SIPAZ Activities (Mid-August to mid-November 2020)

INTERNATIONAL PRESENCE AND ACCOMPANIMENT

CHIAPAS

Civil Observation Missions

• In August, we participated in an online process of several days to monitor the Civil Observation Missions on the southern border, to monitor and analyse the migrant problem on the different routes that cross the state of Chiapas in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• In October, we participated as observers in the Caravan in Solidarity with the autonomous communities of Moises Gandhi and Nuevo San Gregorio, organized to “deliver humanitarian aid, carry out Human Rights observation and document the recent attacks, threats and harassment perpetuated by armed groups against girls, boys, women and men of the communities of support bases of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN).” We were also at the press conference where the report, the result of that mission, was presented.

Forced Displacement

• In August, we were at the presentation of the report of the Mexican Commission for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights, entitled: “Episodes of Mass Forced Displacement in Mexico 2019”.
• In September, we attended the press conference of the Chalchihuitles Committee for Internally Displaced Persons, in which they reported that violence and attacks continue in their territory and that, three years after their displacement, the precautionary measures of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) in Chalchihuitan have not been met.
• In October, we met with those from ​​the Fray Bartolome de Las Casas Center for Human Rights responsible for covering the Chiapas Highlands region, a region in which the majority of forced displacement in the state currently occurs.
• In November, we accompanied the displaced families from Banavil, municipality of Tenejapa, when they temporarily returned to their lands within the framework of the Day of the Dead “to put our flowers on our relatives who have advanced along the road …”

Prisoners

• We continue to have weekly telephone communication with the prisoners who are members of the organizations “Solidarity of the Voice of Amate” and “The Voice of Indigenous People in Resistance“, both groups adhering to the Sixth Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN ), in San Cristobal de Las Casas prison.

Indigenous Peoples

• In September, we attended the presentation of the book by Gilberto Lopez y Rivas “Indigenous Peoples in Times of the Fourth Transformation”, an event organized by the National Indigenous Congress (CNI).
• In October, we attended the virtual talk “Indigenous and Campesina Voices: Impacts, Proposals and Resistance to COVID-19 from Mexico and Guatemala”, organized by IMDEC.
• In October, we participated in the online forum “The Struggle for Self-determination in Policies and Legal Frameworks in Mexico”, convened by the Alliance for Free Determination and Autonomy (ALDEA), a platform that represents indigenous people from a dozen states in the country.

Human Rights Defenders

• We attended the presentation of the 9^th Report of the Cerezo Committee, “Defending Human Rights in Mexico, the Endless Impunity”, which reflects the human rights violations against human rights defenders, during the period from June 1^st, 2019 to May 31^st, 2020.

Land and territory

• In September, we attended the press conference called by the organization Indignacion, to denounce the “Violations of the Maya Train and the Responsibility of the Judiciary.”

Freedom of expression

• In September, we attended the presentation of the report on Article 19, “Nobody Publishes that Anymore: The Right to Truth, Violence against the Press and Damage to Communities and Colleagues.”
• In November, we attended the event in which a new section was presented on the Article 19 webpage, which focuses on aspects of “Comprehensive Security for the Protection of Journalists.”

Militarization

• In August, we participated in the webinar “Militarization of Public Security in Mexico“, convened by the Mexican Commission for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights (CMDPDH).

Migration

• In September, we attended the presentation of the report “Migrations in Mexico: Borders, Omissions and Transgressions”, prepared by the Documentation Network of Organizations for the Defense of Migrants (REDODEM).

Human Rights

• In September, we participated in the online discussion “Capture of the State, Macro-criminality and Human Rights”, organized by the Heinrich Böll Foundation.
• In September, we attended the online discussion “Mexico before the Committee against Forced Disappearance of the UN – Impact of the Acceptance of its Jurisdiction”, convened by the organization IDHEAS.
• In October, we were at the press conference organized by civil society organizations under the heading “Networking of Civil Society against Austerity Measures that are Detrimental to Human Rights in Mexico”, following the Chamber of Deputies approval of the elimination of several public trusts.

Events

• In August, we accompanied online the events organized within the framework of the ordination of the new auxiliary bishop of the diocese of San Cristobal de Las Casas, Luis Manuel Lopez Alvaro.

OAXACA

• In September, we participated in the event “Defense of Land and Territory from Community Action” convened by the Damian Gallardo Martinez Committee.
• In October, we were at the online event “The Challenges of Education for Peace” organized by the Consortium for Parliamentary Dialogue and Gender Equity (Consorcio Oaxaca).

