Coalition of Non-governmental Organizations for Peace (CONPAZ)
Chiapa de Corzo 19 El Cerrillo
San Cristobal de las Casas
C.P. 29220 Chiapas, Mexico
URGENT ACTION
June 29, 1994
At 4:30 PM on June 4th, a group of approximately 30 soldiers of the
Mexican Federal Army (MFA) raped three young women of the Tseltal
indigenous group, who are from the community of Santa Rosita Sibaquil,
Municipality of Altamirano. The rape took place at a military roadblock
outside of Altamirano, where the soldiers were on duty.
The young women had sold their farm produce in the town of Altamirano and
were returning to their community with their mother when they were
detained and taken to a room near the military roadblock to be
interrogated by a sergeant. There, after being accused of being
Zapatistas and threatened with death, they were violently forced to have
sexual relations with all of the soldiers of the roadblock. It is on
account of the death threats that we have only now learned of these
abominable acts.
This new aggression at the roadblock of the Mexican Federal Army, along
with others and the climate of oppressive militarization in the area
around Altamirano, makes the neutral presence of the International Red
Cross an urgent necessity, as has been demanded by the inhabitants of
this region. This presence would serve not only to prevent new
aggressions such as the above, but also to guarantee the passage of
medical and humanitarian aid to the civil population in the zone.
On account of the above, we solicit the urgent sending of faxes and
telegrams to the president of Mexico, to assure that the appropriate
authorities apply the law in response to the denouncement presented by
the assaulted young women, and so that their physical and psychological
safety will be assured, given the death threats they received.
At the same time we ask that you solicit the President of Mexico and the
International Red Cross the installation of a Zona Franca or neutral
zone, in the cooperative farming community, the Eijdo of Morelia, in the
municipality of Altamirano. Morelia is the entrance community to the
other 17 communities that populate this valley and with it as a neutral
zone, or Zona Franca , other lamentable acts such as the above will be
prevented.
The faxes and telegrams should be sent to the following addresses:
Lic. Carlos Salinas de Gortari
Presidente de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos
Palacio Nacional
Mexico, D.F.
Fax: 2-71-17-74
Presidency of the International Red Cross
Att n Sr. Francis Amar
General Delegate for Latin America and the Caribbean
19 Avenue de la Paix
Geneva, Switzerland
Fax: (022) 733-2057
Please send copies to CONPAZ of any letters sent!
July, 1, 1994
Update on the denouncement of the rape - National Commission of Human
Rights also denounced
Yesterday, June 30th, CONPAZ and the Grupo de Mujeres de San Cristobal
(Women s Group of San Cristobal) denounced the above to the Ministerio
Publico Federal (equivalent of the attorney general) the rape of the
three women and averiguacion previa No. 64-94 was opened. The Mexican
Federal Army was denounced for gang rape, abuse of authority, violation
of duty, intimidation and threats. CONPAZ and the Women s Group made the
denunciation in the place of the three young women on account of their
grave psychological state and the existence of a tape-recorded and
translated denunciation in the young women s own words.
Additionally, the National Commission of Human Rights, and specifically
their agent, Carlos Reyes N,. were denounced. According to
documentation, members of this governmental commission arrived at the
community of the three young women on June 21 in order to investigate .
They used the names of another organization and another person in order
to gain trust with the young women and obliged them to sign documents
with thumb prints. Possibly these documents will be used to cover up the
illegal actions of the Army, as has happened previously.
Today, July 1, seven prisoners in Comitan complete 46 days of hunger strike.
The situation of the seven remaining hunger strikes in Comitan is very
serious. They repeat that they are ready to die if they are not given
their liberty. One of them has already been hospitalized, but upon his
release returned to the strike. They say they are willing to die in a
protest against the corruption of the Mexican judicial system. They are
in majority indigenous from the nearby region in Chiapas. In the words
of the hunger strikers. In Mexico, it is a crime to be poor, and
Justice is a business here - those who are guilty but can pay are set
free and the innocent poor are remain in jail.
Please send demands for their release to:
Lic. Carlos Salinas de Gortari
Presidente de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos
Palacio Nacional
Mexico, D.F.
Fax: 2-71-17-74
Lie. Java Lopes Moron
Gobernador del Estao de Chiapas
Palacio de Gobierno
Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas
Fax: (961) 2-09-17