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Latina Women & Children at Risk |
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The Acteal Massacre - December 22,
1997
Acteal, Chiapas State, Mexico
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This Page was Last Updated on
December 23, 2005 |
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45 Mayan
Children, Women and Men Were Ruthlessly Murdered
While Attending Church, for Supporting the Goals
of the Mayan Freedom Movement |
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A Crime Against Humanity in
Modern Mexico |
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This section of
LibertadLatina.org
contains information regarding the intentional use
of murder by pro-government forces to suppress
the legitimate demands for self determination
presented by the Mayan indigenous peoples of
Chiapas, Mexico to the national government.
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About
the
Acteal
Massacre
-
December
22,
1997
Photos
from the funeral of victims of the
Acteal
Massacre
that occurred on December 22, 1997
On December 22, 1997
paramilitary (state-trained and state-funded
pro-governing party civil defense) forces
surrounded a Catholic chapel in the pacifist
Tsotsil Mayan community of Acteal, Chiapas
state, Mexico. During a period of several
hours, this armed force, with the apparent
consent of local Mexican Army units stationed
not far away, proceeded to surround Acteal's
chapel, and shot to death those inside, and as
many of those who escaped as they could find.
A number of residents survived the massacre.
Those murdered on that day included 15 children,
21 women (four of them pregnant) and 9 men.
Added Dec. 28,
2006
Mexico
Luego de 9 años,
crean Fiscalía Especial para Acteal
After nine years, the government of the state of
Chiapas has finally appointed a special prosecutor
to investigate the December 22, 1997 massacre of 45
Tzotzil Mayan civilians, who were mostly women,
including pregnant women, and children as young as 2
months old.
Thirty civilians (Mayans supporting the PRI party),
15 civil servants and 11 state policeman had
previously been sentenced for their roles in the
crime.
- CIMAC Noticias
News for Women
Mexico City
Dec. 27, 2006
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A
Short
History
of
the
Mayan
Freedom
Movement
and
the
Armed
Conflict
in
Chiapas,
Mexico
-
From
a DC
Committee
of
Indigenous
Solidarity
Brochure
-
Fall,
1999
On
January 1st, 1994, poor Indian Peoples in Chiapas rose up not “in arms”
but with their bodies and who during the dark night before the dawn of a
new day occupied 7 towns in the Chiapas highlands including its capitol
city of San Cristobal de las Casas without firing a shot!...
The
Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) astounded thousands of
unbelieving Mexicans and inspired tens of thousands around the world,
including many indigenous tribes throughout the Americas...
The
auspicious date of January 1, 1994 was intentionally selected by the
EZLN because on that day the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
was imposed upon Mexico. ...NAFTA included the US demand that
Mexico remove the Ejidos from Article 27 of the Mexican Constitution.
Ejidos are communal farmlands set apart for the Indians for their
survival crops. Transnational corporations now want those lands to
exploit (mine) subsoil resources...
...Since February 9, 1995, the Mexican Army and Government have been
carrying out a low-intensity war against the [Mayan] Zapatistas.
This warfare is directed primarily against the 1,111 indigenous
communities in Chiapas who are Zapatista sympathizers.
...A
huge escalation in the use of state security forces and PRI [Mexico's
dominant political party]-allied paramilitary [government paid and armed
civil patrol] groups has caused terrible suffering. Pro-Zapatista
towns have faced harassment, the rape of women, beatings, expulsions,
murders, and the stealing of grain and farm tools.
This
repression escalated significantly in the Summer and Fall of 1997,
culminating in the Acteal Massacre on December 22, 1997 in which 45
Indian women, children and men were killed in addition to 21 severely
wounded, most of whom were children. This criminal act was
perpetrated by 60 local poor Indians recruited by local PRI officials
and armed with AK-47 automatic rifles. At the time (and presently)
over 70,000 Mexican Army troops and hundreds of state security agents
occupied Chiapas...
