Human Rights Promoters and Defenders in the Indigenous Communities of Chiapas

 Due to the lack of security in the conflict areas where the human rights promoters/defenders work, their names have been changed in this article.

In the indigenous communities of Chiapas, being a human rights promoter is more of a service than a distinction. The grave situation of human rights violations in this region and the apparent incapacity on the part of the government to respond make this service an urgent challenge. The concept of human rights as well as the work of those who are called “Human Rights Promoters/Defenders” is relatively new in the communities. As Rodrigo (promoter in the Ocosingo region) says, “When I began I didn’t understand anything about Mexican law or individual guarantees. The change that I see from our forefathers is that they fought for the right to land, but not for other rights like freedom of movement, women’s rights, the right to life or to liberty. In our communities, when we began, the elders were frightened, then excited, and they said: ‘How good it is that human rights exist.”

Sergio (a human rights promoter from the Ocosingo region) adds,

“Our parents didn’t know how to read nor write. They walked around with their eyes closed. They listened to their bosses, the landowners, the rich people. Those people showed them how to work so the boss could eat. They worked like dogs. There was a lot of suffering. Now there is a big change. We already know how to speak Spanish more or less, and we have land where we can eat and live. However, the government doesn’t allow us the freedom to try to acquire even one more piece of land for our children. But now we know the Agrarian Reform Law and we can defend ourselves.”

Being indigenous and living in zones of conflict, these promoters and defenders encounter many obstacles to the development of their work. Racism, harassment and threats are an integral part of their daily lives.

Coming to “open our eyes”

It is estimated that there are approximately 500 promoters and defenders of human rights in Chiapas today. On average, they have less than a third grade education. While promoters work on educating and informing people, defenders focus their efforts on legal aspects: systematizing information on human rights violations in the zones where they work, registering denunciations, looking for evidence, verifying reports, being present during legal proceedings or visiting prisoners.

Ricardo (a promoter from the northern region) gives us an example:

“When [UN High Commissioner for Human Rights] Mary Robinson came [see article in this report], we did an investigation about the region. We only had 20 days to do it and it was during the coffee harvest, so we only did some visits. We couldn’t visit everyone. We found many cases of violations on the part of government authorities and the army. There were nine cases of human rights violations which we presented.”

After the Indigenous Congress of 1974, a greater articulation of the struggle of indigenous peoples was developed with respect to their demands, particularly the right to land. This generated a repressive reaction on the part of the government which tried to silence their voice. The Catholic Church, attentive to their demands, focused its social work on human rights education and defense of human rights.

For example, in Ocosingo where there is the greatest presence of the EZLN (Zapatista Army of National Liberation) and of the Mexican Army, the Center “Fray Pedro Lorenzo de la Nada” was created that today has 32 promoters working with them. They began first with a course on education about individual guarantees late in 1995, a topic which they continue to work on even today; and now they are asking for a course on criminal law.

At the same time, some evangelical churches started similar work in response to the phenomenon of the religious expulsions. Since July 1996, evangelical pastors and approximately 1,600 community representatives have been working on the topics of nonviolence, tolerance, and reconciliation. These intermediaries are not called human rights promoters or defenders. Lic. Esdras Alonso Gonzalez, a lawyer and evangelical leader of ‘Visión Aguila 2000, A.C.’ (“Eagle Vision 2000”) indicated that, since the 1970s, they have been using the concept of human rights. However for them, this work is not a special task or job like it is in other communities. Other social aspects and the organization of economic projects are of equal importance for them. For legal work “Visión Aguila 2000” relies on three lawyers who handle the cases that they receive via the intermediaries.

The distrust and disadvantages of the indigenous peoples with respect to the Mexican judicial system (due to language and a lack of knowledge about their rights) explains the necessity of promoting human rights training. Lic. Esdras states, “The law? It doesn’t work in practice. They don’t apply it. The government? They don’t help us. Indeed, you can translate legal and formal documents into indigenous languages, but this won’t change the situation when the authorities do not uphold the different laws.”

