BoCa En BoCa No 38 *English* November 2015

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BoCa En BoCa is an independent newssheet that aims to disseminate what happens in the organized communities in Chiapas. The aim is to generate solidarity among communities, through summaries or extracts of their publications transmitting their words.

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Boca en Boca 38 November 2015

SUMMARIES

New threats and harassment against displaced women and men from Primero de Agosto

On 1/10, displaced villagers from Primero de Agosto, Las Margaritas, declared in a communiqué: "We have suffered death threats, attempted murder, kidnapping, robbery, plunder and destruction from ejido members of Miguel Hidalgo, members of the CIOAC-Historic." They denounced threats "on 29/09, when authorities and ejido members of Miguel Hidalgo came to threaten us, telling us they have plans together with their leaders and regional committees of CIOAC-H, with support from the three levels of government to kidnap six of our compas and carry out a new armed eviction." A day later, they complained of harassment, "C. Armando Mendez Lopez fired shots in the air, telling us that they’ll evict us any day now and kidnap our compas," and "a man passed by in a CIOAC-H vehicle, going very slowly so as to scrutinize us. The same vehicle brought CIOAC people in from other communities to our village Primero de Agosto." They denounced impunity and injustice "because of the absence and omission of government," recalling their compa who was attacked by a cioaquista with a machete, and in December when cioaquistas "entered violently with guns to destroy houses and gardens", "this fact remains unpunished, there is no justice." Finally, they complained: "The Chiapas state government pledged on 25/02/2015 to do justice and distribute the land equally; however, more than seven months have passed and they have done nothing. On the contrary, they have allowed the situation to get worse."

https://dorsetchiapassolidarity.wordpress.com/2015/10/11/displaced-tojolabal-families-from-primero-de-agosto-community-denounce-threats-of-a-new-displacement/

Hunger strike starts because of government failure to meet obligations

The Digna Ochoa Human Rights Centre in Tonala denounced "the failure of the government of Chiapas to hand over the premises of the public market in the town of Arriaga, as well as the allocation of premises." They recalled that on "27/05 recognition was established of the Board and the tenants as those solely responsible for intervening in the hand-over of the premises" on 26/07; "They agreed that for the local administration and assignment of premises there would be a provisional representative committee set up", but on 29/09 the premises were handed over to "people who are not tenants, nor have at any time been endorsed by the tenants." On 5/10 the final list excluded "several people from that list." The HRC denounced "After more than two years of waiting, tenants are still selling their products outside, in the cathedral and beside the railway tracks in precarious conditions, unhealthy and unsafe". http://espoirchiapas.blogspot.mx/2015/10/cdh-digna-ochoa-de-tonala-denuncia.html

In another communiqué on 15/10, the HRC announced that "13 tenants [aged 20 to 67] have declared a hunger strike." http://espoirchiapas.blogspot.mx/2015/10/locatarios-y-locatarios-del-mercado-de.html

Peoples of Chiapas build the other justice

PUDEE, Xin’ich, and the Abejas of Acteal convened the forum: Walking the Other Justice. With other organizations: Believing People of Simojovel, Primero de Agosto and displaced men and women of Banavil, they published a joint statement on 11/10: "We are here to join our words and thoughts, and to strengthen our hearts to walk towards True Justice which will bring us a decent and good life and live the dream and project of Life of our grandparents. Today our task and struggle is to achieve that dream. Walking with the Permanent Tribunal of the Peoples gave us an example to continue working to organise and struggle for the truth, against repetition and forgetting (…) We are here in Acteal, not to resign ourselves. Not to get an agreement and say that "the bad government is powerful and we are not going to be able to do anything." We are in the Forum, [we] who live under impunity in the flesh, to discuss and reaffirm our words and the construction of Lekil Chapanel, of Bats’il meltsanel, that is, Dignified Justice, True Justice, complete and humanised." They explained:" Our thoughts and hearts are well aware that the bad government will never give justice."

