had with social organizations. In contrast, the social organizations themselves indicate the government’s closed attitude towards their demands, the majority of which have already been recognized as legitimate by the government. They mention, for example, the ‘State Agenda for the Development and Autonomy of the Indigenous Peoples of Guerrero’ which the government has not wanted to pursue.”
A backdrop of impunity and militarization
Pagès went on to say that “the government points out the difficulty in proceeding due to the lack of official reporting of crimes. On the other hand, various social organizations have spoken to us about the atmosphere of impunity in the context of the dirty war that continues today, as in the case of forced disappearances. It is a situation that does not appear to be in the past when you take into account the reporting of sexual assaults against women on the part of the army in the Ayutla region, cases that were reported in 2002 and have yet to be solved. Given this and the discrediting of the justice administration officials, many victims have chosen not to report violations, choosing to denounce these actions in the public arena or to address their concerns to federal or international officials.”
She emphasized that “another factor that is often stressed by social activists at both the state and federal levels, is the intense militarization, based on the pretense of combating drug trafficking. However, the authorities should recognize that the solution to this serious issue lies in the creation of jobs.”
Extreme poverty cannot be a pretext for inaction
Marina Pagès stated that during the trip to Guerrero “we heard and witnessed the extreme economic, political and social marginalization for which the government is largely responsible, mainly in regions with a significant indigenous presence. Of particular concern are the topics of health, education, nutrition, housing and employment. We are dismayed by the fact that in terms of health and nutrition, Guerrero is comparable to certain African countries.”
She further stated that “many residents of Guerrero consider migration the only option for survival, which itself is not a solution as we have heard stories of the sub-human conditions experienced by day laborers. Many are aware of the risks of illegal immigration to the United States, both in the border crossing itself and once the individual is living ‘on the other side’.”
“While we recognize that poverty is a major challenge, we cannot accept that the state government uses this as a justification for the lack of promotion and protection of human rights,” Pagès affirmed.
Warning against the intensification of violence
Pagès mentioned that “finally, as many of us have prior experience in the case of Chiapas and Oaxaca, we fear that the perception of social activists that spaces for dialogue are becoming more limited could push them towards the option violent resistance. Common to all of the cases we have heard is a sense of division, polarization and a deterioration of the social fabric, including, for example, in the case of Ayutla de los Libres, where we received reports ofparamilitary activities.”
As a further example she cited that “in Xochistlahuaca we were informed that ‘some indigenous people have taken up arms. We have done nothing but raise our voices and that is still a crime according to the government.’ In La Parota we were told, ‘they accuse us of being kidnappers, terrorists, guerrilla groups, when all we have done is defend our lands.’ And in Ayutla, ‘they have not reported all of the sexual assaults (against women) because there is no guarantee that it will go to trial and even less that a conviction will come of it’.”
Pagès stressed that because of this “we fear that the power struggles and the conflict in general could increase in the context of the elections this year. It is even more worrying given the signals emitted by the caciquismos that we have perceived.”
Delegation follow-up proposal
Pagès expressed that “we do not consider the situation in Guerrero entirely removed from our lives. We in fact feel partially responsible, as we consider Guerrero’s poverty falls within a wider context of structural violence, intensified by the implementation of neoliberal policies promoted by our countries. As a response, we have made a commitment to document and disseminate information on the situation we have seen here, as well as informing the authorities of our concerns for these issues.” |
