SIPAZ ACTIVITIES (early April to late June, 2016)

INTERNATIONAL PRESENCE AND ACCOMPANIMENT

Chiapas

Northern Region

• In April, we were present at the ejido of Adolfo Ruiz Cortines, municipality of Salto de Agua, where an event was held in the framework of the installation of a community mural rejecting the San Cristobal-Palenque highway. The next day, we attended the fair “The Cornfield in Your Taco” (“La milpa en tu taco”) organized by the Women’s Support House (CAM) in Palenque, a project that seeks to promote food sovereignty.
• In June, we participated in the presentation of Pro-Active Transparency Project in Chiapas and Tabasco, in Palenque, organized the Junco Network, and the Women’s Support House (CAM) and Article 19.

The Highlands

• In May, we attended the celebrations organized within the framework of the anniversary of the relocation of the displaced people of Las Abejas Civil Society in Nuevo Paraiso, in the municipality of Pantelho.

Jungle

• In April we received representatives of the Lekil Cuxlejalil Yuun Jlumaltic, an organizational process, in our offices, which demands improvements in attention provided by the “20 Beds” basic community-hospital in Ocosingo. In May, we were present at a meeting of the same group in Patria Nueva, in the same municipality.

Border Area

• In May, meetings were held with a range of civil and religious actors in Comitan de Dominguez and Las Margaritas to discuss the prevailing situation in the region.
• In June, we participated in the Jungle Border Region Encounter, which was convened in Chicomuselo with more than 30 attendees, to analyze the political and social situation.

Caracoles/EZLN

• In the period covered by this report, we visited the five Zapatistas Caracoles at least once.

Prisoners

• In May, we visited Roberto Paciencia, unjustly imprisoned in the prison of San Cristobal de Las Casas.

Women

• On April 24, we were present at the march of women against sexist violence, “Vivas Nos Queremos” (We Want Us Alive), which was held in San Cristobal de Las Casas.
• In April, we launched the book entitled “Fighting with a Woman’s Heart: Situation and Participation of Women in Chiapas (1995-2015)” which SIPAZ published in 2015, at an event organized by the Center for Higher Studies in Mexico and Central America (CESMECA).
• In May, we presented this book to about 20 young women of Melel Xojobal, who had shared their testimonies with us in its production.
• In May, we attended the Assembly of Representatives of the Diocesan Coordination of Women (CODIMUJ) in San Cristobal de Las Casas.

Events

• In April, we accompanied part of the “Pilgrimage for Memory, Truth and Justice: Ten Years of Impunity for the Viejo Velasco Massacre and in Defense of Mother Earth and Life”, organized by the Holy Trinity Mission (La Arena) and the Committee for the Defense of Indigenous Freedoms CDLI Xinich’. The pilgrims left from the community of Arroyo Granizo in the Northern Zone, calling on those who wished to accompany them on their way, arriving at Oxchuc, covering a total of over 170 kilometers.
• In April, in the framework of International Solidarity with Political Prisoners Day, we were present in the cultural event, sit-in, and press conference organized by relatives of Alejandro Diaz Santiz, along with solidarity groups and individuals.
• In April, we were present as observers at two events organized by the National Front for Struggle for Socialism (FNLS) as part of its “National Day against State Terrorism in Chiapas and for the Presentation of all Missing Detainees in Mexico”.
• In April we were present at the reception of the “Caravan for Peace, Life, and Justice” in San Cristobal de Las Casas, a broad initiative of relatives of victims of human rights violations, civil society, and social movements of different nations calling for a “halt to the war on drugs.”
• In May, we attended the Conference “Protecting the Earth and Caring for Life” in which the Brazilian theologian, Leonardo Boff, participated, which was held in the CIDECI-Unitierra.
• Also in May, we participated in the events organized in Chiapas for the XX Anniversary of Services and Consultation for Peace (Serapaz).
• We participated in the Assembly of Representatives of Believing People during its assembly in May.
• In May, we attended the presentation of the video documentary “Returning to Life: Testimony of Forced Displacement in Chiapas” in San Cristobal de Las Casas.
• We were present as observers in some of the protests of teachers and the health sector as well as in expressions of solidarity with these struggles in San Cristobal de Las Casas in recent weeks.
• In June, we accompanied the march marking 21 months of the forced disappearance of 43 students from Ayotzinapa, in San Cristobal de Las Casas.

OAXACA

• We canceled a week-long trip to Oaxaca, originally planned in the beginning of June, due to the violent repression of the teachers’ and solidarity movement in the state.

PUBLIC RELATIONS

• In April, we attended the workshop “Attention to Victims of the Crime of Forced Disappearance: Challenges, Lessons Learned, and Recommendations”, organized by German Cooperation (GIZ) in Mexico City.
• In June, we were present at the “Workshop on Mechanisms for Accountability and Civil Society” in Mexico City, which was convened by the Independent Mechanisms for Accountability (IAMs) the Inter-American Development Bank (Independent Mechanism for Consultation and Research/MICI), the World Bank (Inspection Panel and Advisory Observance Ombudsman/CAO), and the European Investment Bank (Complaint Mechanism); and civil organizations.
• Also in June, we met with representatives from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) in Mexico City.

EDUCATION FOR PEACE

• In April, we facilitated a space for analysis with representatives of the parish of Comalapa that took place in the pueblo of Paso Hondo and was attended by 130 people.
• In June, we facilitated a workshop on the history and context in Chiapas with young people doing social work in the border area, at the invitation of the T’somanotik Agroecology Center, municipality of Tzimol.
• In June, we provide a space for analysis with a little more than 80 representatives of the parish of Huitiupan.
• In June, we did the same with a group of priests from the Sacred Heart Missionaries.
• In June, we facilitated a workshop of analysis of the reality with more than 200 church representatives from the parish of Altamirano.
• In June, we carried out a one-week workshop on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples with students of the Mayan Intercultural Seminar (SIM).

NETWORKING

• We attended the two-monthly meetings of the Network for Peace, a space for action and reflection made up of ten organizations that seek to support peace processes and reconciliation in Chiapas. A number of extraordinary meetings were held after the violent events in Chenalhó and due to the the teachers’ movement.
• In April, we participated in the Workshop Meeting on Community Mediation called for by Services and Consultation for Peace (Serapaz) in San Cristobal de Las Casas.
• In April, we co-convened and co-facilitated a “Workshop/Meeting on Nonviolent Conflict Transformation in Defense of Our Territories”, which took place in Chicoasen. It was part of a joint project with the Fray Bartolome de Las Casas Human Rights Center, the Digna Ochoa Human Rights Center, the Samuel Ruiz Garcia Committee for the Promotion and Defense of Life of Chicomuselo, and Pax Christi International.

INFORMATION FOR ACTION

• We received visits from delegations (among others, the Mennonite Central Committee, Border Link, Waite House), students, journalists and members of our coalition interested in learning about or deepening their knowledge of the situation in Chiapas, Oaxaca and Guerrero, and the work of SIPAZ.
• We met a representative of the International Crisis Group, who is conducting research on the topic of migration.
• In June, we presented the video documentary “That the Heart Not Be Divided”, which we produced together with Koman Ilel last year, during a conference in Bielefeld, Germany.
• In June, we published, and widely disseminated, a special bulletin in four languages “Repression of Teachers in Oaxaca”.

TRAINING

• In May, we opened a space for training on the “Who’s Who” of local and state politics with an outside facilitator, an exercise we did together with members of the International Movement for Reconciliation Sweden (SweFOR).
• In June, we participated in a workshop on digital security facilitated by the Sursiendo organization.