FELLOWSHIP OF RECONCILIATION TASK FORCE ON LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN 515 Broadway Santa Cruz, CA 95060 408 423 1626 Fax: 408 423 8716 e-mail: fornatl@igc.apc.org REPORT OF F.O.R. EMERGENCY DELEGATION TO CHIAPAS, MEXICO JANUARY 10-15, 1994 An emergency delegation of the U.S. Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) visited Mexico from January 10-15. The itinerary included three days in the state of Chiapas, the site of a largely Indian armed rebellion that burst into public consciousness on January 1 with the seizure of several towns in the Chiapas highlands. The purpose of the delegation was to observe the human rights situation, particularly related to violations of the laws of war, in the context of the armed conflict. Delegation members included: Philip McManus; Santa Cruz, California; FOR Task Force on Latin America and the Caribbean Chairperson and Latin America Program Coordinator at the Resource Center for Nonviolence; Rev. John Sinclair, Minneapolis, long-time missionary in Latin America and mission board executive of the Presbyterian Church U.S.A.; Rev. Sinclair traveled as a representative of the World Council of Churches (Geneva, Switzerland); Dennis Dunleavy, Salinas, free-lance photo-journalist whose published work has focused on the conflicts in Central America; Martin Shupack, J.D., Mexico City, lawyer working in human rights for the Mennonite Central Committee. Delegation findings listed below are limited to information we gathered and largely limited to the fighting that took place in Ocosingo (population 25,000), one of the towns occupied by insurgent forces on January 1. In view of the brief time and other limitations of our visit to Ocosingo, we were unable to document the cases referred to below as thoroughly as we would have liked. These incidents, if accurately reported, indicate serious violations of international human rights norms and of the laws of war. Further investigation is urgently needed. I. Applicable International Norms: Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, Common Article 3 (humane treatment and prohibition of violence to life and person of civilians in armed conflicts not of an international character; prohibition of taking of hostages; no adverse distinction founded on race) Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, Common Article 3 (humane treatment and prohibition of violence to life and person of those who have laid down their arms) Protocol II Additional to the Geneva Conventions, (concerning protection of victims of non-international armed conflicts) Art. 4(1,2) (humane treatment, prohibition of violence to life of persons who have ceased to take part in hostilities) Art. 6(1,2) (no extra-judicial sentences or executions) Art. 13(1,2,3) (protection of the civilian population against dangers from military operations) Art. 16 (protection of cultural objects and places of worship) Art. 17(1,2) (prohibition of forced movement of civilians) Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Art. 2 (no adverse distinction founded on race) Art. 3 (right to life, liberty and security of person); Art. 9 (protection against arbitrary arrest and detention) Art. 11 (right to a public trial) International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Art. 2 (no adverse distinction founded on race) Art. 6(1) (right to life) Art. 9 (right to liberty and security of person) Art. 14 (right to fair public trial before an independent tribunal) American Convention on Human Rights, Art. 4(1) (right to life) Art. 7 (right to personal liberty and security) Art. 8 (right to a fair trial) II. Accounts of Reported Human Rights Violations by the Mexican Army A. Civilian Endangerment, Deaths and Indiscriminate Attacks 1. As of January 13 the Catholic parish in Ocosingo had collected the names of 14 civilians who died from gunfire in the streets of Ocosingo. While some - perhaps most - of these deaths are attributable to being caught in the cross-fire between the Mexican army forces and the Ejercito Zapatista de Liberacion Nacional (EZLN, Zapatista National Liberation Army), deliberate shootings of civilians by Mexican government forces may have occurred. For example we were provided an account by the wife and son of a man killed while returning to his home from his son's house. On January 2 the army issued an order for the civilian population to remain in their houses. However, on January 3 at 2 pm Huvelio Rosales Gonzalez, concerned about his son's welfare, walked to his son's house near the central commercial area of Ocosingo. According to witnesses, on his way home Mr. Rosales was deliberately shot in the chest by army personnel. Mr. Rosales was 72 years old, walked with a limp, and wore a light blue shirt. He could not have been easily mistaken for a combatant of the EZLN. We urge that each civilian death be carefully investigated to determine whether violations of internationally recognized human rights or of the laws of war have occurred. 