SIPAZ Activities (mid-August to mid-November, 2022)

INTERNATIONAL PRESENCE AND ACCOMPANIMENT

CHIAPAS

Gender

• In August, we accompanied the rally that took place in front of the Palace of Justice of the Chiapas Highlands, in San Cristobal de Las Casas, to demand the immediate release of Marisela Lopez Bautista, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2019 for qualified homicide, when she defended herself from her partner who tried to murder her and her children, two minors and one in her womb.
• In November, we were present at the event in which groups of activists and relatives of victims of femicide placed a Day of the Dead offering in San Cristobal de Las Casas in their memory.

Internal Forced Displacement

• In September, we accompanied groups of displaced people who met in Acteal to talk with the UN Special Rapporteur on forced displacement, Cecilia Jimenez-Damary.
• In November, we accompanied displaced families from Banavil, Tenejapa municipality, when they provisionally returned to their lands as part of the Day of the Dead.

Events

• Within the framework of International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, on August 30^th, 2022, we accompanied the Colembij collective in Susuclumil in the northern zone of Chiapas, in the act of commemoration of the victims of disappearances, extrajudicial executions and forced displacement.
• In the same context, we attended the Forum “Disappearance in Chiapas”, convened among others by the Fray Bartolome de Las Casas Center for Human Rights, Voces Mesoamericanas and Melel Xojobal, which took place in San Cristobal de Las Casas. The next day, we also accompanied the political-cultural activity “Memory Tree” in which it was intended to make the faces behind the problem more visible.
• In September, we attended an event in which Raul Zibechi presented his most recent book “Other Worlds and Peoples in Movement. Debates on Anti-colonialism and Transition in Latin America.”
• In September, we accompanied the pilgrimage that took place in Bachajon, in the municipality of Chilon, with the objective of demanding the immediate release of nine community leaders and defenders; two from this region, five from San Juan Cancuc and two from Pantelho, in addition to requesting the definitive cancellation of the arrest warrant against Father Marcelo Perez Perez.
• In October, we were present at the quarterly Assembly of the Diocesan Coordination of Women (CODIMUJ), which took place in San Cristobal de Las Casas.
• In November, within the framework of the Day of the Dead in San Cristobal de Las Casas, we were present at the activities through which the organizations Melel Xojobal and the Network for the Rights of Children and Adolescents in Chiapas (REDIAS) commemorated to the boys, girls and adolescents who lost their lives due to various acts of violence (by femicide, suicide, disappearance, forced displacement or murder with firearms).
• In November, we attended an event organized in the Sacun Palma community, Chilon municipality at the invitation of the communities that participate in the community government of this region.
• In November, we participated online in the Sixth Peacebuilding Congress with a gender perspective, convened by Ibero.

OAXACA

• In August, we attended the “Dialogues for the Defense of Life and Territories – Rebellions, Resistances and Autonomies of the Southeast”, convened by the Assembly of Indigenous Peoples of the Tehuantepec Isthmus in Defense of Land and Territory (APIIDTT) .

INFORMATION AND TRAINING FOR ACTION

PUBLIC RELATIONS

• In September, we participated in several activities carried out within the framework of the visit of the UN Special Rapporteur on forced displacement, Cecilia Jimenez-Damary. Some SIPAZ contributions were taken up by different media.

EDUCATION FOR PEACE

AUGUST

• Together with the organization specialized in digital security issues Sursiendo, and following up on a meeting in May, we held a new workshop with 15 journalists and communicators in which training and networking proposals for greater security for the group continued to be defined.

SEPTEMBER

• Together with the Fray Bartolome de Las Casas Center for Human Rights, we held a two-day workshop with representatives of the Mother Earth pastoral ministry of the Southeast area of ​​the diocese of San Cristobal de Las Casas with the participation of the municipalities of Comitan, Trinitaria, Independencia, Chicomuselo, Margaritas and Tzimol on analysis tools, non-violent strategy and security protocols. 35 men and five women attended.
• Together with the Commission for Reconciliation and Community Unity (CORECO), we began a process that will include four training sessions of two and a half days with seminarians and pastoral agents from the diocese of San Cristobal de Las Casas using the methodology of Positive Transformation of Conflicts.
• We carried out a context analysis with new members of the German volunteer program, Welthaus/World House.

OCTOBER

• We facilitated a two-day workshop on “Nonviolent Strategies” with Peace and Reconciliation Builders from the Commission for Reconciliation and Community Unity (CORECO) from various areas of the state.

NOVEMBER

• We facilitated the reality analysis block at the 17^th Meeting of Peace and Reconciliation Builders, which took place in the community of Winikton, municipality of Tenejapa.
• In an event convened by the networking process of Slamalil Kinal, we supported the facilitation of the meeting of “Young Walkers for Peace”.

INTERNAL TRAINING

• In September, we participated in an online exchange to share systematization and monitoring experiences with members of the Colombian organizations Peoples’ Center for Research and Popular Education (Centro de Investigacion y Educacion Popular – CINEP) and We Are Defenders (Somos Defensores).
• In September, we attended a two-day workshop by ALUNA, a civil society organization that, from a psychosocial approach, contributes to strengthening people and organizations affected by socio-political violence so that they can continue their work in defense of rights humans in Mexico. It was addressed to organizations and players working in Chiapas.
• In September, we participated in a workshop on psychosocial approach and trauma management facilitated by the Institute of Intercultural Studies (INESIN).
• In September, we attended the webinar “Macro-violence, Macro-criminality. Analysis of the Context and Security Protocols”, convened by the German program Welthaus/World House.
• In October, we participated in the webinar on “Containment and Accompaniment in Cases of Sexual Violence and Gender Violence”, also convened by Welthaus/World House.
• In October, we participated in the first module of the Diploma in Positive Conflict Transformation organized by the Community Unity and Reconciliation Support Commission (CORECO) in San Cristobal de Las Casas.
• In November, we attended a workshop on protocols against gender violence that the Mennonite Central Committee (CCM) held with its partners in San Cristobal de Las Casas.

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, we were at the webinar that marked the launch of the second “Water for Life” campaign in the Americas, which is coordinated by Pax Christi International partners in the region.
• In September, 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 ministry of the diocese of San Cristobal de Las Casas.
• In October, we participated in a space for analysis of security in San Cristobal de Las Casas, which was attended by various civil organizations with a presence in this city.
• In October, we participated in the preparation and implementation of the International Peacebuilding Forum “Challenges and Keys in the Current Context”, convened by the Platform for Peace in Mexico, as well as in the first face-to-face meeting of this network. We did the same with the “Dialogue between Peoples, Weaving the Word” meeting, convened by the Platform for Peace and the Slamalil Kinal Network.
• In October, we had a face-to-face network meeting of partners from the North American region of the Global Platform for the Prevention of Armed Conflicts (GPPAC) in Chiapas.