The State of Chiapas is currently suffering the consequences of a situation of profound political upheaval and of worrying social breakdown. It is perceived that institutional structures at all levels are incapable of enforcing the rule of law, and that Chiapan society, and especially the indigenous communities, suffers the consequences of a general situation of violence and impunity.
The factors which contribute in greatest measure to this situation are the following:
- 1. The intense militarization of the area.
- 2. The presence of paramilitary death squads.
- 3. The situation of generalized impunity.
- 4. The obstacles impeding recourse to justice.
- 5. The situation of structuralized poverty suffered by the communities.
- 6. The repression of different forms of organization among civil society.
- 7. The lack of a political will to search for a solution which would respect the indigenous peoples' demands.
On the visits made to different indigenous communities, we verified the strong army presence which, according to the statements received, constitutes one of the most critical factors in determining human rights violations. The Government argues that it is carrying out strictly constitional functions, but it is obvious that it has taken on functions of social management and leadership, as well as the maintenance of public order, which do not correspond to it. Practically all opinions heard confirmed that its presence is part of a government strategy to prevent the extension of the area of influence of those close to the Zapatistas, and to isolate and weaken the EZLN through harassing the communities which show themselves to be in agreement with its ideas on the recognition of indigenous peoples' rights.
In our work we documented numerous complaints about the occupation of cultivated land by the military camps, the constant threats, thefts, rapes, unauthorized detentions, and constant intimidation through incursions into territories and regions, which place many indigenous communities in a permanent situation of insecurity and terror.
The proliferation of armed groups which systematically and selectively promote confrontation within the communities and between them responds to a strategy aimed, as we have been able to confirm, at provoking massive displacement of populations, at socially destabilizing entire areas and at breaking down the structure of political organization in civil society.
Most of the statements taken directly relate groups from the army and the police corps with these armed groups, with respect to the supply of arms as well as different aspects of training. The contradictions present in the investigation of the Acteal massacre lend credence to this belief.
We also observed that the conflict of interests between landholders and the communities was one of the factors which explained the proliferation of armed groups. Specifically, this was the way chosen by some of them to intimidate and expel entire communities from their "ejidos" (communal lands). With respect to the possible involvement of the PRI and government bodies in the armed groups important evidence exists, particularly in relation to the organization "Desarrollo, Paz y Justicia", in that one of its principal representatives is a PRI deputy in the State of Chiapas, and to date there has been no reaction on the part of the PRI or of the Government.
As the government representatives continually insisted - although they did so with the aim of justifying the army's presence - the situation of universal impunity is another of the elements complicating a delicate situation. It is important to stress that so far all measures taken have been geared towards intensifying the military presence, without searching for solutions to the judicial bodies'incapacity to ensure that the law is applied.
The attraction of events such as the Acteal massacre for the PGR (the Federal Prosecutor's office) should be interpreted in the same way, since these do not lead towards a generalizable approach that might offer solutions to the breakdown of the judiciary and the local police.
As with the previous point, an enormous lack of confidence was perceived in the communities towards the judicial bodies, so that despite innumerable violations of human rights there are very few complaints submitted, since - as we were informed - on some of the occasions when official complaints were attempted, there was subsequent persecution by the "Seguridad Pública" police or by paramilitary groups.
In all of the interviews carried out, Chiapas was referred to as the State with the worst figures for the social indicators. Our observations had the result of verifying the statistics; although Chiapas is a region of great resources, the distribution of wealth is radically unequal. Within this traditional situation a conflict of interests occurs: on the one hand the communities demand a model of development which respects their traditions and their relationship to the land, and opposed to this there appears a model of intensive economic development promoted by the main economic groups, both local and international.
One might refer, for example, to the importance of the petroleum reserves and hydraulic power resources in Chiapas; to the projected land connection between the Pacific and the Atlantic by way of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec; or to the projected investment by multinational companies such as NestlÈ.
This manifest itself in the harassment of community leaders and leaders of social organizations. The threats, attacks and murders which are unfortunately traditional in Mexico continue today, as the Commission has seen. Political prisoners exist who are in the main leaders of communities that support the Zapatistas, and who have had neither a proper trial nor even the most basic prison conditions (access denied to relatives, torture, insanitary conditions, overcrowding, etc.). Moreover, incursions into communities - fundamentally by the Federal Army - are being intensified, on the pretext that they are investigating alleged links with armed groups. This leads to a breakdown of the communities' organization.
The Commission noted the general disappointment at the Government's failure to implement what had been agreed at San AndrÈs. We must express our perplexity at the government's refusal to accept the COCOPA proposal, which had been drawn up between all of the political groups and accepted by the EZLN, the implementation of which might have been a decisive contribution to the resolution of the conflict, creating the basis for a restructured social, political and economic order in the region and opening up a new panorama onto the recognition of indigenous rights.
None of the arguments the Executive has used to justify its objections were explained sufficiently to us, in spite of our insistence. We must therefore conclude that behind these objections lies a lack of will to implement the San AndrÈs Agreements, together with the legal changes this would involve.
As a consequence of the situation described here, the abuses of human rights in the State of Chiapas are numerous. This is the case in all areas and includes the rights referring to life; to personal liberty; freedom of movement and settlement; the right to protection and safety for people on Mexican territory; the right to denounce abuses of human rights before the national courts; the right to protection by public powers against arbitrary detention; the right to be judged by an impartial, independent court; the right to defence; the rights to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; the right to form part of the representative institutions; the right to hold positions and to participate in public services without discrimination; the right to free, pluralist and democratic elections.