"That is why the way to find a dignified, lasting, human and complete justice is in our hands, which means that men and women of the conscious people have to work and put it into practice from our communities and peoples. Therefore we the peoples reaffirm that we are organized, that we will build our own laws. We affirm that the Accords of San Andres Sakamch’en de los Pobres are part of our tools for True Justice."

"The Other Justice is for any person humiliated, discriminated or oppressed and unjustly repressed by the neoliberal capitalist system." They concluded "We will continue uniting as communities, peoples, and organisations to defend it, because here with Mother Earth is our life, for this we demand justice, the Other Justice that we are building, it is also for Mother Earth and we want her rights to be recognised and respected […] we say that from pain the light that illuminates hope is born and gives us strength and vision to go walking the Other Justice."

http://acteal.blogspot.mx/2015/10/pronunciamiento-conjunto-del-foro.html

https://dorsetchiapassolidarity.wordpress.com/2015/10/26/indigenous-people-of-chiapas-organize-in-acteal-to-continue-the-path-of-the-other-justice/

IN BRIEF

28/09 Prisoners unjustly detained in Cereso 5 celebrate the "sad" day of (female and male) prisoners and denounce the transfer of Alejandro Diaz Santiz. http://chiapasdenuncia.blogspot.mx/2015/09/carta-de-presos-del-penal-5-san.html22/10

29/09 Prisoners unjustly jailed allege being treated badly by health services within Cereso No. 5. http://chiapasdenuncia.blogspot.mx/2015/09/presos-denuncian-malos-tratos.html

29/09 Ejidatarios and organizations are mobilizing to protest against the damage caused by the Nueva Francia mining project, Escuintla. http://otrosmundoschiapas.org/index.php/temas-analisis/32-32-mineria/2095-la-rema-se-solidariza-con-la-movilizacion-contra-la-mina-nueva-francia-en-el-municipio-de-escuintla-chiapas

01/10 The organized people from Tzimol denounce theft by their mayor. http://regeneracion.mx/politica-2/alcalde-priista-de-tzimol-chiapas-se-robo-toda-la-tierra-del-pueblo/

02/10 400 Chol people from Laklumal Ixim-Norte Selva carry out a roadblock to demand justice and to remember the 2/10 and denounce the presence of armed people from PVEM. http://comunicacionyrebeldia.blogspot.mx/2015/10/mexico-indigenas-choles-se-movilizan.html

02/10 "Let´s compare the Diaz Ordaz regime with the current one of Peña Nieto," Teacher training students from Chiapas. http://www.pozol.org/?p=11346

02/10 FNLS denounces attacks, deployment of police and paramilitaries against compañeros from El Carrizal community, in Ocosingo. http://fnls.mayfirst.org/spip.php?article1992

07/10 Following the death of one of their members, the FNLS calls for the dismantling of an alleged paramilitary group "the petules" in the region of Ocosingo. http://www.debatetuespacio.mx/noticias/1058-pide-fnls-desarticular-presunto-grupo-paramilitar

13/10 OPEZ MLN reports a dozen wounded following a conflict by common carriers in the municipality of Mezcalapa. http://radioproletaria.wix.com/radio-proletaria#!BOLETIN-DE-PRENSA-OPEZMLN-SOBRE-EL-ENFRENTAMIENTO-EN-MUNICIPIO-DE-MEZCALAPA-

16/10 Esteban Gomez Jimenez, unjustly imprisoned, denounces his transfer to Cereso 14, away from his family. https://dorsetchiapassolidarity.wordpress.com/2015/10/18/a-more-local-prison-is-denied-to-political-prisoner-from-san-sebastian-bachajon/

17/10 OCEZ-RC peasants, denounce members of the OCEZ MLN for eviction, assault and forced disappearance in Chicomuselo. https://www.chiapasparalelo.com/noticias/2015/10/campesinos-son-desplazados-por-disputa-de-un-predio-en-chicomuselo/