2. We were told about several civilian women and at least one child who were killed by cross-fire inside their homes, and we viewed the fresh backyard grave of one of these women. According to testimony we gathered, at one point EZLN combatants were retreating from the market area behind a row of houses in a nearby neighborhood. The army had set up across the street and on roofs of houses. A sustained exchange of fire ensued, damaging houses and endangering occupants. Although some houses in the area had been previously abandoned, others remained occupied. A bullet entering one of these homes from the direction of the army position killed Basilia Cruz Lpez, approximately 50, as she tried to protect a small child. We are concerned that federal armed forces and EZLN forces may have needlessly and irresponsibly endangered civilians in this firefight. Independent investigators should probe the precise nature of this battle and attempt to determine whether efforts were or could have been made by government forces to ensure the safety of the civilian residents of this neighborhood. All cases of civilians killed inside their homes should be carefully investigated. 3. The priest of the Catholic church in Ocosingo, Fr. Pablo Iribarren, provided us with a personal account of an air attack on January 3 by government forces which he described as "indiscriminate." According to Father Iribarren, the focus of the attack was the market area where EZLN forces were concentrated. However the army helicopters and small aircraft strafed civilian homes and other buildings, including the church where the priest and several nuns were working. The church is located three blocks from the market. Investigators should determine what civilian objects were hit during this attack, whether any civilians were killed or injured, and under what orders the attacking planes and helicopters acted. B. Civilian Detentions and Disappearances 1. We were provided with accounts of a fire-fight between government and EZLN forces at the IMSS (Instituto Mexicano de Seguridad Social) Hospital followed by army seizure of indigenous males who happened to be visiting hospitalized family members at the time of the battle. The present location of these family members is unknown. EZLN forces reportedly entered the hospital patio, after which a battle between government forces and the insurgents ensued. Bullets entered through windows and doors while patients huddled for safety on the floor. After the insurgents fled, government forces entered the hospital and reportedly took away an undetermined number of indigenous male civilians. After this, the patients, regardless of medical condition, were displaced from the hospital by government forces without being given assistance by the army to find suitable locations where they could be provided adequate care. The disappeared relatives made known to us include Mariano Hernandez Santis, 25, the brother of an indigenous patient. We also learned of the disappearance at the same time of the husband and brother-in-law of an indigenous women hospitalized for a caesarean operation. Members of the Ocosingo Catholic church staff also received an account by a hospital employee who said that he witnessed the murder by the government military personnel of four indigenous men who had been visiting hospitalized relatives when they were seized by federal troops. Government civilian and military authorities have an immediate obligation to produce these disappeared persons and account for the circumstances of their seizure. Investigators should probe the possible element of racial discrimination in these incidents. Any accounts of assassinations of indigenous civilians by the military must be thoroughly investigated. 2. Augusto Ramiro, the Municipal Delegate from the San Rafael neighborhood in Ocosingo, told us that 59 men of the community were detained at an army post for twelve hours on Tuesday, January 4. Their wives and children were transported by the military to towns outside the conflicted area. When the men were released they were ordered to leave the area immediately, but were not told where to go or given assistance. The circumstances of these detentions, which appear to be discriminatory and illegal, should be thoroughly investigated. Investigators should also look into the precise treatment given to the men and their families and determine whether the forced and selective removal of the women and children from their town can be justified on the basis of civilian security or imperative military reasons. C. Killings of Captive EZLN Combatants 1. Some EZLN prisoners captured by the army appear to have been murdered, as evidenced in photographs published in the international press (cf. Time, January 17, 1994) showing the bodies of the dead combatants. We received an eye-witness account from an international journalist working for a London newspaper who told us that he and dozens of Ocosingo residents saw the dead bodies pictured in the Time photograph. Six bodies were lying in a row, their hands showing signs of having been tied. The journalist indicated that he personally saw that four of them had been shot in the back of the head, the bullets exiting through the mouth. He said that he and the local residents looking at the bodies with him could see marks in the flesh made from the ropes that had tied each man's wrists together. We spoke to General David Ribeira Briton, the commander of the government forces in Ocosingo, and showed him the Time photo. He insisted that the military had not killed these or any other prisoners and that the scene in the photograph must have been fabricated. Apparently these bodies are not available for examination because the army reportedly removed scores of corpses from the town after the fighting ceased. Some bodies buried in a common grave in Ocosingo