Secondly, the non-observance of human rights also affects economic and social rights such as the ability to participate in those economic, social and cultural rights which are indispensable for dignity and the free development of people; the right to special protection for motherhood and childhood; the right to education based on general participation by those involved and aimed at the integral development of the person; the right of all people to participate in their own culture.
Despite the fact that the conflict in Chiapas affects the general population, it is clear that certain social groups suffer the existing tension as well as the historical conditions - lack of the fundamental means of substenance -in a special way, even more intensely than the precarious situation which affects the indigenous communities in general. These groups are as follows:
1. Displaced communities: The product of the action of the paramilitary groups and of the pressure exerted by the armed forces and the State police corps, the thousands of displaced people currently living in Chiapas suffer - apart from the material and emotional losses which exile forces on them - a series of violations of their individual and collective rights. They lack the basic rights for subsistence, which places their very lives at risk. An absolute lack of sanitary resources is observed, which are absolutely indispensable in attending to the medical needs of the population. The health of the displaced people - and indeed of most of the indigenous population - is in a very precarious condition. Among the most common illnesses are those associated with malnutrition, intestinal and respiratory complaints. Regarding the right to education, an absence of the means and opportunities to make this effective is observed. It must be remembered that even today the majority of the indigenous population is illiterate and that the situation is growing worse, if possible, where the displaced communities are concerned.
2. Women: As is clear throughout the part of this report specifically devoted to the situation of women, the violence suffered by the population as a whole in the indigenous communities comes on top of the injustices they have traditionally suffered in their lives. Women frequently act as human shields in order to oppose the action of the army in the conflict zones. As a consequence of this, they physically sustain the violence of the conflict in a dramatic way. Sexual attacks by soldiers, members of the police and the paramilitary groups are also frequent. Fear of intimidation is augmented by the fact that most of them neither speak nor understand Spanish.
Before moving on to the part concerned with recommendations, we consider it important to indicate that the degree of complexity of the conflict in Chiapas, and the human rights situation, require that we should not forget that behind the Zapatista uprising - and the approach of many of the communities we spoke to - there lies a series of convictions regarding the way that the situation of neglect and marginalisation, which the indigenous communities have been forced into for more than five hundred years, might be overcome.
It is important to indicate the existence of a set of global and structural demands that the government claims to respect but which the evidence of the situations witnessed lead one to believe the opposite. Approaches to a global solution such as that expressed by the Governor of the State make it clear that the official position is incompatible with resolution of the conflict in a manner based on effective respect for the indigenous demands. In spite of official discourse which constantly insists on the desire for dialogue, it seems obvious that what is being promoted is the weakening of dialogue, the discrediting of bodies dedicated to assisting talks, intermediation, verification and the possibility of a non-violent solution.
After what we have observed, we believe that it is in these terms that one must interprete the militarization, the presence of paramilitary groups and the xenophobic campaign aimed at preventing the presence of foreigners in the area. The existence of Peace Camps is a guarantee of safety for the communities.
During these days, the PAN and the PRI have both presented their respective Indigenous Law bills, which manifest the lack of will to include the direct expression of the voice of the different indigenous communities, thus blocking in a de facto way the negotiation process opened by the San AndrÈs agreements. This is another step in the strategy which has led the army to become the true protagonist in the process of political and social breakdown experienced in Mexico today. One may speak of the existence of a "low intensity war" - in spite of the Law for Dialogue, Agreement and Peace in Chiapas - characterized by the harassment of the civil population with the aim of isolating the EZLN from the communities that support it, and the reduction of the conflict to a very local question that is explained by reference to conflicts which are fundamentally religious and ethnic in character, and which does not present generalizable demands.
1. Immediate and full implementation of the San AndrÈs Agreements, and the continuation of the process of dialogue and negotiation between the EZLN and the Government. Respect for the COCOPA's initiative on constitutional reforms in the area of Indigenous Rights and Culture.
2. A return to talks and the opening of Table 2 of the San AndrÈs dialogues.
3. Consolidation of the functions of the bodies for intermediation (CONAI) and verification (COSEVER).
4. An end to the militarization and paramilitarization (return of the army to its barracks and the disarming of the paramilitaries).
5. The ensuring of free access to justice and the promotion of the fight against impunity by means of global, rather than purely symbolic, actions.
6. Immediate amnesty for the political prisoners.
7. Return of the displaced people to their communities of origin, with the full return of their belongings and due compensation for damages suffered .
8. Strengthening of the Human Rights bodies in Mexico, and a guarantee of the presence of international bodies as well as recognition of an international observers statute.
9. The intervention of the International Red Cross as a means of guaranteeing humanitarian assistance to the population, given the current rejection of aid coming from official Mexican bodies.
10. The designation of a UN special rapporteur for Mexico.
11. The establishment by the European Union of a mechanism to follow up on the Clause on Democracy and Huamn Rights, which - if the agreement on economic association, political co-ordination and co-operation signed with Mexico comes into effect - would allow the permanent verification of the human rights situation in Mexico. Such a mechanism must include different Mexican and international social organizations involved in the defence of human rights.