On 1st October 300 Zapatistas re-occupied the community of Ch'oles de Tumbalá from which 11 families were brutally evicted on 3rd August. But now they are being menaced by police and ranchers, and the Human Rights Centre Fray Bartolomé and The Other Campaign in Chiapas have issued a call for Urgent Action to stop any attempt at another violent eviction. In the attack of 3rd August three residents were detained and tortured by the police, and the entire village was burnt down.

The 532 hectare community Ch'oles de Tumbalá became home to indigenous families in 1999 when it was reclaimed as land to be held in common by the people. In the years following the 1994 Zapatista uprising, hundreds of such occupations have taken place, as the indigenous peasant people right the wrongs of 500 years of legalised land robbery.

The Zapatistas have continually to be ready to defend these reclaimed lands, as the rich landowners and state forces are prepared to use violence to deprive the indigenous people of their means of survival. This particular conflict is therefore an important episode in a much wider ongoing struggle.

TAKING BACK THE COMMUNITY

The re-occupation of Ch'oles de Tumbalá , in the paramilitary-ridden northern zone of Chiapas, took place on 1st October 2006, and involved 300 men, women and children.

On October 3rd detachments of Police deployed near the community, and a police helicopter carried out low overflights, taking photos.

In the face of these threatening incidents, the Fray Bartolomé Human Rights Centre contacted the Ministry of Government and spoke to the Technical Coordinator of the Ministry of Government of Chiapas, Alberto León Moreno, expressing their preoccupation about the risks of confrontation. Fray Bartolomé report: “Señor Moreno replied that they had already received a call from Señor Pedro Fons, President of the Rancher Association of Palenque, who demanded a new eviction of the estate [by the Ministry], or otherwise he would do it on his own.”

On October 4th 2006, members of Fray Bartolomé went to investigate the situation at Ch'oles de Tumbalá . They however found that the police had already pulled back.

The same day, a civil peace camp was established in the area, to deter possible aggression by police and ranchers, and in answer to the call from the Zapatista Council of Good Government based at Roberto Barrios. This peace camp continues to operate there.

The violence used during the eviction on 3rd August illustrates the dangers the indigenous people are facing. The eviction of the residents, around 53 in number, was carried out by a police convoy consisting of both the Sectorial Police and the Municipal Police of Palenque, and by around 250 men dressed as civilians, plus a supposed judicial official, who ordered the eviction of the community.

Not only were the 11 families evicted, the police and some of the civilians killed farm animals, burnt down the houses, and cut down fruit trees. The civilians were apparently employees of the local ranchers. The Human Rights Centre Fray Bartolomé report that “During the operation acts of arbitrary deprivation of freedom and tortures were committed by the Municipal Police of Palenque against three inhabitants of this community.”

URGENT SOLIDARITY APPEAL

The Other Campaign in Chiapas has issued this appeal:
“We demand respect for indigenous autonomy, as expressed by the Autonomous Municipalities and Zapatista Good Government Councils in the state of Chiapas, and for their legitimate right to their land and territory.

“We are calling for national and international solidarity to stop the imminent eviction of our Zapatista comrades. We ask all of you to circulate this Urgent Action widely through solidarity networks, and to send letters of protest to the following authorities, speaking out and making visible the vast scope of dignity and solidarity.”

Write to :

Lic. Vicente Fox Quezada,
Presidente Constitucional de México.
Residencia Oficial de los Pinos - Casa Miguel Alemán Col. San Miguel Chapultepec 11850, Distrito Federal México
Tel: (+52) 55 50911100 Fax: (+52) 55 52772376
E mail:  vicente.fox.quesada@presidencia.gob.mx

Lic. Carlos M. Abascal Carranza
Secretario de Gobernación
Bucareli No. 99 1er. Piso Col. Juárez México D.F.
Tel: (+52) 55 51280000, Fax: (+52) 55 50933414
E mail:  cabascal@segob.gob.mx

Lic. Pablo Salazar Mendiguchía
Gobernador Constitucional del Estado de Chiapas
Palacio de Gobierno, 1er Piso, C.P. 29000 Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas, MEXICO.
Tel/ Fax +52 (961) 6129047, 6129048, 6121093, 6123352 y 6120528 (ask for “tono de fax”)
E mail:  secpart@prodigy.net.mx

Please send copies of your letters and info on any solidarity activity to the Human Rights Centre:
Centro de Derechos Humanos Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas.
Brasil 14, Barrio Mexicanos, San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas,
29240, MEXICO
Fax: +52 (967) 6783551,
E mail:  frayba@frayba.org.mx

and to Edinburgh Chiapas Solidarity Group  edinchiapas@yahoo.co.uk