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From a Investigation by the EZLN into
the
Circumstances
of
the
Acteal
Massacre
12-26-1997
(Four
Days
After
the
Massacre).
...Fifth - The
paramilitary commando unit that carried out the massacre was transported
in vehicles which are property of the PRI [Mexico's then-ruling
political party] municipal president of Chenalhó and his staff.
Sixth - All members of the aggressor
group wore dark-colored uniforms.
Seventh - The vehicles, as well as
the armament, uniforms, and equipment of the aggressors was obtained
with money provided by the federal government--specifically, by the
Department of Social Development (Sedesol).
Eighth - The paramilitaries executed
the wounded they found and cut open the wombs of pregnant women with
machetes.
Ninth - Once the attack was over,
agents of the Chiapas state Public Security Police took up the task of
collecting the bodies and "disappearing them" inside a cave and at the
bottom of a ravine.
Some conclusions from the above are:
1 - This was not a religious
conflict, as both murderers and victims were of the Catholic faith.
2 - This was not an ethnic conflict,
as both the dead and those who killed them were indigenous Tzotziles [a
Mayan sub-tribe].
3 - This was not a battle (as the
federal and state governments have tried to present it). The dead were
unarmed, the attackers had high-powered weapons. There was no armed
clash. It was, simply and plainly, an execution.
4 - The objective was to finish
everyone off, to not leave accusatory witnesses and to "clean the
evidence". The government's plan was for the deed not to fall into the
domain of public knowledge. The authorities first denied the massacre,
then minimized it, and now they want to confuse public opinion regarding
the true motive of the crime... |
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December
22, 2005 Commemoration
Miles indígenas recuerdan en misa
VIII aniversario matanza Acteal
México, 22 dic 2005 (EFE)
Alrededor de
dos mil
personas
recordaron
hoy en una
misa el
octavo
aniversario
de la
masacre en
Acteal, una
comunidad
del estado
sureño de
Chiapas,
donde fueron
asesinados
45
indígenas,
en su
mayoría
mujeres y
niños.
Approximately 2,000
Mayan indigenous people gathered at a mass to
remember the 45 indigneous victims of a massacre in
Acteal, Chiapas state, on December 21st, 1997.EFE
News Service
Centro
de Derechos
Humanos Fray
Bartolome de
las Casas.
(Friar
Bartolome de
las Casas
Human Rights
Center.)
Caso
Acteal
(The
Case of Acteal)
Reiteran:
Ruiz Ferro, culpable de la matanza de Acteal
(Ruiz
Ferro is guilty of organizing the Acteal Massacre.)
A
ocho años de la matanza de Acteal, aún no hay
justicia.(Eight
years after the Acteal Massacre, and still, there is
no justice.)
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December
22,
2004
Commemoration
Relatives of victims of the Acteal massacre
carry
photos and pray during a memorial at their burial
site in Acteal, Chiapas, Mexico, Wednesday, Dec. 22,
2004. Residents of the community are commemorating
the Acteal massacre in which paramilitaries killed
45 people, mostly women and children. (Associated
Press Photo/Hugo Santiz)
December
22,
2004
Acteal Massacre
Commemorated in Chiapas, Mexico
(Associated
Press) |
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RESISTING IMPUNITY
This web page provides
a brief history of the Acteal massacre in
pictures and links to news articles and other
reports.
Several years ago
the author had the opportunity to meet three
small children, victims of the Acteal Massacre.
All three children had been shot during the
massacre and left for dead.
One girl, Zoraida, became blind after being shot
in the head.
The children came to Washington, DC for medical
treatment at the Georgetown University Hospital.
These victims are no different than the victims
of thousands of similar massacres and other acts
of impunity that indigenous people have endured
during the past 500 years. Armed violence
continues to govern relations between states and
indigenous peoples in several regions of Latin
America.
