Title: MEXICO: INDIANS OCCUPY SWISS EMBASSY
mexico city, oct 30 (ips) -- a group of 20 indian families and
representatives of indigenous mexican organisations friday
peacefully occupied the swiss embassy premises here and sought
the european country's diplomatic mediation in favour of arrested
indians.
the embassy's occupation highlighted the numerous cases of
indians who have been arrested and are being held in prison
without trial.
the prisoners are being held in 20 gaols around the country.
and 253 of them, who are in the gaols of the provinces of
chiapas, veracruz and mexico, have been on hunger strike, on a
rotation basis, for the past 54 days.
family members of the prisoners met the swiss ambassador, paul
andre ramseyer, and gave him documents appealing to him to
intercede with the mexican authorities for the liberation of
those who had not been brought to trial.
''our family members are dying in the prisons,'' says the
dramatic appeal to ramseyer.
both the ambassador and the embassy's press secretary refused
to make any statement to the press.
during the past three years, about 3,000 indian prisoners have
been set free by the government of presisdent carlos salinas de
gortari. most of them had been arrested for cultivating the poppy
and marijuana plants, from which opium and hashish are produced.
the cases of another 5,000 indian prisoners are reportedly
being re-examined by the country's judicial authorities, with a
view to setting them free, but this re-examination is taking far
too long to conclude, according to the indian organisations.
(ends/ips/tr/sp/np/hr/mc/in/it)