November 26, 2001
By Miguel Angel de los Santos

The release of six paramilitaries involved in the Acteal massacre is a confirmation of the failure of the Department of Justice of the Republic in the legal processes to demonstrate the responsibility of those involved. They had already failed previously in their attempt to bring members of Peace and Justice to trial, who were released weeks after their detention.

There is little to support the thought that those involved in the Acteal massacre were released because the Judge did not properly evaluate the evidence in this case, because, at the same time that the six were being acquitted, thirty-four others were also being convicted. If the Judicial Branch had been interested in granting impunity to those involved, they would have released all of them. In addition, the case will be appealed, and the Judge's ruling will probably be confirmed.

The problem with the detentions is that we are presented with the act of detention itself as justice. But the arrests are often based on inadequate investigations which do not gather the evidence necessary for securing convictions. The Acteal case is a clear example of this: the detainees were, for the most part, merely material authors and a few mid-level commanders of state police forces. Even though we all know that the chain of responsibility reaches the highest officials of the Julio Ce'sar Ruiz Ferro administration -- and probably military commanders -- justice has not caught up with them. This shows a manipulated ministerial process, whose purpose has been to diminish the demands for justice in the case.

The release of the paramilitaries will, of course, have a dangerous impact in the Chenalho' region -- as it did in the Northern region -- because the paramilitaries will be returning victorious, flaunting their impunity. The peace which the State government is building in the Chenalho' region is, in fact, based on money and hanging by a thread. The process of community reconciliation which Pablo Salazar is boasting about is based on economic compensation and aid for production, without securing justice, without punishing the paramilitaries.

That is why his statements rejecting the release of those involved in Acteal is hypocritical. It also reveals the two-faced nature of his policies towards the paramilitaries: while he rejects the release of the ones from Acteal, he is negotiating with Peace and Justice paramilitaries, as Cristo'bal Go'mez Torrez -- one of the leaders of the paramilitary group - said in an interview with a correspondent from La Jornada in San Cristo'bal de Las Casas: "What I'm looking at right now is the question of pacification, reconciliation and talks with the government." (La Jornada, November 17, 2001).

Punishing paramilitary groups in Chiapas necessitates the PGR carrying out in-depth investigations, and taking to trial not only those who participated directly in the crimes, but also those who planned, financed and supported the paramilitaries. And the State government should also take on this commitment, with actions, not just participating in the crimes within their jurisdiction, but also contributing in the PGR's investigations.

One of the reasons the PGR was attracted to the investigations of paramilitaries was the fact that state officials from past administrations had been found to be involved with the paramilitaries, and also because of the inherent contradiction of the State Prosecutor's Office investigating State officials. But today the scene is different, it is assumed that Salazar's government is different, that the State Prosecutor's office is trustworthy. Nonetheless, impunity continues. After one year of a new state and federal government, the conclusion is obvious: the governor of the state, like the President of the Republic, is resisting confronting the past and ending impunity.

Miguel Angel de los Santos is a human rights lawyer who works in Chiapas, Mexico.