In December 2001, President Fox sent an initiative to the Senate requesting ratification of the Statute of the International Penal Court giving that body jurisdiction over crimes against humanity. The Ministry of Government announced the creation of an inter-ministerial committee made up of the Attorney General’s Office (PGR), Public Security and National Defense in order to coordinate protection measures for defenders of human rights. At the same time, the Senate approved five international agreements to castigate human rights violations.

After more than eight years in prison following his efforts to create a position of “ombudsman” in the army, General Jose Francisco Gallardo was released by federal order on February 7 under a reduction of sentence. Human rights organizations indicated that this action represented only partial compliance with the recommendations of the Interamerican Commission on Human Rights (CIDH), because it fails to address the issues of the campaign of harassment and persecution against the General, investigation and prosecution of those responsible for his unjust imprisonment, and reparation of damages. For his part, Gallardo said he will continue the legal battle to prove his complete innocence as well as his quest to create a military ombudsman.

On the other hand, national and international human rights organizations continue to express concerns. In December, Amnesty International presented a report saying that in Mexico human rights defenders are treated like “criminals or subversives,” and they can be subjected to degrading forms of persecution or even murdered, as in the case of Digna Ochoa. Following their investigation in December, the International Federation of Human Rights criticized the situation of economic, social and cultural rights facing Mexican indigenous peoples. In a January report, Human Rights Watch praised the “big changes” in the Mexican government’s attitude regarding human rights, but it warned that “significant advances” are still necessary to resolve military abuses and bring them under civil jurisdiction.

Also in December, evaluating the first year of the Fox government, the Miguel Agustin Pro Human Rights Center (Center PRODH) indicated its concern that there is still no state policy with regard to human rights, and that government actions seem to be driven mainly by concern to maintain a good international image. Attention has not been given to structural problems, and impunity and the tendency to militarize civilian spheres continues.

Four months after the murder of Digna Ochoa, that case is still not solved. Due to lack of advances, Bernardo Batiz, Attorney General of the Federal District, replaced the entire investigating team in December, placing it in charge of the prosecuting attorney for human rights, Renato Sales. Even so, at the end of January, the Center PRODH denounced the failure on the part of the National Defense Ministry and other federal agencies to cooperate with the investigation. In addition, the offer of the CIDH to assist the investigating team by contributing an expert advisor has not been acted upon.

In the wake of the report issued by the National Commission of Human Rights (CNDH) at the end of November, demands of civil society continue for a thorough investigation into the massacre of Tlatelolco in October of 1968 and the cases of forced disappearances in the so-called “dirty war” of the 70’s and 80’s. To investigate the latter, a Special Office of the Public Prosecutor was established, headed by Ignacio Carrillo Prieto. In December official documents of the PGR were revealed which clearly indicate the existence of detainees and missing in 1968, thus contradicting more than three decades of official accounts.

During the first year of the new state government in Chiapas, the Fray Bartolome de las Casas Human Rights Center has documented 45 cases of human rights violations. Although this is a significant decrease compared to previous governments, the Center considers that there has been no forceful response to these denunciations. In a special report, it also accused the police in Chiapas of continuing their practice of torture, death threats, robbery and abuse of authority against indigenous people, and it asked that the governor publicly present his human rights policy as well as a plan for reforming the state justice system. In January the government of Chiapas announced that it will investigate abuses allegedly committed by the state police during the rescue of five government officials last July 27 in the county of Marques de Comillas.

In January, Pedro Raul Lopez Hernandez, president of the State Human Rights Commission, received death threatens, and shots were fired at his house and vehicle. According to him, he is being persecuted by state government officials. Governor Pablo Salazar denied the accusation and condemned the aggression. He also asked the CNDH and the PGR to investigate the case. The CNDH as well as the CIDH requested the federal government to take urgent action to protect the lives of Lopez Hernandez and his family.

