Prisoners in Struggle Return to a Full Hunger Strike (Chiapas, Mexico)

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These three communiqués (one from the Working Group No Estamos Todxs, and two from imprisoned organizing groups) express the decision to return to a full and indefinite hunger strike by the prisoners in struggle in Chiapas, Mexico. This decision comes after the government has failed to fulfill its agreements reached in dialogue with the prisoners' families. The original communiqués in Spanish were published by the Working Group No Estamos Todxs and can be found here.

San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas

May 13th, 2019

Without a valid response, without the state fulfilling their commitments, words or obligations, the compañeros have decided to RETURN TO A FULL AND INDEFINITE HUNGER STRIKE.

Today, May 13th, marks the deadline that our compañeros in struggle set in order for the state to review their cases and submit clear and concrete responses toward obtaining their freedom.

The struggle for freedom began this past March 15th and has practically reached sixty days. In these nearly two months our compañeros and their families have had to endure threats, punishment, isolation, discrimination, cold and huger. Today, in the very words of our compañeros, we can add mockery, lies and cynicism to that list.

It was the state, through its representatives, who made an agreement with the prisoners and their families to review their cases from a more complete perspective. This would include all the necessary aspects to identify the lack of due process and irregularities that the prisoners have been denouncing practically since the beginning of their detention.

From the first moment, the state representatives were given the word of our imprisoned compañeros, written by them themselves, which included the demands and the time period they were willing to offer so that the demands be fulfilled. The state representatives cannot say that they did not know the date, or that they didn’t know what they agreed to. They simply lied and gave a response that could even seem like an insult.

Why would the state be interested in carrying out a thorough investigation into the denunciations of torture of our compañeros? Perhaps is it that the state authorities know that the denunciations are true and that it is the habitual practice carried out against people who are locked up. This immediately dismantles the discourse of “rule of law” with which the state representatives fill their mouths and their pockets.

There are compañeros that 8, 10, 12 years after their episodes of torture suffer physical and psychological flashbacks derived from the torture. The compañeros, with this investigation, seek to insure that no one else will have to live through what they went though. However, the state seeks to perpetuate torture with its denial.

Why isn’t the state interested in doing a thorough investigation of the case files? Perhaps because they know that the fabrication of files is a daily practice carried out against the poor and forgotten of this country. Those laws that they claim to defend are those that they utilize to lock up the people.

If they have a way of sustaining, from a legal perspective, that a person can be detained without an arrest warrant, to be condemned without the accusing party ever being present and to be 14 years in a legal process, could they explain to us in which legal article, beneath what legal code, is this legitimately sustained.

They think that offering an appeal, a handout of “justice,” that they can silence the words of those that have had to survive long years in prion, of injustice, of punishment and of horror. They do not have any idea of the strength and courage that they face. Perhaps the state representatives think that dignity is bought with handouts, surely it is because they do not know and they have never had the intention of coming down from their podium of power and facing the presence and the word of the imprisoned compañeros.

Today our compañeros have communicatd with us their decision to return to the struggle that they began this March 15th and return to the total and indefinite hunger strike. Furthermore, they declare themselves in a sit-in and will be out in the open until they obtain their freedom.

Their names and the prisons in which they are located are as follows:

CERSS 5, (San Cristóbal de las Casas)

Adrián Gómez Jiménez
Juan de la Cruz Ruiz
Organization: La Voz de Indígenas en Resistencia

Abraham López Montejo
Germán López Montejo
Organization: La Voz Verdadera del Amate

CERSS 10, (Comitán de Domínguez)

Marcelino Ruíz Gómez
Juan Pérez Álvarez
Organization: Viniketik en Resistencia

Baldemar Gomez Hernandez and Hiolito Jimenez Cruz also identify themselves as prisoners in struggle in that same prison of Comitán.

This is the decision and word of our compañeros, to continue with a struggle that they have not abandoned and that they don’t plan to ever abandon. They told us that they are ready to give up their lives in this struggle against injustice, impunity and humiliation.

We also continue with the same decision that we have been sharing since the beginning of this dignified struggle. We will not stop until we seem the leave that hell where they are currently located, to abandon the horror and retake control of their lives.

Until we are all free!!

Until we break down the walls that separate us!!

Working Group No Estamos Todxs

Communiqué from the Compañeros in Prison No. 5 in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas.

To the Public

To the CIG Network of Support

To the National Indigenous Congress

To the National and International Sixth

To the Media

To the Zapatista Army of National Liberation

To the Network Against Repression and For Solidarity

To the Independent Organizations

To the Non-governmental Human Rights Defenders

To the People of Mexico and the World

Prisoners in struggle, Adrián Gómez Jiménez and Juan de la Cruz Ruiz, members of the organization, La Voz de Indígenas en Resistencia. Abraham López Montejo and Germán López Montejo, members of the organization, La Voz Verdadera del Amate. Both organizations are adherents of the Sixth Declaration of the Lancandon Jungle.

