AUT: Vicious Attacks on Civilians in Chiapas (fwd)

["Harry M. Cleaver" <hmcleave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sun, 22 Aug 1999 18:56:31 -0700
From: irlandesa <irlandesa@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Reply-To: chiapas-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
To: Multiple recipients of list <chiapas-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Vicious Attacks on Civilians in Chiapas

Originally published in Spanish by Enlace Civil A.C.
<enlacecivil@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
______________________________
Translated by irlandesa

Date:   Sunday, August 22, 1999 14:00:35 -0600
From:   gozuna@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[I would like to emphasize the extraordinary importance of the following
denuncia, following, as it does, on the heels of the remarks and actions by
the current interim governor of the state of Chiapas, Roberto Albores
Guillen.  It should be recalled that last week Albores Guillen visited San
Quintin, near the town of Amador Hernandez, which had just been taken over
in a massive military and mixed force operation.  During that visit,
Albores Guillen made radio broadcasts in which he taunted the zapatistas
and vowed to show them, saying he was "willing to assume the risks."  He
also called on the people of Chiapas to "take to the squares" to
demonstrate their unwillingness to tolerate the "outsiders." The roadblock
at Nuevo Momon was immediately set up by PRI's there, and this was widely
reported in the press at the time - irlandesa]

ATTACKS ON CIVILIANS
****************************************

August 22, 1999
San Cristobal de Las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico

On August 21, at 11PM (daylight savings time), at the Nuevo Momon
crossroads, municipality of Las Margaritas, a three-ton truck, travelling
from the community of La Realidad to Las Margaritas, was intercepted by a
group of PRI's and paramilitaries.  Travelling in this truck were:  the
truck driver, along with his wife, two international observers and a
Mexican doctor who is a member of ENLACE CIVIL A.C.

This interception occurred at 11 PM at the Nuevo Momon crossroads by a
group of 150 indigenous persons, who said they were PRIs from the
communities around Nuevo Momon.

The driver got down from the truck in order to find out what was going on.
The answer by the PRIs was:  they were not going to allow them to travel.
They immediately opened the lower part of the truck, and, when the PRIs saw
the two international observers, they pulled them out violently.  And,
along with the doctor who was riding in the front of the truck, they began
insulting them and saying that "the foreigners were the ones responsible
for the current situation in Chiapas, that they were the teachers who were
coming to teach the zapatistas, and they were the reason things were going
badly."  At the same time they warned them that they would not be leaving
until the PRIs decided whether they were leaving or staying.

The two international observers and the doctor told those persons they
wanted to go, and if they prevented them from going, it would mean a
kidnapping, by depriving them of their liberty and making them stay there
against their will.  To which the PRIs responded that, if they really
wanted to know what a kidnapping was, they would tie them up and take them
to the community of Eden (a PRI community).  All the people at the blockade
began insulting them and threatening them with the machetes they were
carrying.  They said it was they who were giving the orders, and not the
foreigners, that they didn't want people who had anything to do with the
zapatistas.  They began to get more upset, and said they were going to make
them come and work with them if they kept on asking when they were going to
release them.

A few minutes later, a mestizo-looking person appeared, who began asking
the names of the persons who were detained there.  The observers and the
doctor refused to give him their information, and they said they would not
give him their information until he identified himself.  In addition, the
observers and the doctor had already presented their identification at the
federal army checkpoint in the community of Vicente Guerrero (a half hour
away from Nuevo Momon, and where they had been held for more time than had
been necessary for them to just take down their names.  Because of this,
they had been afraid that this action was in order to inform the people at
Nuevo Momon, so they would be waiting for them).  Once more the observers
and the doctor asked that they be let go, because this was against the law.
 To which they responded that ""the autonomy of the PRI towns is above the
federal government."

The doctor asked them to let her get a sweater, because it was very cold.
They said no, she would have to suffer like they were.

The men blocking the way continued to insult, to assault and to threaten
them.  They also told them that if they were in Chiapas, they would have to
suffer the consequences, and they should know what risks they were taking
by being in a place where there was a problem between PRIs and zapatistas.
And that they should remember 1994, and now the PRIs were going to kill the
zapatistas one by one.  That the foreigners should get out, as well as
everyone who had come from outside.

An hour went by, and the two international observers, the doctor, the
driver and his wife remained kidnapped, insulted and assaulted by the PRIs.
They asked them to release them, to which they once again responded that,
if they wanted to go they would have to go on foot, but that, further on,
they would be detained by another group of them and they would beat them
up.  The threats to tie them up and to take them to Eden continued.  They
showed them ropes and machetes in order to intimidate them.