The promoters and defenders receive their training from human rights centers made up mainly of mestizos (persons of mixed Indian/Spanish descent). Not all the centers have a religious base. For example, the “defenders of indigenous community rights” trained by the attorney Miguel A. De los Santos (a member of the Mexican Commission for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights) began their work near the end of 1998. Today seventeen defenders cover four regions: la Selva (the jungle), los Altos (the highlands), la zona Norte (the northern region), and la Costa (the coast).

For the time being there are very few women human rights promoters or defenders. One defender explains it this way “It is hard for them, and they don’t speak much Spanish.” The possibilities for women’s political participation in the zones of conflict is truncated by family or community pressures combined with the little experience they have (or are permitted to have) and by maternity, which gives them other priorities.

Encounters between two cultures

Like all other community responsibilities, the promoters are elected by the community. The community also supports them with economic resources so that they can do their work. To be a promoter or defender of human rights also implies a way of life, as one of them expresses: “We have to be examples of what we teach, to show respect for human rights.”

One critique that is sometimes heard about the work of defenders and promoters of human rights of the indigenous is that it is too focused on the bad things that come from ‘outside‘ when there are also problems within the communities themselves. Rodrigo responds, “As human rights promoters, the work is with the people from outside. We can also work with our people. For example, when the county official tries to resolve a problem we can help him or her to see what type of problem it is and what would be the best punishment. We only do this if the authority invites us to. ..We are not only trying to educate about human rights but also to recover a part of our tradition, our customs. It doesn’t mean leaving them behind and ‘now we’re only concerned with individual guarantees.'” For the internal problems there are other community leaders and as a last resort the community assembly has the final word.

About the supposed clash between indigenous community values and the “new” individual guarantees, Sergio observes that “there is no clash because if we unite all the individual rights, a single voice comes out. That is where we have strength.”

Difficulties, harassment and threats

Experiences with the judicial officials are not always positive. In some cases racism against indigenous defenders is obvious. The legitimacy of these defenders is questioned: “They wouldn’t let us enter the San Cristobal jail for visits. They accuse us of being ‘wesachero’, unprofessional. That is like saying we are fake lawyers.”

Another way racism is manifested is by trying to minimize their demands. “In 1996 [in the northern region] we lost [due to the conflict] 3,400 cattle and 75 horses. We couldn’t find a solution with the governor. We filed a claim, but he said that he couldn’t do anything because more than one year has passed. But we see in the law that a claim can be made after more than one year. Miguel Angel [de los Santos] said that all the claims of all the communities should be taken to the National Human Rights Commission to ask for compensation. We are still working on that. Instead the government offers us projects with 20 chickens and 20 pigs. That is very little. A cow costs 5,000 pesos.”

Regarding the treatment they receive from military personnel at the road blocks, one of the defenders states:

“The soldiers do not always want to listen. They make jokes and ask many questions, especially about the tape recorder. They looked through my backpack. They asked me, ‘Why do you have this? What do you use it for?’ and the whole story. They told me that I didn’t have the right to have one. I answered that I did because it is the work of civil society. ‘I have the right to tape you, because you do not have the right to take it away from me.’ They gave it back to me.”
(Eduardo, promoter in the northern region)

In the northern region the defenders are also harassed by the paramilitary group Peace and Justice (Paz y Justicia) and they receive open threats from this group (see “The Northern Region: A Powder Keg of Violence,” SIPAZ Report, Vol IV No.4). Eduardo told us, “Those in Peace and Justice say that they took out an arrest warrant against me because I assaulted a boy and that they are going to send the state police. But I didn’t do anything bad. They are only doing this because I am defending the people…A compañero of ours disappeared three years ago. The people in Peace and Justice, when they have been drinking, they say that he is already dead. One of the people from Peace and Justice threatened me if I continued working on the case…They threatened that they would kill me. I had to make a complaint before the Public Ministry. The district attorney did not take our claim into account. He never came to investigate.”

