AUT: Appeal to Religious 1of4

[SIPAZ <sipaz@xxxxxxx>]

Dear Friends,

SIPAZ is circulating the attached statement on the Chiapas conflict in the
aftermath of the Acteal massacre.  We are seeking the endorsement of
religious leaders, primarily in the U.S., and we would appreciate your
help. Attached is a copy.

We believe that this is a critical time for the religious community to
register its anguish in the face of the unspeakable tragedy of Acteal. We
must also recognize that the massacre is only the worst explosion in a
growing pattern of paramilitary violence.  Hence this is a critical time to
register our profound concern that the violence be ended and that a just
and lasting resolution of the ongoing conflict be achieved.

For endorsers we are especially interested in persons in leadership
positions in national and regional church denominations and congregations
as well as in other faith-based organizations or movements.  We would
welcome the endorsement of anyone identified as a religious leader or
representative. PLEASE CONSIDER WHOM YOU MIGHT APPROACH ABOUT ENDORSING THE
STATEMENT.

That the Mexican government is extremely sensitive to outside pressure is
evident from its high-profile response to the massacre.  In the U.S., we
expect the issue of U.S. military assistance to Mexico to achieve a
considerably greater visibility  in 1998 as calls mount for a cutoff. Hence
we can expect that this statement, endorsed by a significant number of
prominent religious leaders, will have a constructive impact on both the
Mexican and U.S. governments.

In addition, we will seek to have the statement printed or reported on in a
wide variety of U.S. and Mexican media outlets, especially the religious
press.  In this sense it will serve as a tool to inform and mobilize the
religious community and, to some extent, the general public.

WE WILL COLLECT ENDORSEMENTS UNTIL FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27. Endorsers should
reply by then via mail, email or fax, indicating their support for the
statement and how they should be identified on the statement and if their
organizational identity should be listed "for identification purposes only."

After the sign-on period, we will send the statement, along with the names
and identities of endorsers, to U.S. and Mexican government officials and
to the media.  We will also send you a final copy.  We would appreciate
your help in getting it into your denominational or congregational
publications, to other media outlets, and to others in your constituency.

Please note that the statement pledges our support for ecumenical dialogue
efforts in Chiapas.  Currently religious differences contribute to the
polarization in Chiapas.  The ecumenical dialogue efforts initiated by
church leaders there, with which SIPAZ has assisted, are rooted in the
vision of the potential for a shared Christian faith to be a force for
reconciliation instead.

Two ecumenical dialogue conferences, bringing together grassroots
evangelical and Catholic representatives from conflicted areas in Chiapas,
were held in 1997.  More are planned for 1998, the first being at the end
of this month. We reported on the September 1997 gathering in the October
SIPAZ Report (Vol. II, No. 4, available from our office or on our website:
www.nonviolence.org/sipaz).  It was also covered in the January issue of
Sojourners magazine.

Here are three ways in which you can support these efforts:

1) keep them in your prayers;

2) send a message of support to the next ecumenical dialogue (February
27-28); messages may be sent via SIPAZ;

3) religious leaders might consider visiting Chiapas; Bishop Ruiz is
hosting an ecumenical delegation of European church leaders April 22-29; he
has invited SIPAZ to extend an invitation to U.S. church representatives;
contact our office for more information; in addition, SIPAZ will be hosting
other delegations this year (dates yet to be determined).

As SIPAZ  continues to work in this area, we will extend other
opportunities for your support and collaboration.

Attached is a some background information on the text along with sources
for the facts that are cited.

Finally, for those of you not familiar with our work, SIPAZ is an
international coalition of some 40 organizations from North America, Latin
America and Europe formed at the request of Mexican church and human rights
contacts to support the peace process in Chiapas.  Our work consists of
violence-reduction and peacebuilding strategies on the ground in Chiapas
and informing and mobilizing the international community.  We would be
pleased to add you to our mailing list to receive our quarterly SIPAZ
Report as well as Urgent Action appeals.

Thank you for your help with this important initiative in the long and
painful struggle for a just and lasting peace in Chiapas.

Sincerely,


Phil McManus Chair, SIPAZ







BACKGROUND ON RELIGIOUS LEADERS STATEMENT

* The facts about the massacre and Las Abejas have been well established in
press accounts citing the many witnesses as well as church sources with
long experience in the area.

