UNITED NATIONS
COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS
Fifty-sixth session
Agenda item 15
Oral Presentation by Adam Branch
INDIGENOUS ISSUES IN CHIAPAS, MEXICO
International Educational Development/Humanitarian Law
Project has long been involved in promoting a peaceful
resolution to the Civil War in Chiapas, Mexico, and we
are committed to seeing the end of the grave human
rights violations perpetrated by Mexico's security
forces against the indigenous people of that state.
This struggle for justice and autonomy, led by the
indigenous Zapatista Army of National Liberation
(Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional, or EZLN),
is based in hundreds of communities comprising a large
section of eastern Chiapas. While concentrating their
attention on these communities, the EZLN peacefully
supports indigenous autonomy throughout Mexico. In
contrast, the response of the Mexican government has
been military terror and political deception.
IED/HLP welcomes the recent visits to Chiapas by
Special Rapporteur Asma Jahangir, Sub-Commission
Member Erica-Irene Daes, and High Commissioner Mary
Robinson, although we are disappointed that they were
unable to visit the communities most damaged by the
conflict. Two of the recommendations that grew out of
their visits are: first, the demilitarization of
Chiapas including the end of the "official indulgence"
enjoyed by paramilitary groups; and second, the
renewal of talks between the Mexican government and
the EZLN. It is imperative that these be implemented
if the war against the indigenous communities of
Chiapas is to be resolved with justice and dignity.
The need for demilitarization is clear. Right now
there are 70,000 federal troops stationed at 266 bases
in Chiapas, and at least 15 distinct paramilitary
organizations operate in the state, threatening,
detaining, torturing, and even murdering EZLN
sympathizers, often in cooperation with state security
forces. All this goes on in spite of the 1994
Cease-fire, the 1995 Law for Dialogue, and a
Constitutional injunction.
Our assessment in Chiapas verifies a marked
deterioration of human rights in 1999. In response to
the overwhelming success of the EZLN's National
Referendum for the Rights of the Indigenous Peoples
(Consulta Nacional para los Derechos de los Pueblos
Indios) in March, the government began a more
extensive military campaign on June 4th with a
700-troop assault on the community of Nazareth. The
soldiers are still there, living in the primary
school. Incursions into many other villages and
municipalities followed, with over 10,000 new troops
being positioned in the Lacandón Jungle. The wave of
violence culminated with the August 14th siege of
Amador Hern·ndez and the August 25th attack by the
Federal Army on peacefully protesting Tojolabal
villagers in San José La Esperanza.
Despite the assurances the High Commissioner received
during her visit in November, the violence has
continued unabated. Incursions, by public security
forces, paramilitaries, and the Federal Army,
sometimes jointly, have taken place over the last two
months in the communities of Nicolas Ruiz, Nachajev,
JerusalÈn, San Andrés Sakamch'en, and San Gerónimo
Tulij·. And, we have submitted to Madame Jahangir the
cases of the summary executions of four indigenous men
in Chavajeval this year.
Demilitarization of Chiapas can best be achieved by
following the second recommendation of the three UN
officials, namely the revival of talks between the
Mexican Government and the EZLN. The Government
accuses the EZLN of obstructing the deadlocked talks,
but, as the High Commissioner recognized, often an
"abyss" exists between "what is said [by Mexico] and
the reality on the ground." We have consistently
chronicled Mexico's duplicity in the peace process, as
they pay lip service to the ideal of dialogue while
undermining the very possibility of meetings in good
faith.
The San Andrés Accords (Acuerdos de San Andrés)
between the Mexican Government and the EZLN gave the
promise of both peace in Chiapas and indigenous
autonomy throughout Mexico when they were signed on
February 16, 1996. The Government, unfortunately,
made no move to implement the Accords, and faced with
increasing militarization, the EZLN had to suspend the
dialogue. The EZLN's conditions for re-opening the
dialogue are simple: the fulfillment of the Accords
and the cessation of military hostilities. Until
these conditions-already agreed to four years ago by
both parties-are met, the Government's new calls for
dialogue have no credibility. This obvious truth
seems lost on Mexican officials, such as the
Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, whose recent
presentation to the Commission ignored the question
entirely. And the Government's highly-touted but
illusory 1999 proposal, "One More Step to Solve the
Conflict in Chiapas," does not even mention the
military presence in the state.
The proposed Technical Assistance Program between the
UNHCHR and Mexico is encouraging. However, it must
become effective to avoid being yet one more hollow
phrase in the Government's empty rhetoric of peace.