Facing difficulties

Human rights promoters and defenders are not always well regarded by the legal authorities, but they have learned that it does not help to get angry and it is better to give the authorities a good example. Or, as Manuel (a promoter in the Cañadas) shared with us, “One time they didn’t want to let us in. I spoke up and asked ‘Why are you running me out when my rights are listed on the door and it says that I have the right to be here?’ But in the end we left. We have to work slowly, and not get mad.” With respect to the road blocks and harassment by the soldiers, Rodrigo commented, “We don’t argue because they are going to threaten us further.”

Due to the nature of their work, the defenders are at the front line in this covert war that lacerates Chiapas.

“Our work is dangerous because we know that the government is going to follow us. The government wants us to remain ignorant and under its power. Therefore our work requires great effort.”
(Marcelino, promoter in the Ocosingo region)

Since their work is so demanding in terms of time and dedication, and given the context of a low intensity war, occasionally the promoters express their fatigue and depression.

“Sometimes when I see the government intimidation I feel sad. Our work takes a hard hit if we are incarcerated. Sometimes I feel down but I know that my work is very important. Many times our communities encourage us: ‘Bear up so you can continue our struggle.’ Also the meetings [with the other promoters] help. We see the necessity of being more united. ‘Nobody is going to be afraid and we are going to protect our idea and our mind. We are going to continue with the work like we began it, taking each other’s hands and lifting ourselves up.”
(Rodrigo)

In spite everything, they repeat,

” We don’t accept it anymore. And we are no longer afraid. Now we say things to their faces. When I go through a road block near here I take out the Constitution. I show them the parts that prove that all the questions they ask me, and the fact that they stop us like this in the road, is against the Constitution.”
(Eduardo)

In their comments, the defenders show that they are familiar with the different treaties and international bodies, even referring to them simply by their initials.

“The Constitution existed before, but I didn’t know it. When my father worked on a ranch he didn’t know about the Constitution, about the OAS [Organization of American States], about the UN [United Nations], or about the ILO [International Labor Organization]. We were very innocent. After the movement of 1994, I started to open my eyes.”
(Marcelino)

Human rights and reconciliation?

A paradox with respect to human rights is that in Chiapas, the concept has been linked to one side in the conflict (to the Zapatistas or to members of the center-left opposition PRD), thus aggravating the already high polarization that is prevalent in the communities. In the zones of conflict the question is often asked: “Are you ‘Human Rights’?” and depending on the response, the reception will be very different. However we believe that human rights work has a lot of potential with respect to bringing people together and achieving reconciliation in the communities. Ricardo shares an example with us: “In one community in Yajalon there are two human rights defenders who are members of the PRD. A person who supports the PRI [ruling party] was detained and accused of stealing cattle. They took him to the Public Ministry. The brothers of the detained person went to see one of the defenders of the PRD. The defender called Mr. de los Santos. He said, ‘You go see him there. If he hasn’t treated you badly, you can give him a hand.’ The PRI person had never hurt anyone, so they decided to defend him. They went to Yajalon and got him freed.”

Conclusion

The existence of indigenous Promoters/Defenders of Human Rights is symptomatic of a critical situation and of a system of justice that is not working, as reports from the UN, the OAS, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, etc., have corroborated. But it is also a positive indication that the people are organizing, that they are conscious and informed about the situation they are living, and that they are assuming their responsibilities to take greater control.

Even if the Promoters/Defenders of Human Rights have to face difficulties and threats of every kind, they are characterized by their determination and perseverance. As one of them expressed, “Now I know what my rights are. Because we learned them these last few years. And we open our mouths. We are no longer silent.” (Eduardo)

The human rights situation is so grave not only in Chiapas but in all of Mexico that it requires that all civil society become promoters and defenders of human rights. This work has focused only on civil rights and individual guarantees, but it is equally necessary to promote and defend political, social and economic rights, particularly in the framework of international trade agreements that have a significant impact on the rights of the majority of the population.