* Government officials routinely cite historic injustice as a root cause of
the Chiapas conflict.  For example, in a recent op-ed piece the Mexican
consul in Boston wrote, "The impoverished Indians of Southern Mexico have
been largely exploited by local authorities and landowners for at least 500
years."  (Notwithstanding that both the officials and the "authorities and
landowners" are members of the same ruling party.)

* Press reports as well as human rights groups such as the Fray Bartolome
de las Casas Human Rights Center estimate the number of deaths from the
violence since the cease-fire at 300-600.  The same sources place the
current number of displaced persons in the northern region and the
highlands of Chiapas in the vicinity of 10,000, with 6,000 reportedly in
the Polho area (near Acteal) alone.

* There is as yet little sign that the response of the Mexican government
to the massacre reflects any significant change in its Chiapas policy.
However at the least it reflects the intense pressure that the Zedillo
administration faced.  Fingering local PRI politicians and forcing the
governor and the Interior Minister to resign reflect the high political
cost of the massacre.  Chuayffet, the Interior Minister, was perhaps the
second most prominent PRI politician after Zedillo.  He had his sights set
on running for president in 2000, so we can assume that he did not go
happily.  It may well be that the Mexican government is waiting for the
uproar to subside before determining what changes may be called for in its
policy.  Hence this is a critical moment to bring constructive pressure to
bear.

* The army document on paramilitary groups was reported on and excerpted in
the leading Mexican intellectual weekly, Proceso (No. 1105; January 4,
1998).  The Mexican Defense Ministry has reportedly denied its
authenticity.  However after reading it, one can only conclude that if it
is a fake, it is an extremely clever one.  Copies are available in Spanish
and English.

* Documentation on the growth of paramilitary groups in Chiapas can be
found in reports by Human Rights Watch, the Fray Bartolome de las Casas
Human Rights Center, and SIPAZ, among others.

* The entire text of what had been a secret agreement was published in the
Mexican daily La Jornada.  A Mexican Army general signed as a witness.

* The text of the letter by Bishop Raul Vera to the Interior Minister was
released by the Catholic Diocese of San Cristobal after the massacre.

* Numerous press reports cited the 5000 troop increase in Chiapas (bringing
the current total to approximately 35,000) and the aggressive patrols in
and around Zapatista strongholds such as La Realidad and Morelia right
after New Year's.  This is a bit of a complicated point.  If the Zedillo
administration were to decide to disarm the paramilitary groups, we can
expect that it would turn to the Army to accomplish the task.  On the other
hand, when the military stepped up its activities after the massacre,
instead of heading for the easily identifiable areas where paramilitary
groups have wreaked havoc, it headed instead for Zapatista strongholds
where the Zapatista presence has not resulted in any pattern of violent
social conflict.

* Mexican press reports (e.g., Milenio, No. 21, January 1998) have
identified prominent Mexican military officials who have been trained at
the School of the Americas, including some who have played important roles
in the counterinsurgency campaign in Chiapas. School of the Americas Watch,
the organization working to shut down the School of the Americas, has been
an important source of this information.  The number of Mexican officials
at the School of the Americas doubled in 1997.  For documentation on U.S.
and other foreign military assistance to Mexico, contact our office.

* Regarding the legality of U.S. military assistance, the Leahy Amendment
was part of the foreign-aid spending bill that President Clinton signed
into law on November 26, 1997.  It prohibits U.S. military aid to foreign
military units implicated in human rights violations.

* The San Andres Accords on Indigenous Rights and Culture were signed by
EZLN (Zapatista Army) and Mexican government representatives in February
1996.  After months of subsequent wrangling over the language of the
implementing legislation, COCOPA (the congressional mediation body)
announced that it would draft the legislation, based on the comments of the
two sides, but that it would only accept a 'yes' or 'no' response; no
amendments.  The EZLN agreed to the COCOPA proposal but the federal
government rejected it, instead introducing a modified version.  One of the
Zapatista conditions for renewing the peace talks (in which several themes
remain to be discussed) is the implementation of the existing agreements.



