Foredrag av Adolfo de Andrés på mexicoseminaret:

INDEX:

• Brief history and overview of MEP
• The situation in Mexico now
• Organizations with whom PBI works
• Why does PBI work in Mexico?
• PBI working lines
• Future perspectives

 
Brief History and Overview of the Mexico Project

1994: Armed upraising of the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) show the real and critical situation of Mexican indigenous to the world.

1996: First PBI exploration team visits Chiapas for two months to get information of the human rights conditions of people in that state. They receive the first international accompaniment request from the CONPAZ.

1997: PBI and SIPAZ (International Service for Peace) make an agreement to collaborate in terms of advising in trainings and conflict resolutions.

1998: International PBI Assembly decide to encourage PBI Mexico to provide international accompaniment in Mexico.

1999: Second PBI exploration team visits Chiapas, Guerrero, Oaxaca, D.F., and other states. They receive many accompaniment requests from different organizations in these states.

2000: A permanent team of five volunteers from Europe and N.A. is established in a house-office in Mexico D.F.

Throughout 2000:

All parts of MEP worked towards the goal to offering long-term accompaniment to the organizations requesting this service.

Much time and energy was devoted to legal work in order to obtain secure legal status in Mexico.

With the support of two Mexican lawyers, a large collection of documents relating to PBI were presented to the Mexican government in January 2000, as part of a formal request for the visas that would permit PBI volunteers to carry out long-term protective accompaniment in Mexico.

After more than nine months of legal proceedings, PBI obtained “non-immigrant” visas for two of its volunteers, while three other ones were approved to receive visas in February-2001.

The project also made headway in other areas of its work. The team published our biweekly Information Package (PIQ) in Spanish. And the bi-monthly bulletin in Spanish and English.

The team worked extensively in public relations and developed strategies for the accompanying work.

In September, the Coordinating Office was moved to Brussels, Belgium, and a coordination project team was established there.

Two trainings for volunteers was conducted in North America and Europe, from which 11 volunteers were selected to join the team at different times for one year each. 
 

The situation in Mexico now:

Much of the year 2000 in Mexico was marked by the presidential elections in July. On 2nd, 65% of the eligible Mexicans participated in the elections and reject the government of the Party of the Institutionalized Revolution (PRI), which had held the power for more than 70 years.

The focus of interest on the national and the international level in the past years has clearly been on Chiapas, due to the armed uprising of the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) in 1994.

Human rights organizations have documented a enormous amount of abuses by the Army and the different Police corporations as well as civilian authorities.

Even though other states of the country are facing similar problems as Chiapas, especially the two impoverished states of Guerrero and Oaxaca, those have received far less attention.

This continues to be the case with the new Fox led government, knowing that international attention also mainly focuses on Chiapas.

Since 1996, when the armed guerrilla group “Popular Revolutionary Army – EPR” and later the “Insurgent People's Revolutionary Army - ERPI” became active in Oaxaca and Guerrero, these states have suffered from increasing violence, army forces and human rights abuses.

However, there is currently little or no international presence offering protective accompaniment to affected communities.

The persecution of presumed members or sympathizers of the armed groups has led to an increased number of abuses against the civilian population in the region, as reported by human rights organizations. 

Guerrero:

Two massacres, one in 1995 of 17 peasants at Aguas Blancas and another in 1998 of 11 supposed guerrillas in El Charco, have marked the recent history of repression in the state.

Besides the existence of guerrilla groups, an additional pretext for this repression is a wide spread anti-drug campaign, even though local human rights groups accuse some army and government officials of having links to the drug trade themselves.

This strategy was continued in the year 2000, since the changes on the federal level have had far less impact in Guerrero because here the local congress and government continue to be controlled by the PRI with a long history of corruption and powerful caciques.

One of the human rights defenders who solicited PBI accompaniment is Abel Jesús Barrera Hernández, director of the Human Rights Center “de la Montaña Tlalchinollan”, who has repeatedly been threatened in the past years.

According to Mr. Barrera, the Center currently has 61 cases of victims of torture from the past four years, none of which has lead to favorable results in any of the investigations due to the impunity reigning in the state. 
 

Oaxaca:

The government and the army have carried out a counter-insurgency strategy in the Loxicha region for the past four years.

85 peasants from the region were being held prisoners as alleged EPR members, 20 of whom were sentenced to 30 to 40 years of prison.

In addition, there are 250 arrest warrants pending against residents of the Loxichas.