were exhumed and examined shortly after our visit. They did not display gun wounds in the back of the head. The bodies of all EZLN combatants or civilians removed from Ocosingo by the armed forces must be produced and made available for examination by independent medical specialists and human rights investigators. III. Accounts of Reported Human Rights Violations by the Ejercito Zapatista de Liberacion Nacional (EZLN, Zapatista National Liberation Army) A. Taking of Hostages 1. We received testimony from Dr. Roberto Astudillo, a medical doctor living in Ocosingo, that in the early morning of January 1, EZLN forces took five hostages from a private home in Ocosingo. Among the five was Enrique Solorzano, owner of the home and of several farms in the area. Reportedly the house and several cars belonging to Mr. Solorzano were burned. The five hostages (Mr. Solorzano; Dr. Francisco Talango Vasquez, a local ophthalmologist and son-in-law of Mr. Solorzano; a son of Mr. Solorzano; and two other guests) were taken to the central market and held there. EZLN forces reportedly threatened to kill them. The following evening the Mexican army arrived in Ocosingo and attacked the EZLN. In the midst of the attack Dr. Talango reportedly tried to flee and was killed in the crossfire. After the army had overcome the EZLN resistance, they held the remaining hostages for some time and then turned them over to the Red Cross. We were told that this was the only case of hostage taking in Ocosingo. This case was corroborated by Fr. Iribarren, the local Catholic priest, who, however, reported that the number of hostages was four. Investigators should seek verification of this hostage taking incident which would constitute a violation of the Geneva Conventions. B. Treatment of Combatants Placed Hors de Combat 1. We received reports from several Ocosingo residents of the January 1 battle between EZLN forces and local security police during the the initial EZLN attack on Ocosingo. All sources agreed that four policemen were killed in this engagement. According to most accounts the four died during the fighting before the surrender of the police forces. However, we received one report that after police forces had surrendered the city hall, EZLN combatants shot one or more police who were described as "moribundo" (at the point of death) as a result of the wounds they received in the battle. This information came from Evila Morales Ruiz, 47, whom we interviewed in Villahermosa. Her 24-year-old son was one of the defending policemen. He later recounted to her what had happened. According to her testimony and that of others, four wounded police (including her son who had been shot through the lung) were taken by EZLN forces to the Ocosingo hospital for treatment. Surrendering police who were not wounded were stripped of their weapons and their clothing, held for several hours, and then freed. Investigators should interview surviving captives of EZLN forces and other witnesses to the initial battle to determine whether extra-judicial killings of local police officers or others occurred. C. Civilian Endangerment 1. We received testimony from more than one source indicating that during the fighting EZLN forces occupied the IMSS Hospital in Ocosingo in the process of retreating before advancing Mexican army forces. (See above I.B.1.) The armed occupation of a civilian institution such as a hospital, thus putting civilians present at grave risk, would, if corroborated, constitute a violation of the Geneva Conventions. D. Attacks on Civilian Property 1. We received testimony from a group of ranchers from Valle de las Tasas, approximately 80 kilometers southeast of Ocosingo, to the effect that their farms (60-100 hectares in size) were being raided on a nightly basis during the week of January 9. (The interview took place on January 13.) While they had not personally witnessed the raids, they had been in radio contact with the ranch caretakers. The ranchers reported that the raids were being carried out by EZLN forces. The EZLN forces took foodstuffs, chickens, what diesel fuel they could carry, and personal property. Names of the ranchers and their farms were collected but they asked that they not be published. Investigators should seek to determine what personal dwellings and other civilian objects were attacked by the EZLN in violation of the Geneva Conventions and Protocols. IV. General Observations A. Number of Dead and Manner of Death 1. Estimates we received of the number killed in Ocosingo ranged in the hundreds. The Mexican army commander in Ocosingo, General Ribeira Briton, declined to give any casualty estimates. The majority of the bodies were reportedly removed from Ocosingo by the Mexican army after the fighting ceased. As a result it has become very difficult to independently quantify or identify the dead. We call upon the Mexican government to undertake a detailed investigation to firmly establish the number of combatants from both sides and the number of civilians killed in the conflict and, so far as possible, their identities. In view of credible evidence of the murder of captured EZLN combatants, and for humanitarian considerations, all corpses removed by the army from Ocosingo should be produced and made available for forensic examination. B. Condition of Civilian Population 1. We heard reports of bombings in rural areas away from Ocosingo, including some place names. The information was insufficient to establish whether bombings had taken place. Mobility in the countryside continued to be limited while we were there. 