SIPAZ Activities (From mid August to mid November 2019)

INTERNATIONAL PRESENCE AND ACCOMPANIMENT CHIAPAS

Civil Observation Missions

• In October, we participated in a Civil Observation Mission in Campeche to visit Guatemalan families who have been displaced for more than 28 months in Mexico, after the community of Laguna Larga was violently evicted by the Guatemalan army in June of 2017.

Highlands

• In August, we accompanied displaced families from Banavil, municipality of Tenejapa, more than 7 years after the violent events that led to their forced displacement, in a meeting with state and local authorities where their case was reviewed. We also accompanied their provisional return to their community where they wanted to celebrate the Day of the Dead.

Northern Jungle

• In October and November, we were present as observers at an inter-institutional roundtable in which it was assessed how to continue with the process that would initiate a consultation in the municipality of Chilón to choose between the current system of political parties or to move to municipal elections by way of customary methods.
• In November, we were present at the commemoration of the 13^th anniversary of the Viejo Velasco massacre, which took place in the community of San Martín Chamizal, municipality of Palenque, at the invitation of Xi’Nich and other civil and social organizations.

Border Region

• In October, we participated in an analysis meeting with various civil and religious actors in the area to discuss the prevailing context in the region.

Gender

• In mid-August, we accompanied as observers the march in San Cristóbal de la Casas to express indignation and mourning in the face of femicide, trans-femicide, and gender violence.
• In August, we were present at the press conference in which the Popular Campaign against Femicide in Chiapas expressed its “repudiation” of the “lack of commitments by governments at different levels, in the face of the serious increase in femicide violence in Chiapas and throughout the country.
• In October, in Ocosingo, we were observers at the event of public apology by the Mexican government to the González Pérez sisters, recognizing the responsibility of the State for the sexual torture by the military of which they were victims 25 years ago.

Prisoners

• At least once a month, we visit indigenous prisoners in the organizations “Solidarios de la Voz de Amate” and “La Voz de Indígenas en Resistencia”. Both groups are adherents to the Sixth Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN), and are located in the San Cristóbal de Las Casas prison.

Events

• In September, we accompanied the peaceful demonstration held in San Cristóbal de Las Casas, within the framework of the World Mobilization for Climate, part of the global movement called for by Swedish activist Greta Thunberg.
• In October, we were present at the Day of Information and Debate on the Mayan Train, convened by the Center for Higher Studies of Mexico and Central America (CESMECA) in San Cristóbal de Las Casas.
• In November, in San Cristóbal de Las Casas, we participated as observers in the event in which the National Institute of Migration (INM) offered a public apology to four indigenous Tzeltales from Chiapas, who were detained by INM officials, tortured, and almost deported in 2015.

OAXACA

• In November, we participated in a Civil Mission convened by different civil organizations focused on the situation in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. The Mission began with a series of activities in Oaxaca City, including the presentation of he Report “It’s Time Now: Effective Public Policies for the Right to Defend Human Rights,” the conversation “The Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Criminalization of Defense in Oaxaca: Context and Tools,” and a visit to the prison where environmental defender Pablo López Alavéz is being held. In the Isthmus, visits were made to various communities, including Unión Hidalgo, Santa María Mixtequilla, Playa Brasil, San Francisco Ixhuatán, and La Venta.

GUERRERO

• In August, we were in Guerrero for a week. In Tlapa de Comonfort, we met with members of the Tlachinollan Mountain Center for Human Rights, and Enlace Communication and Training. Near Acapulco, we interviewed Julián Blanco, leader of the Council of Ejidos and Communities Opposed to La Parota Dam (CECOP). Also, accompanied by members of the Regional Centre for Human Rights “José María Morelos y Pavón,” we meet with victims of forced internal displacement of the municipalities of Leonardo Bravo, Zitlala, and Eduardo Guerri, who are living in the municipal capital of Chichihualco. Previously, in Mexico City, we met with members of the Guerrero Association Against Violence Against Women, and with Community Development Workshop (TADECO), organisations which work in Guerrero.
• In November, we went on a week-long tour in Guerrero again. We met with Marina Reyna Aguillar of the Guerrero Association Against Violence Against Women, as well as members of Tlachinollan, of the Collective against Torture and Impunity (CCTI), and the Regional Center for Human Rights “José María Morelos y Pavón”. We had a meeting at the State Search Commission, to learn more about their work and gather information regarding progress in the case of the activist Arnulfo Cerón Soriano, who went missing in Tlapa de Comonfort on October 11. In Chilpancingo, we accompanied the march in which more than a thousand members of the 5 Houses of Justice of the Coordinator Regional Community Authorities – Community Police (CRAC-PC), demanded the repeal of Article 14 of the Law 701, which they denounced as violating the rights of indigenous peoples; In particular, the validity of its own system of community security and justice.

PEACE EDUCATION

• In September, we gave a context presentation with a group of new development workers of the German program, Weltwärts.
• In September, we gave a lecture entitled “Putting the concept into dialogue of Peace with that of Human Rights: reflections towards more integral actions and of greater impact” with the staff of the State Human Rights Commission (CEDH) in Tuxtla Gutiérrez.
• In September, we facilitated a space of context analysis with the participants of the Meeting of Peacebuilders and Reconciliation, which took place in the municipality of Cancuc.
• In August and November, we provided workshops to children and young people in Acapulco – Guerrero, on transformation of conflicts and non-violent options for social protest, a space coordinated by the Collective against Torture and Impunity (CCTI).

NETWORKING

• In October, together with those of us who make up the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflicts (GPPAC) – North America Region, co-convened, co-coordinated, and co-facilitated the Exchange of Experiences Forum. Afterwards, we held the annual meeting of GPPAC partners in the region.
• In November, we spent several days in Mexico City at Mennonite Central Committee’s (MCC) partners meeting titled “Mexican Context and Peacebuilding: Difficulties and Challenges”.