GOVERNMENT RESISTS HUMAN RIGHTS ACCUSATIONS
El Financiero (Mexico)
20 September 1999 p.5

Despite what government officials say, when it comes to human rights, Mexico has more than just an image problem. According to a recent U.S. State Department report, "poor conditions persist in prisons, as do arbitrary detentions and arrests, and attacks against journalists. There is an inefficient judicial system and corruption, and an increase of threats and assaults against human rights workers."

Nevertheless, according to the Mexican government, "these are details and isolated cases. What is not being taken into account is the progress that has been made on human rights." Stronger accusations from U.N. officials Nigel Rodley and Asma Jahangir have been dismissed as "uninformed and unfounded." And with just a month before U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson is due here on a fact-finding tour, the rapport between international organizations dedicated to the protection of human rights and the Mexican government has not improved. Brutal attacks against indigenous communities of Oaxaca, Guerrero, Chiapas and Jalisco have not let up throughout the five years that President Ernesto Zedillo has held office, according to independent reports. These are disregarded by the Mexican federal government but heavily weighted by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that report directly to the United Nations. Most of the violence originates from local police or the national military, according to reports from the NGOs, ranging from small Catholic groups like Fray Bartolomé de las Casas to international organizations such as Amnesty International (AI) and delegations from the European Union.

A concern is that there is no organization that is independent of the government that investigates issues such as acts of torture, forced disappearances, extrajudicial executions, and the militarization of the country, especially in predominantly indigenous areas," said Cecilia Medina Quiroga, a top U.N. human rights official. For Tim Cahill, Amnesty International's specialist in Mexico, the underlying problem is "the level of impunity, because it creates an environment in which violations against fundamental human rights continue without any kind of control."

For Amnesty International, the biggest human rights violations in Mexico that have come to light include Aguas Blancas, a small town in which 16 farmers, all activists, were mowed down by state police in June 1996, for which no official has taken responsibility. Listed too is Acteal, a rural refugee village in Chiapas where at least 36 men, women, and children -sympathizers of the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN)-were murdered by paramilitary groups linked to the local branch of the PRI.

Throughout the months following the massacre, the state governor stated consistently that paramilitary groups did not exist in Chiapas and denied that he or other state officials were involved in the massacre or the subsequent cover-up. Nevertheless, in the aftermath of the brutal slayings that caused uproar in international circles, he was forced to step down, as was then interior Minister Emilio Chuayffet. Today, human rights workers are placing more, not less attention on Mexico and are particularly concerned that as presidential elections near, tensions could increase.

Statements to that effect have been made by U.N. and AI officials. Both organizations have been snubbed by the Zedillo Administration-the U.N.'s Robinson was told that "she doesn't know what she is talking about," by Foreign Relations Ministry officials when she said last year that violations persist in Mexico. The Zedillo Administration said it was prepared to write a letter of complaint to the United Nations and Robinson was invited to visit only after fragile negotiations. AI General Secretary Pierre Sané said has also felt the wrath of President Zedillo. During Zedillo's visit to Europe he refused to see Sané and later called the AI head "a grandstanding liar" and denied that the AI official had requested an appointment. Activists all over Europe protested Zedillo's attitude, and Sané released his interview request and its subsequent rejection to the press and demanded an apology. It has not been given to date.

Meanwhile, politicians in both the houses of Congress clamor for an increase in the presence of groups like the United Nations and Amnesty International as election time nears. Sen. Jorge Calderón, a founding member of the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) has gone as far as to say that the world body should open an office in Mexico, "because the problems are not going away, and are only getting worse." Calderón's statements were well received in the Senate despite the fact that Mexico's upper house is heavily stacked with members of Zedillo's party. However, not everyone supports an increased United Nations presence in Mexico.

The EZLN's spokesperson, Subcomandante Marcos, released a critical statement during the visit of the U.N.'s Asma Jahangir. He characterized the international organization's participation in other areas plagued by ethnic crises as "hypocritical" and called into question its motives for acting "like imperialism's policeman in war-torn Kosovo."

In essence, Marcos questioned the United Nations' ability to act in support of victims in the face of their simultaneous support of aggressors.