From Prison No. 5, San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico, our place in the struggle. We send a combative salute and a fraternal embrace to the compañerxs of the communities, towns and nations that are organizing, struggling and resisting against the bad governments of the world.

As the organizations, La Voz de Indígenas en Resistencia and La Voz Verdadera del Amate, we declare ourselves in hunger strike beginning Tuesday until they give us our freedom. By means of this new action, we raise our voices in the same demand that prompted the beginning of this action on March 15th of this year, justice and absolute freedom.

We want it to be known that our families and us have been the subject of jokes and lies on part of the government lead by Ismael Brito Mazariegos as the president of the dialogue table. The past April 15th, they asked our families that we end the hunger strike in exchange for the revision of our cases to advance toward our freedom. We acted in “good faith” demonstrating to them our confidence, and converting the strike into fasts. These fasts were to take place for twenty days. The representatives at the dialogue table emphasized that it would only take ten days, but like all agents of the state our health is not important to them. We have not seen satisfactory responses on their part.

We want a response, a response that takes into account our actions and our lives. We see that they have taken us for a ride. They see us as their puppets. As Indigenous people we are ignored and we have no voice and no vote. The bad governments are all the same and the current one is even worse. They say that they are of the left and that they are supposedly going to improve things, but it is all lies. We have verified that. They don’t care about our lives. We have confirmed it throughout the 58 days of hunger strike we have carried out.

That is why we return to our actions. We will be in a sit-in hunger strike in the cold and rainy weather.

Lastly, we invite all the state, national and international organizations to continue demanding true justice and freedom of all the political prisoners, prisoners in struggle, prisoners of conscience throughout the world.

Respectfully,

Juan dela Cruz Ruiz

Adrián Gómez Jiménez

Abraham López Montejo

Germán López Montejo

CERESO No. 5 San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas

May 12th, 2019

Prisoners in struggle of the organization, La Voz de Indígenas en Resitencia and the organization, La Voz Verdadera del Amate, both adherents of the Sixth Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle of the EZLN.

Communiqué from Members of the Imprisoned Organizing Group Viniketik en Resistencia

CERSS Nº10 13/05/2019

Comitan de Dominguez Chiapas

Communiqué from Indigenous Prisoners

Organization Viniketik en Resistencia

Organization La Voz Indigena en Resistencia

Organization La Voz Verdadera del Amate

Adherents of the Sixth Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle of the EZLN

To the Zapatista Army of National Liberation

To National and International Civil Society

To the National and International Media

To the National Indigenous Congress (CIG)

To Human Rights Organizations and NGOs

To the Network Against Repression and for Solidarity

To Independent Organizations

To the People of Mexico and the World

Compañeros and compañeras, we send you you an affectionate combative greeting.

We have been struggling for 58 days since the hunger strike began on March 15 of this year. With the famous “fourth transformation (of Mexico)” we had hope, but we have seen no changes as the government continues to violate our rights, forgetting about us simply because we are poor and indigenous. The governor of the State of Chiapas, Rutilio Escandon Cadenas, and the Secretary of Government, Ismael Britos Mazariegos, did not comply with the agreement at the dialogue table. We did not have the opportunity to be heard. Everything the government told us was a lie which is nothing new and does not surprise us as politicians always promise things and then do something else.

We are tired of the constant humiliation and outraged at all the atrocities. Marcelino Ruiz Gómez and Juan Perez Alvarez have decided to resume their hunger strike, demanding that the government comply with their promises.

We want justice and their immediate freedom because we have had enough of the lies. We say enough of the abuses by the government which neglects and takes advantage of us because we are marginalized, ignorant and impoverished indigenous people who do not have the money for our freedom. Today we hold Governor Rutilio Escandon Cadenas and the Secretary of Government Ismael Brito Mazariegos responsible for whatever may happen to us physically as one of us is diabetic. Putting our lives at risk is the only way we can be heard and that justice can to be served.

It is sad what is happening in our country and even sadder what is happening to indigenous people from Chiapas. Politicians and powerful people believe they rule our lives by making us and our families travel all over for them as we become physically and economically drained while they make fun of us. The inequality in administering justice continues and the government of the supposed “fourth transformation” doesn’t care.

That is why we invite independent national and international state organizations, and human rights NGO’s to demand true justice and freedom for all prisoners in the struggle and prisoners of conscience.

By uniting our voices and fighting with the Mexican people and the world, true justice will triumph.

Kind regards:

Organization Viniketik en Resistencia

ON STRIKE

Marcelino Ruiz Gomez

Juan Perez Alvarez

IN PROTEST

Baldemar Gomez Hernandez

Hipolito Jimenez Cruz

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