After an amnesty law was approved by the state in December 2000, 32 of the prisoners were freed and 55 more are waiting to benefit from this law.

However, the state Amnesty would not benefit the rest of the prisoners, whose cases are being processed at the federal level.

On the other hand, the liberated people now fear reprisals upon their return home by so called “white guards” and the municipal president of the Municipality of San Augustín Loxichas. They fear their return is made impossible due to the “no-pacification” of the region.

PBI volunteers have spoken to numerous organizations and human rights defenders in the region who feel vulnerable and lacking protection against attacks. They have received many petitions for protective accompaniment in these states. 

Mexico D.F.

Many well-established human rights organizations, including the National Human Rights Network “La Red Todos los Derechos para Todos” have their head offices in Mexico City where Mexico's civil society is also concentrated.

The political space for these organizations has broadened over the past decades.

However, since the latter part of 1999 recurring incidents have reduced this space considerably. The office of the prominent Jesuit Human Rights Center Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez received numerous threats and the Red was observed, spied on as well as openly filmed and photographed .

With two operatives in February 2000, the student strike of almost one year was ended violently by the Policía Federal Preventiva (Federal Preventative Police – PFP: created in 1999, made up of mainly ex-military personnel).

In the second operative, more than 2,000 agents of the PFP entered the Autonomous University of Mexico to arrest 736 students.

Most of them were let go for lack of evidence of any committed crime, but from the two operatives more than 350 were consigned to different courts. 
   

Organizations with whom PBI works:

More than fifteen Mexican organizations have requested PBI's presence and protective accompaniment in Mexico.
Here is a brief description of some of them:

D.F:

Asociación de Familiares de Detenidos Desaparecidos y Víctimas de Violaciones a los Derechos Humanos en México (AFADEM/FEDEFAM).
They were one of the first requesting accompaniment to PBI in Mexico. Group of relatives of disappeared in 70's decade, and relatives of ones murdered in Aguas Blancas and El Charco killings (Guerrero).

Centro de Derechos Humanos “Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez”.
They make an important work of analysis and diffusion of human rights in Mexico, and denounce, defense and support of different cases of violation of human rights.

Red Nacional de Organismos Civiles de Derechos Humanos “Todos los Derechos para Todos”.
More than 45 organizations of the defense and promotion of human rights from 15 Mexico states make up la Red. This is a coordination space where the organizations try to exchange experiences and support themselves.

Guerrero:

Centro de Derechos Humanos de la Montaña (Tlachinollan).
This organization is directed by Abel Barrera and investigates, documents and denounces human rights abuses by state and military authorities among the indigenous population in the central highlands.

Oaxaca:

Centro de Derechos Humanos Ñu'u Ji Kandií.

Centro Regional de Derechos Humanos “Bartolomé Carrasco”.
They work for the promotion, diffusion and defense of human rights.

Unión de Pueblos contra la Represión y la Militarización de la región Loxicha (Israel Ochoa, lawyer who is carrying out this case).
Group of relatives of prisoners and disappeared in the community of San Agustin Loxicha.
 

Why does PBI work in Mexico?

Amnesty International Report 2000 – Mexico (introduction extract):

“Arbitrary detentions, torture, killings and death threats continued to be reported. The victims included peasants, indigenous people, human rights defenders and political activist. In Mexico City students participating in a strike at the National Autonomous University of Mexico were abducted, ill-treated and threatened with death.”

Center for Justice and International Law (report).

Some cases in which the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights asked Mexican Government to put prevent measures to protect them:

Digna Ochoa and other lawyers of Prodh (Mexico D.F.)
Jose Renteria and others of Ñu'u Ji Kandií (Oaxaca)
Magencio Abad Zeferino Dominguez of Tlachinollan (Guerrero)
Maria Estela Garcia Ramírez and family of Loxichas (Oaxaca)
All of them have requested international accompaniment to PBI.

UN Chairperson-Rapporteur of the Working Group on Indigenous Populations who visited Mexico in February of 2000 expressed concern “over the increase of amount of army forces in indigenous areas, especially in Oaxaca, Chiapas and Guerrero, and the increasing use of the military for police functions. This situation provokes outbreaks of violence, an atmosphere of fear and gross violations of human rights, including the right to life and physical and mental integrity, the right not to be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, and the right to be free from arbitrary arrest and detention.”