We call upon the Commission, first, to support the
visit of a Needs Evaluation Mission to establish the
terms of the agreement. Next, the courageous Mexican
NGOs, who were the first to bring the problem to the
attention of the UN, should be involved in the
commencement of the Program. Other important factors
include further visits by rapporteurs and the
appointment of an Independent Expert on Mexico. These
new measures, along with the long-overdue
demilitarization of Chiapas and the fulfillment of the
San Andrés Accords, are the real 'steps' to a just and
lasting peace in Chiapas.
SPECIAL TOPICS:
Militarization and Indigenous Life: Daily troop
movements, combined with the omnipresent roadblocks,
harassment, ground patrols, overflights by planes and
helicopters, searches, interrogations, physical
attacks, and the constant possibility of armed
incursions, all conspire to create a massive
psychological and physical pressure on the indigenous
communities. Many communities have been completely
displaced after army incursions or from the threat
that the army presented. When the army enters an
indigenous community, it is common practice for them
to install themselves in the local school, hospital,
or civic building, rendering it unusable for the local
population. As U.S. Congressman Bobby Rush stated
after a visit to the indigenous communities of Chiapas
in June 1998, "When schools are converted into
barracks, democracy is a farce."
Militarization and Indigenous Women: Indigenous women
bear a disproportionate part of the violence that has
resulted from the militarization of Chiapas. There
has been extensive documentation of the alarming
increase in the incidence of rapes, prostitution and
domestic violence brought into the indigenous areas
along with the military bases. The concomitant
disruption of family and community values has further
placed women in jeopardy. Indigenous women often
cannot go to the river to bathe for fear of being
raped by soldiers, and men cannot go to their fields
for fear of what might happen during their absence.
But women have also been at the forefront of the
resistance. Women and children have repeatedly used
their bodies to keep military convoys out of their
communities. With babies wrapped in shawls, the
mothers, daughters, sisters, and grandmothers of
Tojolabal, Tzeltal, Tzotzil, and Chol ethnicities have
yelled "Get the army out of our villages!"-without the
government ever listening. Most recently, on March 8,
2000, International Women's Day, thousands of
Zapatista women filled the streets of San CristÛbal de
Las Casas, demanding an end to the military presence.
To everyone's surprise, they peacefully occupied the
offices of the government radio station, and, for one
hour, their voices were heard as they demanded the
removal of all Federal Army troops and security forces
from the state.
Militarization and the Environment: There has been
much information of late concerning the use of GMOs
(genetically modified organisms) in Chiapas, including
transgenetic maize.
Mexico, unlike most European countries, has no
official policy on these products, and has thus opened
itself up to their widespread and unmonitored use. The
concerns about their use, particularly in an
environment like Chiapas with small, closely cropped
parcels, are legitimate and various.
Another issue has been that of bio-prospecting and
bio-piracy, especially in the Montes Azules Biosphere
Reserve. The historical pattern of biotech companies
prospecting and patenting biological products acquired
from indigenous lands, is clearly being repeated in
Chiapas.
CIEPAC, the internationally highly regarded economic
and political research organization based in San
Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas, has done seminal work
on all the above issues.
Militarization and the Indigenous Economy: Mexican
Government officials proudly declare that Chiapas had
received more development funds than any other state
in Mexico, proof of their will to resolve the massive
poverty in Chiapas. However, the way in which these
funds are allotted makes it clear that they are merely
a part of the counterinsurgency. Funds are given
solely to those who support the government, or else
are used as bribes to bring people out of the
Zapatistas or other oppositional groups. This
promotes fractures within the communities, in
violation of the 1995 Law for Dialogue. Funds are
also used to construct roads for military use,
completely disregarding the communities' needs, as is
the case in Amador Hernández.
The military presence has in many places replaced
traditional productive patterns with a service economy
catering to the needs of the military camps.
Furthermore, the hundreds of roadblocks set up
throughout the state keep people from bringing their
goods to market or purchasing needed items in town.
Militarization and the Internally Displaced: While
the Mexican Government desperately tries to cover up
the war it is waging in Chiapas against its own
indigenous peoples, indisputable testimony as to the
severity of the unilateral operation is given in the
refugee crisis the state is currently undergoing.
Forced to flee from their homes as a result of both
military and paramilitary action, usually in
conjunction, over 20,000 indigenous persons survive as
best they can in refugee camps, neighboring
communities, or simply in the wilderness, waiting
until the reign of violence ends and they can return
to their homes. The refugee camps are health and
environmental disaster areas, but even so the
paramilitaries continue their threats and attacks in
order to impede any humanitarian aid or medical help
from reaching the refugees. The situation continues
to deteriorate.