During this entire time that they were held kidnapped, a group of
approximately 50 PRI persons, with chainsaws, axes and shovels, were
cutting down trees in order to block the road, and they were also
collecting rocks.  When they had finished blocking the road, a person from
the group came towards the observers and the doctor, and he told them they
were going to continue working and they could go now.  But first they would
have to search their belongings, and, if they felt they could keep their
things, they would.  The PRIs took down the bags, and they took a camera,
two books, nine rolls of film and money.  When asked to return their
belongings, the PRIs began to physically assault the observers and the
doctor.

There were 5 PRI persons under the truck, and that was when the doctor was
pulled down on her knees, and they dragged her for more than 30 feet.  They
held her feet and hands, keeping her immobilized while they beat her up
with their fists and kicked her and pulled her hair.  They tried to take
off her clothes, and one of the PRIs tried to put his fingers in her vagina
through her clothing.  At that point, they began beating one of the
international observers, throwing him to the ground and dragging him by the
hair for at least 30 feet.  They kicked him all over his body.  They also
beat up the other observer with their fists and kicked her.  The beatings
lasted for approximately 15 minutes.

They stopped beating them, and they returned some of their belongings to
them, except for the above mentioned items.  They threatened them, telling
them to leave and to not come back.  They were able to get back into the
truck.  They threatened to kill the driver if they saw him in the area
again, and said they would kill the two international persons ("the two
yankees").

Barely 150 feet from where the observers, the doctor, the driver and his
wife had been kidnapped and beaten, the truck was intercepted again by
another group of five persons, wearing federal army uniforms and asking for
identification from the persons in the truck.  The observers and the
doctors answered them that their belongings had been robbed 150 feet from
there, and they didn't have any identification.  The soldiers had no
response to that.  It is important to emphasize that, when there are
federal army checkpoints, there are signs on the road saying "HALT AT X
NUMBER OF METERS/MILITARY POST," "HALT CONTROL," "COMPLETE STOP."  However,
there were no signs of any kind there.  Fifteen feet from where they were,
those federal soldiers met with a group of 10 civilians, and sixty feet
away there was a private vehicle, a pickup truck, that was blocking the
way.  The federal soldiers warned the driver of the truck not to stop along
the road until they reached Las Margaritas, because the entire road was
under surveillance and they could be shot at.  They let them through.

Today, August 22, 1999, is the medical part of the physical and
psychological injuries of the victims.

The international observers and the doctor, as well as the driver and his
wife, were conscious and oriented as to time, place and person, with a high
level of adrenal energy.

SUMMARY OF MEDICAL PART

1.  First and second degree abrasive injuries are observed to the costal
area, superior and inferior extremities.
2.  Contusions
3.  Hematomas
4.  Bruising
5.  Regions painful to light palpation
No life threatening injuries or injuries to the functioning of vital organs
were found.
6.  The psychological trauma is irreversible and permanent.

We are making this denuncia of the attacks to which Mexicans and
international observers are being subjected within the state of Chiapas,
holding responsible for all the attacks: the President of the Republic,
Ernesto Zedillo, the Secretary of Government, Diodoro Carrasco, and Roberto
Albores Guillen.

And we are holding them responsible for the physical, moral and
psychological safety of all the residents of the communities of Chiapas, as
well as of all national and foreign observers who are in Mexican territory.

We demand the immediate withdrawal of the blockades being maintained by the
PRIs and paramilitaries on the orders of the Governor of the State and of
the Department of Government, as well as the immediate withdrawal of all
federal army troops who are remaining in the communities of the state of
Chiapas.

Sincerely,

The Civil Observation Network (RECIO Against the War)

JUNAX, FRAY BARTOLOME DE LAS CASAS HRC, K'INAL ANTZETIK, A. C.;
REGIONAL COORDINATOR FOR LOS ALTOS FOR THE CONSULTA; FORMACION Y
CAPACITACION A.C.; ENLACE CIVIL A. C.; APRENDAMOS A. C.; BOLETIN QUINCENAL,
RESISTENCIA; JOLOM MAYAETIK A. C.; COLECTIVO EDUCACION PARA LA PAZ A. C.;
CIVIC ALLIANCE A.C.; CASA DE LA LUNA CRECIENTE; FZLN- SAN CRISTOBAL; SADEC.

S.O.S. CHIAPAS



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