A report by the Guerrero civil network of human rights organizations presented to Mrs. Asma Jahangir, Specialist to the United Nations on Summary and Arbitrary Extrajudicial Executions

July 17th, 1999

The State of Guerrero, throughout its 150 years of existence, has gained the enviable fame as paradise with beautiful beaches. At the same time it has also become recognized for being the home of numerous massacres that have laid their mark of blood and fire upon the history of its people.

The right to life is the supposition to the continued existence of the rest of our rights as human beings. Unfortunately, one of the fundamental problems that confront the people of the State of Guerrero is the systematic violation of their right to life. This right is consecrated in article 4 of the American Convention on Human Rights, as well as in article 14 of the Mexico Constitution.

Guerrero has an approximate population of 2,700,000 people who are distributed throughout 76 municipalities. The majority of this population is poor farmers. 56.13% of what are considered rural communities have less than 5,000 inhabitants on average. 67.81% of what is considered to be the economically active population has an income of less than 2 times the minimum salary. Consequently, Guerrero is now considered the 3rd poorest state of Mexico behind Chiapas and Oaxaca. 13% of Guerrero9s population is made up of the indigenous Nahuas, Mixtecos, Tlapanecos, and Amuzgos, who live predominantly in the mountain region and "La Costa Chica" ("the little coast", the coast that occupies the area south of Acapulco to the border with Oaxaca) where the poorest municipalities of the state are located. Of the 2,404 municipalities of the Republic of Mexico, the municipality of Metlatonoc in Guerrero is regarded as having the second highest rate of marginalization.

The culture of death here is the dark cloud that is inextricably bound to the fortune of the poverty stricken communities of Guerrero. The resultant violence is the degenerative sickness that threatens to exterminate native peoples, while the massacres have become endemic through the authoritarian and repressive exercise of public power.

Along with the cases of torture and forced disappearances, the rising rate of extra-judicial executions in our state are catalogued as one of the principal violations to the right to life. The rise of homicides is indicative of the grave situation that all of the people of Guerrero are living under. At the same time, the local and state authorities attempt to administer justice is suspect because of the lack of a clear response to the appeals of citizens who have demanded that the military and police be held accountable for their violations of human rights in connection with these homicides. The awareness of different historical points of the State of Guerrero has been lost amidst this painful social and political oppression that has resulted in the loss of life of farmers, teachers and indigenous peoples that have organized to demand democracy, justice, and freedom.

The following are significant dates in recent history that are indicative of the systematic action of state authorities to revert to military and police repression to contain the social movement of Guerrero:

• May 18th, 1965, 7 Guerrero farmers are killed by judicial police in the municipality of Atoyac de Alvarez.
• August 20th, 1967, 30 coconut farmers are massacred
• June 28th, 1995, the massacre in Aguas Blancas where judicial police murdered 17 farmers by way of an old formula handed down by former president Porfirio Diaz called "matalos en caliente" which advocates the swift and merciless deaths of disobedient constituents.
• June 18th, 1998, the massacre of "El Charco" where the Mexican Federal Army executed 11 alleged rebels.
• April 20th and 21st, 1999, 3 indigenous Mixteco, in the towns of Barrio Nuevo San Jose and Cerro de la Letra in the municipality of Tlacoachistlahuaca, were assassinated by members of the Mexican Federal Army.
• May 2nd, 1999, Bartolo Sanchez, member of an ecologist organization in the community of Pizotla, in the municipality of Ajuchitlan del Progresso, was assassinated by members of the Mexican Federal Army.
• May 7th, 1999, Alejandro Chavez Rubi, a 14 year old boy from the community of Cirian, was murdered by members of the Mexican Federal Army.

These are examples of a painful history, with first names and last names, of extra-judicial executions that have been carried out in the State of Guerrero under the flag of impunity that typifies the administration of justice on the state and federal level.

On the 24th of November, 1998, the State Attorney of Guerrero informed the public that in the previous 32 months there had been an average of 4 violent deaths per day in the state, and over 4000 assassinations in total. The State Attorney also stated that between 1997 and 1998, 2,463 assassinations, 194 kidnappings (10 of which were executed), 826 various other human rights violations, 856 violent assaults, and 3,353 stolen cars, had been officially registered in the State of Guerrero. The State Attorney summed up the extremely high rate of crime in the state by saying, "centuries old problems such as drug and arms trafficking that have simply not been effectively combated, the existence of rebel groups, the absence of municipal programs that protect the public, the economic crisis, the increasing level of social inequity, and the proliferation of criminal groups have all contributed towards creating a culture of death here in the State of Guerrero."

State authorities have a constitutional mandate to respect the law and guarantee physical security to the citizens of Guerrero are irresponsibly absolved from connection to this violence. As a result the degree of corruption, impunity, political nepotism, and extortion are not addressed as root causes of the grave crisis of human rights violations that confronts and effects all people of Guerrero.

In spite of the documentation and testimonies from victims and families of victims that non-governmental human rights organizations have collected about extra-judicial executions, we have encountered a protective attitude on the part of state authorities in relation to those connected to crimes of violence. Furthermore we have also encountered an overt effort on the part of state authorities to impede the process of investigation and punishment of those responsible. In relation to this, we have established a position within the law that contains the demands of society that orders that justice be applied to those members of the judicial police and Mexican Federal Army that have deprived the right to live from indigenous peoples and farmers. It is important to note that it9s these same victims, the indigenous and farmers, who are continually and systematically accused of being drug-traffickers or members of armed rebel groups. None of the denunciations of human rights violations presented to competent authorities that have signaled out members of the different police forces and/or the Mexican Federal Army as being involved, will be followed up by impartial investigations to bring those identified before a tribunal to be tried and sanctioned.