Realities that contradict the speeches

In December, president Fox said that Mexico is already part of the “select group of nations leading globalization and the development of humanity.” Paradoxically, one month later he announced that during this year 250 micro-regions of high marginalization and migration will emerge from poverty. On the other hand, the Minister of Work and Planning assured that the economy will grow 1.7% and that 300,000 jobs will be created this year. Fox also announced that the agricultural program for the next five years aims to leave behind the culture of subsidies and paternalism, replacing it with supports to generate agro-business and production capital. The Minister of Agriculture, Javier Usabiaga, added that the agrarian sector “must adjust to the new rules of the economic game.” The opposition, however, maintained that the current Argentinean crisis “demonstrates the failure of the neoliberal model in Latin America,” and that Fox should take it as a wake-up call if Mexico wants to avoid falling into the same trap by following the mistaken “prescriptions” of the International Monetary Fund.

According to year 2000 census figures, Chiapas leads the nation in its level of marginalization: 93.16% of the state’s counties are of “very high” and “high” marginalization, including racially mixed as well as indigenous areas. In January, the Ministry of Social Development promised that it will dedicate 400 million pesos to Chiapas for a dozen development programs (in 2001 the amount was 360 million pesos).

Chiapas: “Nervous peace”

Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, president emeritus of the Pontifical Council of Justice and Peace, visited Chiapas in January. In a meeting with President Fox, Etchegaray said that “the problem of Chiapas is real, it is a serious problem, but it is also a symbolic problem, in the sense that in all of Mexico one finds, at the base, these social problems. That is to say, the problems of poverty, respect for the dignity of man, for each man.” He added that the Pope is worried about the “nervous peace” in Chiapas.

At the community level, conflicts continue to proliferate (See Feature). There are more and more accusations of harassment, threats, kidnappings and attacks in various counties of the jungle and northern regions, and the autonomous counties continue denouncing the increase of over flights and military patrols around their communities. Post-electoral conflicts continue unresolved in several counties of the state. In December, the sub-minister of Government of Chiapas announced the creation of a new counterinsurgency body which will operate in the sierra region.

On the other hand, twenty social, political and religious organizations from the northern region of Chiapas, with the exception of Peace and Justice, signed an agreement on January 27 in Tila, in which they commit to stopping armed incursions and threats and aggressions against EZLN supporters. In the county of Chenalho, the new PRI mayor and the new board of directors of The Bees ratified the non-aggression pact signed last August 24 within the framework of the Bees’ return to their communities. In addition, the PGR initiated an investigation targeting several former officials of that county — including former mayor Antonio Perez Arias — for obstructing the operation against paramilitaries of Los Chorros in November of 2000.

On February 15, the government of Chiapas announced the arrest of Diego Vazquez, principal ch’ol leader of the paramilitary organization Peace and Justice, for various violent crimes committed in 1995 and 1997. The operation was carried out by state police on the orders of the sub-attorney general in El Limar (northern region), one day after the signing of pacification accords negotiated by the state government between EZLN supporters and Peace and Justice. Vazquez had refused to sign the agreement, which permitted the reopening of the Catholic temple in El Limar. According to authorities, arrest of the paramilitary leader “corresponds to the government belief that the reconciliation accords are not certificates of impunity, and that justice will go wherever it has to go.”

First advances in the fight against corruption

In 266 audits covering the final year of former governor Roberto Albores’ administration, over 2.5 billion pesos have been found missing from the treasury of Chiapas. As a result, 1023 administrative procedures and 43 penal accusations have been initiated against former officials. Librado de Torre Gonzalez, Minister of Agriculture and Livestock in the Albores government, was arrested December 19, accused of criminal association, embezzlement, fraud, abuse of authority and improper exercise of public functions. He is the fourth official of the previous administration to be arrested following these audits.

At the federal level, investigations begun in January regarding the diversion of more than one billion pesos from PEMEX into the PRI’s 2000 presidential campaign, document in a precise way for the first time the financing of the former official party by means of the public treasury.