17/10 Report and Action Against Gender Violence Group is strongly concerned about the series of gender attacks, and announces several actions. https://fronterasurmx.wordpress.com/2015/10/17/carta-publica-grupo-de-accion-y-denuncia-contra-la-violencia-machista/

20/10 The situation of 70 displaced families in Chicomuselo. https://www.chiapasparalelo.com/noticias/2015/10/campesinos-son-desplazados-por-disputa-de-un-predio-en-chicomuselo/

22/10 The Abejas of Acteal do not negotiate the blood of martyrs and will continue building a just and human world. www.acteal.blogspot.com

23/10 The lawyer of the Ejidal Committee affected by the Chicoasen II dam is arrested and protest is criminalized. http://www.pozol.org/?p=11430

25/10 The military-police and paramilitary siege against the ejido El Carrizal of OCEZ-FNLS continues. http://fnls.mayfirst.org/spip.php?article2025

25/10 Unfairly jailed prisoners celebrate Alejandro Diaz´s birthday, and urge the governor to keep his promise. http://kolectivozero.blogspot.mx/2015/10/presos-injustamente-del-cereso-5-le.html

FOLLOW-UP

10/10 FNLS denounces paramilitary checkpoint run by people supported by "Los Petules" http://fnls.mayfirst.org/spip.php?article2009

15/10 The IACHR grant safeguarding measures to human rights defenders from Simojovel community. http://www.pozol.org/?p=11392 http://www.frayba.org.mx/archivo/boletines/151015_boletin_25_simojovel_mc.pdf

17/10 In Tila, members of the Committee DH Digna Ochoa, denounce the FNLS for slander, and ask for justice. http://www.elcentinela.com.mx/municipio/piden-justicia-para-toni-reynaldo-gutierrez-lopez-en-el-municipio-de-tila/

18/10 Agricultural authorities of Santa Maria Chimalapa demand an end to new invasions of their territory. http://www.chimalapas.blogspot.mx/2015_10_01_archive.html

HIGHLIGHTS 1

Before the ICHR, Las Abejas refuse to reach an amicable solution with the Mexican State

A representative of the Frayba Centre for Human Rights and Las Abejas of Acteal delivered to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, "a document entitled Massacre of Acteal. A Psychosocial Study of the background, factors associated with the fact, management of the emergency, psychosocial consequences and collective impact. That expert report, said the director of Frayba, "justifies the statement that the slaughter took place in the context of a war, in which the actions of paramilitaries were a key part of the counterinsurgency strategy implemented by the Mexican government." In his presentation, Juan Vazquez, a survivor of the slaughter and an official of the organization, recalled the 45 victims and 26 wounded, and recalled that the massacre lasted 6 hours "without the police, who were only 200 metres away, taking action to prevent the massacre". He denounced the transfer of 45 bodies, "never did they seek consent from their families (…) They took away their bodies, they gave them back to us all empty and some with a high degree of decomposition". The government for its part, denies any involvement in the massacre, although it acknowledges its failure to prevent the deeds. For the government it is a matter of "conflicts between members of the indigenous communities." At the end of his speech, the government representative proposed an amicable solution. https://dorsetchiapassolidarity.wordpress.com/2015/10/25/throughout-these-6-512-days-we-have-been-worn-down-with-exhaustion-say-the-victims-of-the-acteal-massacre-to-the-iachr/

The same day, at a press conference, Las Abejas published a statement: "The massacre of Acteal was a result of the Mexican government’s counterinsurgency strategy against the Zapatistas and against the organised peoples and communities critical of the system of death." They recalled the mass release of paramilitary perpetrators of the massacre: "The paramilitaries are now happy and free walking wherever they like in our communities and especially in Acteal. Because it is the same government that allowed them to return and rewarded them with houses, land and money. The return of the paramilitaries to Acteal is a time bomb." Finally they stated: "Given the cynicism of the Mexican state in denying its responsibility for the massacre of Acteal, we say as our colleague Juan Vazquez said before the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights, we do not agree to reach an amicable solution with the Mexican state." https://dorsetchiapassolidarity.wordpress.com/2015/10/26/las-abejas-of-acteal-reject-friendly-solution-with-mexican-state/

