Communique of the National Indigenous Congress directed to legislators
and to social organizations, asking them to take a position and to
take action regarding the grave situation which began with the attack
against members of the EZLN in El Bosque, Chiapas.
NATIONAL INDIGENOUS CONGRESS
Follow-Up Commission
21 March 1997
TO THE PEOPLE OF MEXICO:
TO THE COMMISSION ON CONCORDANCE AND PACIFICATION:
TO THE COMMUNICATIONS MEDIA:
The Follow-Up Commission of the National Indigenous Congress
repudiates the escalating repression which has been unleashed in
recent days against sympathizers and members of the Zapatista Army of
National Liberation in San Martin Chamizal and San Pedro Nichtalucum,
Chiapas.
In San Pedro dozens of indigenous tzotziles were attacked in an
operation which included the use of an artillery-laden helicopter,
leaving four people dead, including Miguel Gomez Hernandez, whose body
was destroyed by a police vehicle. At least 29 indigenous people were
detained, brutally beaten, and charged with having caused the deaths
of their companeros.
These acts imply an open provocation to the EZLN, and represent a
brutal aggression that directly attacks the peace process in Chiapas
and opens the door to a conflict with very grave consequences.
The National Indigenous Congress demands an immediate halt to the
police aggressions in the state of Chiapas, the liberation of the 25
campesinos detained in San Pedro Nichtalucum, the presentation with
life of the two disappeared members of that community, and punishment
for the assassins of the four indigenous people killed by the Chiapas
police.
The CNI makes a call to the non-governmental and social organizations,
and in particular to the participants in the National Encounter for
Peace, such that they take a stance regarding these events and that
they actively demand a halt to the repression against the members and
sympathizers of the EZLN.
We ratify the resolution of the CNI with respect to our preoccupation
for the excessive militarization which exists in the zapatista
communities and in broad indigenous zones across Mexico, as well as
the climate of provocation and persecution against our peoples and
organizations.
We demand the urgent and active participation of the COCOPA in the
verification of the events that occurred in San Pedro Nichtalucum,
municipality of El Bosque; as well as a public pronouncement from that
body in favor of a halt to the escalating repression, and action
toward the liberation of the indigenous prisoners.
Sincerely,
Never Again a Mexico Without Us!!
Carlos Beas Torres
for the Working Group on Justice and Human Rights
_____________________________________________________________________
Translation: J. Paulson
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Zapata Vive!
Visit the official web sites of the
Zapatista Front of National Liberation:
http://www.peak.org/~joshua/fzln/
http://spin.com.mx/~floresu/FZLN/
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