2. The Mexican government declared a unilateral cease-fire as of 11 am, Wednesday, January 12. Yet on January 13 while in Ocosingo we received two separate reports of continued fighting that day in rural areas. One press report indicated that Mexican army forces were in the process of sweeping the remote areas in search of EZLN forces. With no formal response from the EZLN as of that time, the situation remained tense. In this context, many rural communities remained isolated. It has not been possible to know how they have been affected by the fighting and possible bombing nor to what degree their basic needs are being met. We commend the Mexican government for its unilateral initiative. While we could not verify the press report of army sweeps in remote areas, such operations, which would likely provoke further confrontations, would appear to be inconsistent with the spirit if not the letter as well of the cease-fire declared by President Carlos Salinas. V. Conclusions 1. We remain deeply preoccupied with the well being of the population in the less accessible areas where conflict has taken place. We call upon the Mexican government to provide the Red Cross and other social aid agencies full access throughout the conflicted area and to place the highest priority on the provision of needed services to the civilian population. 2. In view of the pressing need for further investigation of these and other possible human rights violations, we call upon the Mexican government to name a Special Prosecutor (Fiscal Especial) to undertake a thorough and independent investigation and to recommend appropriate measures to sanction those responsible for such violations as may have occurred and to ensure that they are not repeated in the future. Since our return we have received additional testimonies regarding incommunicado detention and torture of civilians in the conflicted area. These reports only heighten our concern that the Mexican government act swiftly and decisively to make it clear that such violations will not be tolerated. 3. We appeal to both Mexican and international human rights groups to undertake their own investigations in order to clarify these and other cases. 4. We call upon the U.S. government to strengthen ties with both governmental and independent human rights groups in Mexico and in this way monitor the human rights situation in Mexico in general and among the indigenous groups of Chiapas in particular. Especially in view of the criticism that the North American Free Trade Agreement is threatening the well being of the Indian peasants from whom the EZLN has drawn its members, it is critical that human rights concerns be a key element in U.S.-Mexico relations. 5. We will continue to receive information from our Mexican colleagues and to monitor the situation so that we may be alert to the possible need for future action on our part. We will respond to such requests as we may receive regarding basic training materials on human rights education, nonviolent action, and conflict resolution. 6. We call upon human rights groups and collegial organizations in the U.S., Canada, Latin America and Europe to seek out and disseminate information regarding human rights developments in Mexico and to be responsive to such needs as the human rights groups there may express, including the need for future international teams to visit areas where violations have been reported. 7. We will share this report with government officials both in Mexico and in the U.S., with the United Nations, and with collegial organizations. The Fellowship of Reconciliation is a 79-year-old interfaith pacifist organization dedicated to building peace based on respect for the full range of internationally recognized human rights. Appendix I Social and Economic Conditions in Chiapas Chiapas is located in a remote mountainous region bordering Guatemala. It is home to 3.2 million people, approximately 1 million of whom are indigenous from the Chol, Tzotzil, Tzeltal, Tojolabal, Zoque and Lacandon groups. Chiapas is a state rich in natural resources. It is a major producer of coffee and beef, a key tourist area, and the site of large oil reserves. Yet it also suffers from some of the highest indices of poverty. The average annual per capita income is $965. Two thirds of the population never finish primary school. The level of illiteracy is 30%, the highest in the country. While Chiapas is the source of 60% of the electrical power produced in Mexico, 35% of its communities have no electricity. Forty percent of the houses have no running water, while 60% have no sewer facilities. A disproportionate amount of the wealth is in the hands of the 5% of the population that is white. Many landless indigenous peasants work as day laborers on the farms of well-to-do landholders. While the minimum wage in the area is 12.5 New Pesos per day (about $4), these day laborers are often paid as little as $2-3 per day. Forty percent of the population earns less than the minimum wage. Peasants with claims to lands have had consistent difficulties with state and national authorities in obtaining secure land titles. One of the greatest complaints made by indigenous groups is forced expulsion from lands they have lived on. According to one study, between 