HIGHLIGHTS 2

Chiapas mobilises a year after Ayotzinapa

In a statement released on 24/09, Subcomandantes Moisés and Galeano announced that "thousands of Zapatistas, are demonstrating in our territories to embrace all the people who are feeling pain and anger because of prison, disappearance and death imposed by those above." https://dorsetchiapassolidarity.wordpress.com/2015/09/26/ezln-for-pain-for-rage-for-truth-for-justice/ http://www.pozol.org/?p=11262

The Abejas issued a statement in solidarity, "because our memory is infinite, because our indignation is immense, because our heart is much bigger than the pain which the bad government has sown in Ayotzinapa, in Acteal, and throughout Mexico." "Ayotzinapa is a state crime, let this be marked in the conscience of the 3 levels of Mexican government (…) It is the continuation of anger, the fire of the Hydra". https://dorsetchiapassolidarity.wordpress.com/2015/10/10/actions-for-the-one-year-anniversary-of-the-ayotzinapa-disappearances/

Adherents of the Sixth Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle in San Sebastian Bachajón also expressed solidarity: "we express our full contempt and rage against the narco government for all the suffering and pain it generates among the families of the 43 disappeared compas […] we need to keep joining our struggle to build a new world and spaces of freedom." https://dorsetchiapassolidarity.wordpress.com/2015/09/27/san-sebastian-bachajon-in-solidarity-with-ayotzinapa/

Members of the Autonomous Regional Council of the Coastal Zone and the Civic Front of Tonalteco, students and teachers marched in Tonala with over 1,000 people present. "They demanded that the Mexican government should present the 43 trainee teachers alive, and fulfil the 8 demands made by the relatives of the 43 disappeared to Enrique Peña Nieto, and repeal the structural reforms" as well as other demands. https://dorsetchiapassolidarity.wordpress.com/2015/10/02/members-of-the-national-indigenous-congress-in-solidarity-with-ayotzinapa/

The CNI, during the march declared: "We recognise the truth and justice that with their unyielding struggle the parents have turned their pain into determination not to rest until they see the young people return, until the guilty pay for their guilt, until what happened one long year ago does not happen again, weaving below, where the wounds have been left by the capitalist war against all peoples." http://enlacezapatista.ezln.org.mx/2015/09/30/palabras-del-cni-en-el-zocalo-el-26-de-septiembre-de-2015/

ELSEWHERE

INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR KOBANE

On 1/11/2014 "an international appeal was launched to hold a Global Day of Action for Kobane and for Humanity, an urgent international appeal for people all over the world to show their solidarity with Kobane, requesting humanitarian assistance and materials."

"The energetic resistance of Kurdish men and women in the strategic border region of Rojava (Western Kurdistan in Syria) inspired people and governments around the world to successfully repel the siege by Islamic State (ISIS) of the town of Kobane, about a year ago. Their struggle became a symbol of popular resistance. "

"The people of Kobane have continued to suffer, many families fleeing in search of a safer place. It is therefore even more urgent to create a humanitarian corridor from Turkey to Kobane, in order to facilitate the flow of aid to the city, still vulnerable to ISIS attacks.

Therefore, you must put pressure on the AKP government in Ankara to take immediate steps to ensure that essential medical supplies, food and clothing can reach Kobane. Despite the incessant bombardment by ISIS forces in recent months, Kobane is still standing proud and free. Its inhabitants are continuing their fierce resistance and are determined to defend their autonomous administration, which is one of three cantons in the Democratic Autonomous Administration of Rojava, which is secular, democratic, non-sectarian and for gender equality."

"It is time for the world to recognize that democratic autonomy in Rojava and the "Rojava Model" promise a free future for all the peoples of Syria. It is time to talk about peace and to act for peace. To support Kobane is to support peace."