SIPAZ Activities (Mid-February to mid-May 2018)

INTERNATIONAL PRESENCE AND ACCOMPANIMENT

CHIAPAS

Northern Zone

• In March, we conducted a multi-day outing to interview communities and civil and social organizations in Palenque and Tila.
• The same month, we were at a press conference in which the Fray Bartolome de Las Casas Center for Human Rights and indigenous representatives of 120 communities and ejidos in the Northern Jungle Zone reported that they had documented acts of espionage and harassment by the military against indigenous peoples for weeks.

Highlands

• In March, we attended a conference in which representatives of the more than one thousand displaced people from Chachihuitan reported that they remain in inhumane conditions, and that they continue to experience fear due to gunshots that have not ceased.
• In April, we attended the press conference and a closed-door meeting with other organizations in which residents of the municipality of Aldama reported on the situation of violence and forced displacement they are suffering.
• Also in April, we visited the displaced families of Colonia Puebla, municipality of Chenalho, in the sit-in they kept intermittently for several weeks in front of the Palace of Government in Tuxtla Gutierrez to have their demands met.
• This same month, we also met with families from four communities of Chalchihuitan, who have been displaced since October of last year.

Caracoles/EZLN/CNI

• In the period covered by this report, we visited the five Zapatista Caracoles at least once.
• From April 15th to 25th, we attended several sessions of the encounter “To Watch, to Listen, to Speak: No Thinking Allowed?” organized by the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN in its Spanish acronym), which was held in San Cristobal de Las Casas.

Women

• From March 8th to 10th, we attended the Meeting of Women who Struggle that took place in Morelia Caracol, municipality of Altamirano, an event organized by the Zapatista women in the framework of International Women’s Day (see article).
• In March, we were present at the assembly of women, peoples and organizations in defense of the land, territory and the right of women to decide, which took place in Cideci-Unitierra.
• In May, we were present at the Assembly of the Diocesan Coordination of Women (CODIMUJ in its Spanish acronym) in San Cristobal de Las Casas.

Events

• In February, we attended a press conference by Father Solalinde on “Politics and Ethics” that was held in the faculty of law of the Autonomous University of Chiapas (UNACH).
• In February, we were present at the conversation “Dialectic: Lekil Kuxlejal, notions of a dignified life” that took place at the Jtatik Samuel Museum in San Cristobal de Las Casas.
• We participated in the Assembly of representatives of the Believing People in February and May.
• In March, we attended some of the activities that took place within the framework of the “Central America, Mexico and United States Regional Conference for the Rights of Missing Migrants and their Families” in San Cristobal de Las Casas.
• Also in March, we attended the press conference where the Mexican State was held responsible for torturing Alfredo Vidal Cordoba and incriminating him since 2014, for the crime of kidnapping, which he did not commit and denounced in the Fray Bartolome de Las Casas Center for Human Rights.
• In April, we were present at the Forum on Childhood and Social Justice “Creating a space for dialogue with the citizens of San Cristobal to make proposals that contribute to the fulfillment of the rights of more than 80,000 children and adolescents living in the municipality”.

OAXACA

• In February, SIPAZ was present at the Second State Meeting of Peoples, Communities and Organizations, “Here we Say Yes to Life, No to Mining”, which took place in the Magdalena Teitipac community, Tlacolula and in which 60 communities from the state of Oaxaca, 33 community authorities, and 36 organizations for the defense of land and territory.

INFORMATION AND EDUCATION FOR ACTION

PUBLICATIONS

In the period covered, we signed the following pronouncements:

• In Solidarity with the Organizations that Fight and Defend Territory and Natural Commons in Latin America (in March, together with the Network of Organizations of Accompaniment and International Observation).
• Joint Declaration in the Context of International Day of the Right to Truth (in March at the invitation of Pax Christi International).
• 2018: Mexico will be examined by the UN Human Rights Council in the third cycle of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) (in April)

VISITS, DELEGATIONS and TOURS

• We received the visit of delegations, students, journalists and members of our coalition interested in learning about or deepening their knowledge of the situation of Chiapas, Oaxaca, Guerrero, and the work of SIPAZ.

PUBLIC RELATIONS

• In February, we were present in Mexico City to participate in an event that was part of the consultation process of the Global Agreement between Mexico and the European Union as well as in a meeting of civil society organizations with the English consultancy LSE who expressed surprise at the way in which this process has been taking place.
• In March, we were at a meeting of organizations with the Swedish Ambassador that took place in San Cristobal de Las Casas at the invitation of the Swedish Movement for Reconciliation (SweFOR)

EDUCATION FOR PEACE

• In February, we facilitated part of a space for reflection on climate change and care for the environment with more than 70 people from the Lacandon Jungle, a meeting convened by Servicios y Asesoría para la Paz (SERAPAZ) and the Fray Pedro de la Nada Center for Human Rights.
• In March, we worked on the “problem tree” tool with a dozen women from the Diocesan Coordination of Women (CODIMUJ in its Spanish acronym) as part of the beginning of its strategic planning.
• In March, as part of the Support Network for Mother Earth (RAMAT), we facilitated a day’s work on the Law of Internal Security and the concept of human security with representatives of the different areas of the diocese of San Cristobal de Las Casas.
• In March, we facilitated a workshop with 50 people from the Estrella region, municipality of Ocosingo.
• Also in March, we did the same in El Limar, low zone of Tila with the participation of a dozen people.
• In April, we facilitated a workshop on the electoral context with ten volunteers from the German cooperation program, Welthaus.
• In May, as part of the Mother Earth Support Network (RAMAT in its Spanish network), we co-facilitated a day’s work on resilience and peace strategies again with representatives from the different areas of the diocese of San Cristobal de Las Casas.
• Also in May, we encouraged the meeting in which RAMAT’s strategic planning was deepened.
• We have started a broader process in this regard with the Commission for Reconciliation and Community Unity (CORECO in its Spanish acronym), in which your team is finalizing its next tri-annual planning.

INTERNAL TRAINING

• Since April, we started working on digital security issues with the Sursiendo collective.
• Together with the Swedish Movement for Reconciliation (SweFOR), we had an analysis to improve our understanding of the electoral context.

NETWORKING

• We attended the bi-monthly meetings of the Network for Peace, a space for action and reflection composed of ten organizations that seek to support processes of peace and reconciliation in Chiapas. Several meetings were held to analyze the conflict in the Chiapas Highlands.
• In March, we participated in a meeting of the organizations that work in Mexico and integrate the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflicts (GPPAC), with the purpose of specifying activities for 2018. In April, we organized a peer clinic the organizations that make up this network in addition to following up on the previous meeting.