1. Los Altos de Chiapas, New Year's Eve 1997. Survivors of the massacre march back along the road from the autonomous municipality of Polhó to Acteal. It is the novena, nine days after the massacre; the displaced campesinos will celebrate a mass in Acteal in memory of the 45 friends and relatives murdered by the paramilitaries.
2. Afraid of further attacks, the procession is accompanied by human rights activists, journalists, and priests from the Diocese of San Cristobal de las Casas. Here, Father Alberto of Bachajon carries a brick to Acteal, symbol of the survivors' determination to rebuild their lives and honour the memory of their dead. The bricks will be used to build a memorial at the site of the massacre.
3. International observers accompany the procession. Here, Jesús Hermosillo from Global Exchange shows his solidarity by carrying a brick to Acteal.
4. The victims of the massacre were members of Las Abejas (The Bees), a civil society group formed by Tzotzil Campesinos to demand their basic rights: a life with peace, justice and dignity for their children. After the massacre, their most pressing demand is the right to live without fear. This sign is calling for the Attorney General of Mexico to immediately arrest those accused of the murder. Until now, political murders have enjoyed almost total impunity in Chiapas.
5. A mass is conducted at the displacement camp where the 45 men, women and children were murdered as they prayed for peace on December 22 last year.
6. Tzotzil women stand beneath what is left of the camp's hurriedly constructed shelters. Wooden poles and banana leaves were the only materials available to keep out the rain and the cold of the Chiapanecan winter.
7. Flowers and wreaths mark the site of the mass grave where the 45 victims were buried on Christmas Day.
8. These bullet holes are proof that many of the victims were shot in the chapel at point blank range.
9. Fallen trees and trampled vegetation show the panic as hundreds tried to flee into the canyon below.
10. Shoes left behind in the mud by men, women, and children who tried to escape.
11. The trees along the escape route were full of holes from the lluvia de balas (rain of bullets) reported by survivors.