La
Jornada
Sunday, April 23, 2000
Juan Balboa, correspondent
San Cristo'bal de Las Casas, Chiapas
Fray Bartolome' Center: Impunity Continues
The Fray Bartolome' de Las Casas Human Rights Center stated
in a report presented to the United Nations, and to Mexican
legislators, that paramilitarism is being consolidated in Chiapas
and is showing signs of rapid growth. It adds that special offices
created by the Department of Justice of the Republic (PGR),
far from fighting those armed groups, appear to be tolerating
them.
"Criminal investigative bodies appear to be playing an
important role in the strengthening of paramilitary groups,
since their actions are creating the necessary conditions of
impunity required for the war machine to continue its development.
"The advance of paramilitarism in Chiapas takes on different
dynamics according to the regions in which it has developed,"
the human rights body noted. It insisted on pointing out the
omissions of the state Judiciary, and it indicated that only
a minimal percentage of legal claims end up being tried in a
manner which achieves swift and full justice. However, when
the law is enforced against the regime's opponents, justice
seems to be singularly expeditious.
The federal as well as the state government, it adds, persistently
deny the existence of paramilitary groups in the state, and
they reduce the armed conflict to a public security problem
which, according to officials, worsened with the 1994 armed
uprising.
"They try, through their words, to transfer the exercise
of violence to the private arena, or to small groups which are
unrelated, covering up the eminently political nature of the
situation in Chiapas," it notes.
In its report, the Fray Bartolome' de Las Casas Human Rights
Center confirms that there are indications of the participation
of PRI deputies or former deputies in the financing or political
protection of the leaders of paramilitary groups. Among others,
they point out Deputy Samuel Sa'nchez Sa'nchez, leader of the
Peace and Justice organization, and Norberto Santi's Lo'pez,
a federal deputy with links to the MIRA.
It recalls that in April 1999 a special office was set up in
San Cristo'bal de Las Casas by the Department of Justice of
the Republic, in order to investigate the presence and activities
of armed groups in Chiapas. Nonetheless, it notes, there have
been no actions carried out yet for the disarmament of paramilitaries
or for the arrest of individuals implicated in criminal acts.
The human rights organization does not believe that the Special
Unit for Matters of Crimes Committed by Probably Armed Groups
in Chiapas - which will be headed by Armando del Rio Leal, until
recently a substantive under delegate for the Department of
Justice of the Republic - will be able to face up to the paramilitaries.
Translated by irlandesa |