GUERRERO

• In September, we attended the online discussion “The Indigenous Movement of Guerrero at the Juncture of 500 Years after the Fall of the Great Tenochtitlan and the Fourth Transformation” convened by the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).
• In September, we participated in the online event “Ayotzinapa: Towards the Truth”, organized by Amnesty International in the framework of the sixth anniversary of the forced disappearance of 43 students from the Ayotzinapa Normal Rural School in Iguala.
• In October, we held an online meeting with members of the team from La Montaña Tlachinollan Human Rights Center, to update our analysis of what is happening in Guerrero, and to agree on joint actions, including the follow-up of the case of Arnulfo Ceron, defender of human rights disappeared and murdered in Tlapa a year ago.

INFORMATION AND TRAINING FOR ACTION

PUBLIC RELATIONS

• In September, we participated in various activities carried out within the framework of the fifth Regional Forum on Business and Human Rights for Latin America and the Caribbean “Responsible Business Conduct in Difficult Times: Turning Challenges into Opportunities”, which was convened, among others, by the United Nations, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the International Labor Organization (ILO).
• Also, in September, we attended the event “Uniting Capacities to Respond to the Regional Crisis: Convening Organizations from Latin America and the Caribbean”, organized by the Global Platform for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC), a platform to which we belong.
• In September, we met online with the political secretary of the Swedish Embassy.
• In October, we participated in an online meeting with members of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR, Mexico) and the UN agency for refugees (UNHCR), to discuss the Federal Law of Forced Displacement, together with organizations that work on the issue in Chiapas.

EDUCATION FOR PEACE

• In September, we contributed with a presentation at an event entitled “Towards the Construction of Peace”, within the framework of a continental initiative called “Anabaptist Dialogues”, which included experiences from Guatemala and Colombia.
• In October, we facilitated a space for the analysis of conditions convened by the area of Indian theology of the diocese of San Cristobal de Las Casas in Teopisca, in which a hundred people participated.

INTERNAL TRAINING

• In August, we participated in a training space on digital security with the organization SURSIENDO, following up on a process started more than a year ago.
• In October, we were at the “Optimizing Financing Opportunities” workshop convened by GPPAC.
• In October and November, we participated in the three days of workshops “Women, Peace and Security” organized, among others, by SERAPAZ (Servicios y Asesoría para la Paz) and JASS (Asociadas por lo Justo).
• In November, we participated together with the operational team of the Swedish Movement for Reconciliation (SweFOR), in a space for analysis on the conflict in the Highlands of Chiapas, and for reflection on the role that international accompaniment organizations can play.

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 September, three spaces were convened to share challenges and learnings in the context of the pandemic, in which organizations that carry out international accompaniment in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and Colombia participated.
• In September, we participated in a working group convened by GPPAC to deepen the theme “Setting the Table for Peace: Multi-stakeholder Processes for Human Security”.
• In September and October, we were in a joint space of partners with whom SURSIENDO was working on digital security aspects, to share perceptions, analysis and protocols to work in the COVID-19 pandemic.
• In September, we had a face-to-face meeting of the partners that participated in the “Latin America Project, Between Violence and Hope – Phase III: Accompaniment of Communities in Non-violent Resistance to Extractivism”, coordinated by Pax Christi International.
• In September, we attended the online event in which the Washington Office for Latin American Affairs (WOLA) presented a human rights award to the Fray Matias de Cordova Human Rights Center in Tapachula, Chiapas.
• In September, we were present at the events that marked the start of the Campaign “With Faith and Action, Be Guardian of Creation”, an initiative coordinated by the Christian Continental Network for Peace (REDCONPAZ).
• In September and October, we participated in meetings 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 before it, particularly in the case of Tila in the northern part of the state, at the invitation of the Vicarage of Justice and Peace.
• In October, we were in a space for analysis on security in San Cristobal de Las Casas, with civil society organizations whose headquarters are in this city.
• In November, we participated in an event of the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) with its partners in which we analyzed situations of child abuse and gender violence, and we began to outline protocols for action in cases of this nature.
• In November, we co-facilitated a forum and clinic of GPPAC partners in North America, in which they worked, among other aspects, on the post-electoral context in the United States and its implications, as well as on ways to promote greater participation of youth in peacebuilding.
• In November, we participated in two events of analysis and planning of activities to be carried out in the framework of the tenth anniversary of the passing of Don Samuel Ruiz Garcia, which were summoned by SERAPAZ, the Fray Bartolome de Las Casas Center for Human Rights and the Network for Peace in Chiapas.