RELIGIOUS LEADERS CALL FOR PEACE IN CHIAPAS
===========================================


In Memory of the Martyrs of Acteal

When all the prisoners of the land are crushed under foot, when human
rights are perverted in the presence of the Most High, when one's case is
subverted - does the Lord not see it?... All our enemies have opened their
mouths against us; panic and pitfall have come upon us, devastation and
destruction. My eyes flow with rivers of tears because of the destruction
of my people. Lamentations 3:34-36,46-48

WE CRY OUT IN GRIEF joining our voices to the worldwide clamor prompted by
the December 22 massacre in Acteal, Chiapas, Mexico. The 45 victims, mostly
women and children murdered in the very act of praying for peace, were
members of a Christian group, Las Abejas (The Bees).  They had chosen the
path of nonviolent love in their unceasing struggle for justice, a
commitment for which they paid the ultimate price.

We, the undersigned religious leaders, call on the governments of Mexico
and the United States to examine official policies that have resulted in
stalled peace talks and repeated explosions of violence in Chiapas.
Resolute action is urgently needed to de-militarize the conflict and
achieve a negotiated resolution.

The Mexican government has recognized repeatedly that the intolerable
situation of indigenous peoples in Chiapas is rooted in centuries of
oppression and discrimination. Recent years have seen the rise of organized
opposition, including everything from political parties to non-governmental
organizations to an armed insurgency.  As representatives of the religious
community, we lament that historic injustices have at times been
exacerbated by the intolerance of various religious communities.  We
deplore the rise of paramilitary groups in this conflictive context and the
enormous cost in human suffering - hundreds of deaths, thousands displaced,
untold deprivation and disease.

We are encouraged that the Mexican government reacted to the massacre and
resultant outcry by arresting members of a paramilitary group, including
the local ruling- party mayor.  In addition, the governor of Chiapas and
the federal Interior Minister were replaced.  However, there is evidence of
a pattern of government tolerance - and even support - for such
paramilitary groups:

* Recent media reports revealed an October 1994 Mexican Army document
calling for "the advising and support of the self-defense forces or other
paramilitary groups" in order "to break the support relationship that
exists between the population and the [Zapatista Army]."

* Mexican and international human rights groups have documented the growing
number of paramilitary groups operating with impunity in Chiapas since 1995.

* In July 1997, the Chiapas state government provided the notorious
paramilitary group "Paz y Justicia" with $580,000 in assistance, ostensibly
for agricultural projects.

* Raul Vera, Coadjutor Bishop in San Cristobal de las Casas, wrote to the
Mexican Interior Minister in October 1997: "We have information that
paramilitary groups are multiplying...ruling party congressmen are
sponsoring the sale and the trafficking of weapons, acting as protectors
and coordinators of the various paramilitary groups."  He received no reply.

We are further troubled that after the massacre, the military increased its
presence in Chiapas by 5,000 troops and staged aggressive maneuvers in
Zapatista areas.

The United States must also examine its role in the increasing
militarization of the conflict.  Key military officials in Chiapas
responsible for counterinsurgency strategy have been trained at the U.S.
School of the Americas. Most of the Mexican Army's weapons come from the U.S.

Any attempt at a military solution in Chiapas will only lead to more
bloodshed and unrest, a loss of credibility for the Mexican government, and
strained U.S.-Mexico relations.

WE CALL FOR PEACE pledging our solidarity with the suffering people of
Chiapas.

We call upon the U.S. government to re-examine the appropriateness and
legality of further U.S. military assistance and training in light of the
widespread human rights abuses attributed to the Mexican Army by Amnesty
International and other human rights groups and in light of the Army's
reported ties with paramilitary groups.

We call on the Zedillo administration in Mexico to act decisively to
achieve a negotiated solution and specifically: * to take immediate steps
to disarm completely the paramilitary groups in Chiapas; * to implement the
February 1996 San Andres Accords on Indigenous Rights and Culture without
further delay as a necessary prelude to renewed peace talks; * to refrain
from any military action that might threaten peace talks.

Inspired and challenged by the witness of the martyrs of Acteal, we commit
ourselves to: * continuous prayer and effective advocacy for a just and
lasting peace; * support for existing ecumenical dialogue initiatives in an
effort to create a positive environment for trust and cooperation among the
indigenous people of Chiapas.

May the sacrifice of the many martyrs of Chiapas be the last shedding of
innocent blood in that suffering region.  May their vision and their
commitment to nonviolence be an inspiration that spurs renewed efforts in
the search for a community of peace on earth.






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