1974-84, there were 120 cases in which the army and/or police violently removed peasants from lands they claimed. As part of its efforts to prepare Mexico for the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the government approved a constitutional revision that prohibited further expropriation of large landholdings under the agrarian reform law and allowed for the breakup and sale of the ejidos, the peasant agricultural cooperative farms. Thus one of the key achievements of the Mexican Revolution of the early 20th century was undermined,and the plight of the Indian peasants made more precarious than ever. A specific example will illustrate the difficulties that the Indian communities face. In December 1991 a demonstration involving 200-250 Indians from a number of outlying communities took place in Palenque, Chiapas. The Indian communities were frustrated after several years of unsuccessfully petitioning the government for basic services such as electricity, potable water and decent roads. According to our informants, their peaceful demonstration in front the city hall was broken up without warning by approximately 300 police who beat a number of the demonstrators and arrested 109. Those arrested were taken to the state capital, Tuxtla Gutierrez, several hours away. Three weeks later nine still remained in prison facing a variety of charges, including sedition and threatening national security. At that point 80-90 members of the communities undertook an extraordinary march to Mexico City that was to cover nearly 1000 kilometers and last 50 days. Along the way they subsisted on the material and moral support of communities through which they passed. As they neared Mexico City, the federal Secretario de Gobernacion (Interior Secretary), Sr. Gutierrez Barrios, offered to meet with them if they would refrain from their plans to demonstrate in the Zocalo, Mexico City's central plaza. As it happened, a major international conference on Indian rights was scheduled for those days in Mexico City, and the government may have wanted to avoid an embarrassing display of the lack of such rights in Mexico. In the meeting with Sr. Gutierrez Barrios, he agreed to their demand that the remaining prisoners be freed and their charges dropped. He also signed an agreement pledging to address the needs for basic services that had prompted the initial demonstration. Studies were subsequently done and budgets were approved for 120 separate projects in the affected area. However two years later, in early 1994, only two of the 120 projects had been completed. No others have been started. While the organizations that undertook the struggle described here are committed to the use of peaceful means in conformance with the Mexican Constitution, it is not difficult to see how unmet basic needs and government inattention and/or repression contribute to popular despair regarding the peaceful solution of social problems. Appendix II The Church in the State of Chiapas Christianity first came to Chiapas in the early 1500s, brought by the Spanish Roman Catholic missionaries. Bartolome de las Casas, a Dominican and the first bishop of Chiapas, was a champion of the rights of indigenous people and for respect of their culture and traditions. Over the centuries the Church has experienced only brief moments of success in this endeavor. Most of the years have been filled with increasing exploitation and oppression of the indigenous population. Protestants or "evangelicos" came to Chiapas less than a century ago. Today Presbyterians form the largest Protestant denomination in Chiapas, primarily among the Chol, Tzeltal, and Tzotzil language groups. They pioneered in the translation of the Bible into indigenous languages and in establishing family health services and lay leadership programs. Presbyterians are the the largest Protestant denomination in Chiapas. There is still reported religious persecution of Protestants by local political leaders, but earlier animosity of Catholics toward Protestants has begun to diminish since the Second Vatican Council. Recent years in the Roman Catholic Church in Chiapas Bishop Samuel Ruiz Garcia and the other two Catholic bishops in Chiapas have given to the Church there both progressive and prophetic leadership since Bishop Ruiz was consecrated in 1959. The recommendations of the Second Vatican Council and the 1968 meeting of the Latin American Catholic bishops in Medellin have been taken seriously by the Church in Chiapas. Franciscan, Dominican and Jesuit missionaries labor in the state, largely among the indigenous peoples. A new program, "Integral Evangelization," includes community health programs, lay leadership preparation, human and legal rights education, and adult education. Indigenous lay leadership has also become more involved in decision-making within the church, as they always have been in their communities. The Diocese of San Cristobal has also in the last decade assumed the heavy burden of the care and protection of the large Guatemalan refugee population in southern Mexico. The progressive stance of the leadership of the Church in Chiapas has often placed it in conflict with the national church leadership which has been and continues to be conservative. As recently as late 1993, some voices called for the removal of Bishop Ruiz for his opposition to the North American Free Trade Agreement and his alleged support of subversive movements.