SIPAZ activities (From mid-November 2021 to mid-February 2022)

INTERNATIONAL PRESENCE AND SUPPORT

CHIAPAS

Gender

• In November, within the framework of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, we were present at various activities that took place in San Cristobal de Las Casas, including the press conference “Rage is not enough, we want justice: violence against girls, adolescents and women in Chiapas.”
• In December, we accompanied the march that took place in San Cristobal de Las Casas to demand justice for the femicide of Dr. Daniela Toledo in the same city.

Internal Forced Displacement

• In December, we accompanied representatives of families from Banavil, municipality of Tenejapa, displaced since 2011, to a meeting with state authorities.

Prisoners

• In February, within the framework of the follow-up of recommendations issued by the United Nations (UN) Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions, we accompanied the visit of authorities and the subsequent dialogue to review the prevailing conditions in San Cristobal de Las Casas prison.

Indigenous Peoples

• In November, we were present at the online International Conference “Right to self-determination of indigenous peoples: The struggle of the Tseltal people of Chilon and Sitala (Chiapas)” organized by the Due Process of Law Foundation (DPLF) and the Center for Indigenous Rights (CEDIAC).
• In November, we accompanied the event that took place in Chilon in the framework of the 4th anniversary of the Community Government Council of that municipality, a structure created by the Tseltal people and one of the expressions of their struggle for self-determination and autonomy.
• In December, we participated in a space for analysis and design of responses to the growing violence in Chiapas organized by Bread for the World in Mexico City.
• In December, we attended the press conference in which the National Indigenous Congress (CNI) ruled on the impacts of the recently published presidential decree in which federal projects were declared a matter of national security and public interest.

Land and territory

• In November, twelve years after the murder of environmentalist Mariano Abarca, we attended the award ceremony for the award that bears his name to Las Abejas de Acteal Civil Society Organization, in recognition of its peaceful struggle in defense of land, territory and life that they have continued despite the violence in the region.

Migration

• In December, we visited the “Casa Betania Santa Martha” shelter for migrants in Salto de Agua and, together with the Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas Human Rights Center, we met with different federal, state and municipal authorities in order to stop the threats to which its members have been subjected.

Events

• In November, we participated in the assembly of the Believing People in San Cristobal de Las Casas.
• In December, we attended a Meeting of Young Peacebuilders convened by the Commission for Reconciliation and Community Unity (CORECO) and the Whitaker Initiative for Peace and Development (WPDI Chiapas).
• In December, we attended the online discussion “Promoting Non-violence and Just Peace in the Church and the World”, convened by Pax Christi International.
• In December, we were present at the event in which the Fray Bartolome de Las Casas medal was awarded to Gonzalo Ituarte, a Dominican friar who since the 1970s, led by Bishop Samuel Ruiz Garcia, has worked for the defense of human rights in Chiapas.
• On December 21^st and 22^nd, we were present at the events organized by the Civil Society Las Abejas de Acteal to commemorate the 24^th anniversary of the Massacre of 45 of its members in the municipality of Chenalho.
• In January, we participated in the press conference called by the AJMAC Resistance and Rebellion Network, adherent to the Sixth Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle, in order to present the Third Report of the “Caravan of Solidarity, Observation and Documentation” that It took place on January 8^th and 9^th, 2022 in the Nuevo San Gregorio community of the Lucio Cabañas Zapatista Autonomous Municipality.
• In January, we visited several partners in the Northern Zone to share information and analysis on the prevailing context in the region.
• In January, we attended in Sabanilla the protocol act of “Recognition of Responsibility and Public Apology of the Mexican State of the Antonio Gonzalez Mendez Case”, part of the measures issued in 2019 by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) after analyzing the case and point out the responsibility of the Mexican State for the lack of investigation of his forced disappearance in 1999.
• In January, we accompanied the pilgrimage of the Believing People as part of the conmemoration organized for the 11^th anniversary of Bishop Jtatic Samuel Ruiz Garcia’s Easter.
• Invited by the Vicariate of Justice and Peace, in January, we participated in a meeting in the diocese of San Cristobal de Las Casas on the socio-political conflict in Chiapas and the role that the Catholic Church can play in it (particularly in the case of Pantelho).
• In February, we participated in an analysis space on security in San Cristobal de Las Casas, which was attended by various civil organizations with a presence in this city.

OAXACA

• In November we accompanied various events organized in the city of Oaxaca within the framework of International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.
• In November, we made a one-week tour in Oaxaca where we met with various partner organizations in the city of Oaxaca: Unitierra, Consortium for Parliamentary Dialogue and Gender Equality (Consorcio Oaxaca), Tequio Juridico, EDUCA, BARCA-DH, among others.
• In December, we attended the press conference in which the Oaxaca Consortium, Damian Gallardo, his relatives and other personalities made public the decision issued by the body against torture of the United Nations Organization in which it was determined that the teacher and an activist for the rights of indigenous peoples, Gallardo was a victim of torture by Oaxacan police in May 2013.

GUERRERO

• In December, we attended the ONLINE event in which the La Montaña TlachinollanHuman Rights Center presented its annual work report “Your Name that I Never Forget”, which it prepared within the framework of its twenty-seventh anniversary.
• In January, we held a meeting with Teodomira Rosales Sierra, director of the Jose Maria Morelos y Pavon Human Rights Center, with whom we discussed the situation in Guerrero and sought to coordinate actions.

INFORMATION AND TRAINING TOWARDS ACTION

PUBLIC RELATIONS

• In December, we met with members of a Catalan Committee that visited Mexico and included the participation of an MEP, a member of the Catalan Parliament and members of the organization for the defense of human rights, Taula per Mexic.
• In January, a meeting was held of organizations that work on advocacy for Mexico in the same country and from the European Union to share challenges and experiences.

EDUCATION FOR PEACE

• In November, we participated with a presentation in the online meeting for the community that works on Non-Violent Civil Protection and Accompaniment, organized by the Non-violence Peace Force, among others.
• In December, we shared an analysis at the face-to-face meeting of the partners who participated in the “Latin America, Between Violence and Hopes Project – Phase III: Accompaniment of Communities in Non-violent Resistance against Extractivism”, coordinated by Pax Christi International.
• In December, we facilitated a space for analysis with the Mesoamerican Voices (Voces Mesoamericanas) work team in the framework of its annual evaluation and strategic planning for 2022.

INTERNAL TRAINING

• In December, we participated in a workshop on security that was held with human rights defenders in Chiapas at the invitation of the All Rights for All Network.
• In December, we attended a heart-strengthening workshop facilitated in San Cristobal de Las Casas by the Commission for Reconciliation and Community Unity (CORECO).

NETWORKING

• We attended the bimonthly meetings of the Network for Peace, a space for action and reflection, made up of ten organizations that seek to support peace and reconciliation processes in Chiapas.
• In December, we had a face-to-face meeting with the partners that participated in the “Latin America, Between Violence and Hopes Project – Phase III: Accompaniment of Communities in Non-violent Resistance against Extractivism”, coordinated by Pax Christi International.
• In December and January, we participated in a meeting with representatives of the pastoral areas that are part of the Follow-up Commission of the Congress of Mother Earth, a component of the social pastoral of the diocese of San Cristobal de Las Casas.
• In January, we participated with a presentation in the event organized by the Global Platform for the Prevention of Armed Conflicts (GPPAC) and Catholic Relief Services within the framework of the international conference “@PeaceCon10: Covid, Climate and Conflict – Being Prepared for the Challenges of a Troubled World.”