September 4th, 2002
Lic. Vicente Fox Quesada
Presidente de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos
Residencia Oficial de Los Pinos
Col. San Miguel Chapultepec
C.P. 11850,
México D.F., MEXICO


Dear Mr. President:

I have the honour of writing to you on behalf of the Social Justice Committee, a Canadian non–governmental organisation with more than twenty–five years of experience in the defence and promotion of human rights.


In consequence of the recent tragic episodes of violence that have taken place in Chiapas, we would like to express to you our deep disappointment over the fact that your government, after nearly two years in office, has not been able to take effective steps to resolve the fundamental injustices that are the root causes of the present situation.

It is clear to us that these incidents, which have caused the death of four members of the Zapatista autonomous municipalities and the injury of a number of other civilian Zapatistas, can in no way be considered as unrelated criminal acts. On the contrary, they form part of a systematic campaign. In the course of this campaign of violence, intimidation, and harassment, no less than seventeen autonomous municipalities have been the target of human rights abuses on the part not only of members of paramilitary groups but also of personnel of the state and federal security forces.

During the past several years, Mexican and international human rights defenders have repeatedly urged the Mexican government to withdraw the Mexican army from the indigenous communities of Chiapas. Although, following your acceding to office, there was a reduction in the active presence of military personnel in a number of areas of the state, the army did not leave Chiapas. Indeed, there is reason to believe that in the past several weeks there has been an actual increase in the number of troops that are stationed in Chiapas. This continued military occupation is all the more deplorable in view of the fact that official representatives of both the United Nations and Inter–American human rights systems have expressed their concern regarding the encroachment of the Mexican army into the civilian arena.


Furthermore, your government, like its predecessors, has failed to respond to repeated requests for the disarming and disbanding of the paramilitary groups that continue to operate within Chiapas. These groups have been publicly named, and many of their alleged members have been identified. Yet they are still able to continue to threaten and to attack Zapatista civilians (as well as members of independent social organisations such as Las Abejas). Government officials, at both the federal and state levels, frequently try to deny or downplay the existence of these groups, by attributing their criminal acts to inter–community conflicts. We urgently request you not only to disarm and disband these groups but also to see that all forms of support for them are ended. (We need hardly remind you that such support has in the past ranged from recruitment, training, and arming by active and retired security personnel to the provision of government funds for social programmes in the communities where the paramilitary members reside.) The logical concomitant to such an action on your part would be that the Mexican State would cease to use the paramilitary groups and the security forces as agents of a cruel and inadequate form of social control as a means of avoiding the institution of policies to protect and promote the collective rights of indigenous Mexicans.

The present situation in Chiapas makes even more apparent the need for a complete reform in the relations between the Mexican State and its indigenous peoples. Implementation of the COCOPA proposal for constitutional reform constitutes an essential step towards achieving full respect for indigenous rights. We would therefore urge you to use the full weight of your office to bring about the constitutional changes that will not only put into effect the San Andres Accords but will enable the Mexican state to respect the provisions of Covenant 169 of the International Labour Organisation.

May we conclude by expressing our fervent hope that the changes that we have requested of you – the withdrawal of the army from indigenous communities, the disbanding of the paramilitary, the passage of the COCOPA proposal – will bring to an end the war of attrition that the Mexican State is conducting against the Zapatista communities in Chiapas, and pave the way for the building of a true respect for indigenous rights in Mexico.

Respectfully,


Karen Rothschild


Coordinator, Mexico Programme