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Americas:
Indigenous People at High Risk
"Intimidation, harassment and violent attacks
against indigenous communities are frequent
occurrences in countries including Honduras,
Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico and
Venezuela"...
From a News
Release Issued by the International Secretariat
of Amnesty International - Aug. 9, 2001
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This report in being presented on the seventh
anniversary of the Acteal Massacre. May
the deceased victims rest in peace. May
the survivors achieve justice for this outrage.
Seven years after
the event, no trial has ever brought the known
perpetrators of the Acteal massacre to justice.
We demand
justice for the victims of the Acteal
massacre!
Chuck Goolsby,
December 23, 2004
- LibertadLatina
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How
things
were
(and
are)
in
Mayan
Lands...
January 17,
1998
"Ellas,
pequeñas, diminutas, armadas con esos brazos, con
esas manos, los detuvieron en X'oyep"
"These
women, small of stature, armed only with those arms,
with those hands, detained the Army incursion into
the Mayan town of X'oyep.
La
Jornada
Newspaper,
Mexico D.F.
Foto/Photo:
Pedro
Valtierra
Mujeres
refugiadas en el campamento de X'oyep, impidiendo el
acceso a militares dentro de la comunidad.
-
Global Exchange
Women
war refugees in the camp of X'oyep, blocking the
military from entering their community.
Mujeres de La Galeana
corren a los soldados de su comunidad. -
Global Exchange
Mayan women from La
Galeana town chase Mexican Army soldiers from their
community.
View
a
Larger
Image
of
this
Picture
Mujeres de Amador Hernandez
defiendan
a su
comunidad
durante
una
ocupación
militar
en
Agosto
1999.
Mayan
women
from
Amador
Hernandez
town
resist
Mexican
Army
occupation
in
August,
1999.
(The
Mayan
women
wear
masks
to
prevent
their
being
targeted
by
military
and
paramilitary
forces.)
Links about
the Acteal
Massacre
Survivors of Mexico's Acteal massacre still
looking for justice
December
22, 2003
(c)
Associated
Press
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TUXTLA
GUTIERREZ,
Mexico,
Dec 22,
2003 --
Survivors
of a
massacre
on
Zapatista
sympathizers
in
southern
Mexico
six
years
ago said
Monday
that
authorities
have
failed
to
pursue
those
believed
to have
organized
and
carried
out the
attack.
"We have
spent
2,190
days
waiting
for
justice,
but we
still
haven't
received
a
complete
response,"
said
Roberto
Perez
Santis,
spokesman
for the
survivors
of the
Acteal
massacre
on Dec.
22,
1997.
Paramilitaries
with
close
ties to
government
figures
attacked
a prayer
meeting
of Roman
Catholic
activists
who
sympathized
with
many
Zapatista
goals
but not
their
methods.
Over
several
hours,
the
assailants
killed
45
people,
including
children
as young
as 2
months
old, in
the tiny
settlement
of
Acteal
in
southern
Chiapas
state.
Perez
said
police
still
have not
carried
out
arrest
warrants
against
those
believed
to be
responsible,
and he
criticized
authorities
for
refusing
to
question
then-governor
of the
state,
Julio
Cesar
Ruiz,
and
then-Mexican
Interior
Secretary
Emilio
Chuayffet,
current
congressional
leader
for the
opposition
Institutional
Revolutionary
Party,
or
PRI... |
11/28/2000
Para-Military
Repression & Impunity in Chiapas, Mexico
|
Rights
Action
[formerly
Guatemala
Partners]
supports the
"Chiapas
Network of
Community
Human Rights
Defenders"
(Red de
Defensores
Comunitarios
por Los
Derechos
Humanos) and
"Proyecto
169" that
are working
to denounce
and end
systematic
impoverishment
and
repression
against
Mayan
campesinos
in Chiapas,
Mexico. |
12/24/2001
Acteal
Honors its Victims & Continues its Struggle
for Justice & Survival - indymedia.org
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