San Cristobal de Las Casas, Chis. Those attending the meeting of torture survivors and their families, united in their quest for justice and reparation, demanded that all three levels of government “do justice for those who are still unjustly imprisoned.”
They particularly demanded the release of José Diaz Gómez, a Zapatista support base, Yonny Ronay Chacón González, Juan Hernández Gómez, Jorge López Montoya, Raymundo Sánchez García, Antonio Altunar and Oswaldo Sánchez González.
Most of the human rights violations in the state are committed by the indigenous population. Although there is no precise data (there is a “black figure”, either due to omission or fear of reporting), it is estimated that between 2010 and 2021, the State Commission for Human Rights of Chiapas received 266 complaints of torture against members of indigenous communities; all of them point to elements of the municipal, state and federal police.
For its part, INEGI published in 2021 that there were 4,600 people deprived of their liberty in the state. Of these, 55.4 percent claimed to be detained without an arrest warrant. In this context, there are many fabricated culprits, without justification, who are victims of torture by authorities.
In a statement released by the Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas Human Rights Center (Frayba), survivors demanded that “we be fully compensated for the damage caused to all of us who have been victims and have survived torture.”
They explained that on August 3 and 4 they participated in the Meeting of Torture Survivors and Family Members in San Cristóbal “to analyze the current situation of torture in the state, which continues to be a constant practice carried out by government authorities, with the aim of intimidating the most vulnerable population, and people defending human rights, land, territory and justice.”
Foto Frayba
They added that during the meeting “we reflected on the fact that torture is used to repress people with limited resources. We agreed to join forces to be able to carry out actions and demand that the authorities at all three levels of government enforce our fundamental rights as human beings and as indigenous peoples.”
“We also shared our experiences and saw how torture causes permanent physical, psychological, moral and economic damage, not only to the victims who suffer directly, but also to our families who fight for justice and reparation of the damage,” they said.
Torture, they reiterated, “is a method that continues to be used in a widespread and systematic manner, which damages and destroys people’s life plans, and we insist that it also directly impacts the entire family, depriving them not only of freedom, but also of peace and tranquility.”
At the end of the meeting, they invited “families and those who have survived torture to join the fight, because together we will learn to defend our rights, promoting forums, workshops, meetings and pilgrimages. We seek to eradicate this practice that profoundly violates the humanity of people and their human rights.”
#forgotten #Chiapas #victims #torture #prisoners #justification
– 2024-08-06 05:37:11
