ricardo dominguez on Mon, 9 Sep 2002 04:16:09 +0200 (CEST) |
[Date Prev] [Date Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Date Index] [Thread Index]
<nettime> Mexican Supreme Court Rejects Challenges to Indian Rights Law + Letter |
"La Jornada" (9-7-002) has a much more detailed coverage of this disastrous decision. -r Mexican Supreme Court Rejects Challenges to Indian Rights Law September 7, 2002 By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS MEXICO CITY, Sept. 6 (AP) - In a ruling that dashes the hopes of leftist Zapatista rebels, Mexico's Supreme Court announced today that it was rejecting constitutional challenges to an Indian rights law that the guerrillas said did not meet minimum international requirements on protecting indigenous peoples. The 8-to-3 ruling is likely to ignite the protests of rebel sympathizers, who had suspended dialogue and peace contacts with the government for the last year, apparently in the hopes that they would be in a better bargaining position if the court threw out the law. Enrique Avela, a spokesman for the Zapatista Front here, called the high court's decision "a tragedy." "Our communities are not pleased," he said. The Law on Indian Rights and Culture, which went into effect in August 2001, was approved by both houses of Mexico's Congress and a majority of the 31 state legislatures. But about 320 pro-rebel town councils and other organizations challenged it, saying that it did not meet minimum standards in international treaties on indigenous rights, and that Indian groups had not been adequately consulted on the law. In rejecting the challenges, all the justices said the law was both constitutional and properly approved. "The political will to treat Indians as valuable human beings and as a legitimate social group does not exist in this country," said He'ctor Sa'nchez, head of Congress's Indian Affairs Commission. As approved, the measure left it up to state legislatures to determine exactly how the limited Indian autonomy would be implemented. The rebels had wanted all such decisions to be made exclusively by townships where Indians are a majority. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/07/international/americas/07MEXI.html?ex3241 5703&ei1&en5786f1c6b398fc <<<MORE>>> Since mid-August paramilitary attacks against Zapatista communities have taken the lives of four Zapatista leaders, wounded twenty supporters and displaced hundreds from their homes. The Zapatistas have issued a call for their international supporters to, once again, stand with them to resist the violence and demand justice. The following letter is addressed to the Chiapas Governor Pablo Salazar and Mexican President Vicente Fox. It carefully outlines some of the most alarming cases of recent weeks and urges specific actions. Sign-on letters are but one form of protest, but they send an strong message to authorities that people around the world still stand with our indigenous sisters and brothers in Chiapas. Letters are also a great educational tool on local level in the US. TAKE ACTION: 1) Sign on your school, church, community group, or union local. Please contact msn@mexicosolidarity.org or call 773-583-7728 to confirm and provide organizational contact information. 2) Sign on yourself. Please provide us with name, address, and e-mail. 3) Format the following letter to paper and collect signitures in your community, in your church, at the food co-op, etc. Become an agent for change by educating people about paramilitary violence through action to STOP it. We'll send on all signitures to the authorities. 4) Click on http://www.mexicosolidarity.org/Chiapas_emergency_alert.html to learn more, join an emergency delegation or take other actions. ---------------------------------- SAMPLE LETTER: To Governor Pablo Salazar Mendiguchía To President Vicente Fox To International Civil Society We, the undersigned members of international civil society, express our deep concern for the recent resurgence in paramilitary violence in Chiapas, particularly in the autonomous communities and municipalities which are Zapatista support bases. We also wish to express our outrage that the recent violence has served as a pretext to re-militarize the autonomous zones of the state while the perpetrators of these violent acts live in impunity. The following are a few cases that have been brought to our attention: On July 31, forty armed men affiliated with the paramilitary group Organization for Defense of Indigenous and Campesino Rights (OPDIC) entered the Culebra Ejido in the autonomous municipality of Ricardo Flores Magon and seriously wounded seven Zapatista supporters who were building a school. While the wounded were able to identify their attackers, no official investigation has been opened. On August 7, Jose Lopez Santis, an autonomous authority, was assassinated in front of his children. The children identified the killers, but no official action has been taken. On August 19, 200 people affiliated with OPDIC attacked a Zapatista checkpoint set up to intercept illegally felled trees and stolen vehicles. Four Zapatista supporters suffered gunshots wounds and one was kidnapped. No official investigation has been opened. On August 25, Lorenzo Martinez Espinosa, a spokesman for the Ricardo Flores Magon autonomous community, and Jacinto Hernandez Gutierrez, an autonomous agrarian expert, were killed by paramilitaries. Authorities have not arrested anyone. On August 26, paramilitaries from with the PRI-affiliated ?Los Aguilares? (the Eagles) murdered Antonio Mejia, identified as a Zapatista leader. While his wife was able to identify the killers, none have been arrested. We demand: Prosecution of paramilitary groups and members for the above-listed attacks and murders. Respect for autonomous municipalities, communities, ejidos, ranches and the elected authorities that represent them. Passage of an Indigenous Law that reflects the original spirit of the San Andres Accords and respects international norms with regard to the national treatment of indigenous groups. Immediate removal of Mexican army troops from autonomous municipalities and the rest of Chiapas. Respectfully submitted, Mexico Solidarity Network # distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission # <nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism, # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets # more info: majordomo@bbs.thing.net and "info nettime-l" in the msg body # archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: nettime@bbs.thing.net