The UN special rapporteur for extra judicial executions stated in her report:

“Mexican human rights defenders and members of non-governmental organizations have reportedly continued to receive frequent death threats over the last few years. It appears that human rights activists working in remote rural areas have been particularly exposed to acts of violence and intimidation. (…) The continuing threats against the lives of human rights defenders suggest that the Government has not, despite its declared commitment to do so, taken adequate steps to provide these persons with protection and eliminate threats to their security.” 
 

PBI working lines in Mexico:

1) Accompaniments:
With the first visas, PBI Mexico has begun to develop its work of international accompaniment. The project committee decided to start accompaniments with the Centro de Derechos Humanos de la Montaña “Tlachinollan” in Tlapa, Guerrero.

Other accompaniments we recently have requested to make are in Acapulco (Guerrero), and Oaxaca.

2) Interviews and dialogue with civil and military authorities:
In order for PBI's presence to be useful, it's necessary that all parties involved understand as thoroughly as possible the work and objectives of the organization.

National Level:
1. Government:
    - 7 meetings with the Interior Secretary. 
    - 11 meetings with the Secretary of Foreign Relations.

2. National Human Rights Commission (CNDH)
    - 6 meetings.

3. NGOs
    - 38 meetings with different NGOs in Mexico City.

4. Parliament / Senate
    - 6 meetings with representatives/senators from the PAN.

5. Churches
    - 8 meetings.

6. Embassies
    - 42 meetings with European and N.A. embassies.

7. International Organizations
    - 2 meetings with UN, 1 with ACNUR, 1 with European Union human rights rep., 1 with Medicins du Monde, 2 with A.I., 4 with SIPAZ.

8. Others
    - The team attended a meeting with Mr. Gerard Poppe, responsible for Human Rights issues of the €€Ministry of Foreign Relations in Germany, and the Mexican NGOs.
    - The team attended a workshop of La Red TDT on the occasion of the celebration of its 10th anniversary with the topic of Impunity.
The team attended a forum on torture and impunity organized by the Iberamericana University, ACAT and Amnesty International.

Regional Level
Oaxaca: Government (4 meetings), State Human Rights Commission-CDH
              - (1 meeting), NGOs (20 meetings).

Guerrero: Government (2 meetings), CDH (2 meetings), NGOs (7 meetings). 
   

3) Production and distribution of information:
The team has began to publish a bi-weekly information packet (PIQ) in Spanish, and a bi-monthly newsletter in Spanish and English.

The PIQ: 3 to 4 pages of relevant information about human rights brought from Mexican newspapers, and distributed by e-mail to embassies, NGOs, PBI internal entities. Posted on MEP web page.

The newsletter “Boletin de Mexico”: 8 pages with detailed articles and images about relevant human rights issues, PBI's work in Mexico, work and situation of the NGOs that are accompanied, etc.
It is distributed as the PIQ and posted on MEP web page. 
 

4) Peace education and conflicts resolution workshops:
PBI has to develop its work deeply before beginning to make these workshops. Some organizations have requested this possibility to PBI. 
 

Future perspectives

According to the UN Special Rapporteur for extra judicial executions:

“The Government should be encouraged to adopt effective measures to protect the lives of human rights defenders, including journalists, in conformity with the Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Internationally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, adopted by the General Assembly in its resolution 33/144 of 9 December 1998. Such measures should include efforts towards promoting an atmosphere conducive to the development of civil society and the protection of human rights.”

However, the fact that the new president Fox appointed General Rafael Macedo de la Concha to be the Federal Attorney General does give ample reason for doubts.

The UN Special Rapporteur on extra judicial executions also expressed her concern about this issue after her visit to Mexico in 1999: “The ineffectiveness of the justice system has given rise to violations of human rights. Their lack of jurisdiction to try members of the armed forces for violations of human rights committed against civilians erodes the independence of the ordinary courts.”

Many human rights organizations consider this appointment an affront to their efforts to hold the army responsible for human rights violations in various states of the country.

In terms of PBIs work, in 2001, the PBI project faces the next challenges:

• Establishing a strong permanent team on the ground.
• Obtaining a viable legal status.
• Developing and maintaining professional relationships with actors at all levels of Mexican government and civil society.
• Building international support for PBI's presence in Mexico into a functioning emergency response network.
• Providing protective accompaniment to requesting communities and organizations.
• Once the accompanying work is well established and the emergency response network firmly in place, the committee plans to open sub teams first in Guerrero and later in Oaxaca, so that the number of direct beneficiaries of the international presence the PBI offers will be increasing.

PBI also expects to receive more and new petitions from other organizations than those that already have solicited accompaniment.