The system of justice administration and the existence of military exemption for those members of the Mexican Federal Army who have been implicated in human rights violations constitute two different sources of impunity in our state and in our nation. The Mexican Federal Army in our state has redefined its functions and justification for its presence in those regions where there exists strong political movements and independent citizen organizations in order to carry out counterinsurgency and anti-narcotics operations. This military repositioning has coincided with an increase in cases of torture, extra-judicial executions, disappearances, and arbitrary detentions in those regions and towns where they have carried out their operations.

This critical phase of human rights that we are in now, has made itself more evident with the appearance of both the EPR (The Popular Revolutionary Army) and the ERPI (The Revolutionary Army of the Insurgent Pueblos). As the Inter-American Commission9s Report on Human Rights in Mexico has stated, "the appearance of these groups has not only provoked a recognition of the means of control utilized by the armed forces, but also the indiscriminant submission of social leaders and organizations." This process of militarization has actually extended to various states through the use of the justification that the presence of the Federal Army is necessary to combat drug trafficking and delinquency. However, the process of militarization has brought an increase in violations to the rights of civil society, including the right to life.

The right for victims and families of victims of human rights violations to be justly heard before an appropriate judicial body is not guaranteed by the legal system of Mexico. The reason is that there is a monopoly of power that exists within the Public Ministry that doesn9t allow for accusations of crimes to be made against those thought to be responsible. The Public Ministry assumes the role that would otherwise be held by other investigative bodies, consequently dissolving the guarantees within Mexican law that call for impartiality, professionalism, efficiency, and speed in the process of carrying out justice. At the same time, the official declaration/document that is used by the judicial system to protect the rights of its citizens is not enough to guarantee that these rights will actually be protected as is evident in those cases of extra-judicial executions and forced disappearances. This situation provokes those authorities involved in human rights violations to take refuge in the judicial limitations that permit themselves and their actions to remain immune, consequently putting the full respect of individual guarantees in grave danger. We want to illustrate this situation by bringing attention to those cases of forced disappearances where the military and police authorities have been identified as responsible and the official appeals of the victims and families of the victims have been systematically ignored. It is within these cases that brings attention to the fact that the process of ignoring the pleas of those who have been subject to human rights violations automatically leaves these victims without any other legal resource that makes amends for the dissolution of their guaranteed rights.

The civil network of human rights organizations of Guerrero (La Red Guerrerense) solicits the respectful intervention of Mrs. Asma Jahangir, specialist to the United Nations on summary and arbitrary extra-judicial executions, to recommend the following to the Mexican Government:

• To adopt the necessary means to reform Mexican Prison Legislation in order that extra-judicial executions and forced disappearances are firmly established and recognized as crimes.

• That serious, impartial, and rapid investigations take place in all of the cases of extra-judicial executions in order that the responsible parties are charged and convicted.

• To create legislation that would disallow those involved in extra-judicial executions the opportunity to be excluded from responsibility through the use of the argument that they were following orders from superiors.

• That it approve laws that guarantee that cases of torture, extra-judicial executions, and forced disappearances attributed to members of the Mexican Federal Army, be tried under civil jurisdiction.

• That it act in a serious, rapid and efficient manner so that the denunciations on violations of the right to life committed by members of the police and Mexican Federal Army are investigated immediately and professionally in order to guarantee a clear application of justice.

• That it suspend those security agents that are investigated for supposed violations of the right to life.

• That it demilitarize indigenous and farming regions of the state in order to guarantee the complete observance of human rights.

• That it completely respect the declaration on human rights in regards to individuals, groups, and institutions that promote and protect human rights and fundamental universal freedoms that are recognized by the United Nations, in order that national and international human rights defenders can fulfill their legitimate activities.

• That it promote peace initiatives and constitutional changes that recognize the rights of native peoples.

• That it strengthen the autonomy and independence of the Public Ministry.

• That it make the improvement of the lives of the people of Guerrero a priority instead of the financing of the military.

• That it implement efficient action to ensure the return of constitutional balance and order when it commits a human rights violations.

• That conflicts about democratic change are resolved with more democracy and not with more repression and harassment against those who are demanding this change.

Comments by the Specialist to the U.N. on Extra-Judicial Executions, Mrs. Asma Jahangir, during her visit to Guerrero, June 18 1999

Many families and community representatives were able to present their stories of extra-judicial executions and official denunciations at this meeting with Asma Jahangir in Chilpancingo, Guerrero. Likewise, many more cases of extra-judicial executions than are evident in the letter above were presented to her by the civil network of human rights organizations in Guerrero (La Red de Guerrero). In total, 20 cases of torture, extra-judicial execution, and forced disappearances committed by members of the Mexican Federal Army and/or members from different police organizations were presented during this meeting.

The overall feeling and reaction by human rights and social justice organizations on the visit of this specialist from the UN has been very positive. Her comments directed towards the nations of the UN, the general public of Mexico, and the Mexican Government have indicated that she is both now aware and surprised at the level of corruption, violence, and especially impunity that plagues the people of this state. The following are a few of the comments from Mrs. Jahangir that address the severe rate of extra-judicial executions in the state, as well as her overall feelings on the situation of human rights violations in Guerrero.

• When questioned about whether or not she thought that human rights were being respected in Guerrero, she replied, "Well I don9t believe that human rights are being respected completely...what worries me the most, not only here in Guerrero, but also in all of Mexico, is the question of impunity." (La Jornada, July 19th, 1999, p.16)

• When questioned if she would ask for the demilitarization of Guerrero in her final report on Mexico she replied, "...In principle, the militarization or use of excessive force coincides with more violence in society." (La Jornada, July 19th, 1999, p.16)

• After her meeting in Chilpancingo, Guerrero, where victims and families of victims presented their stories and denunciations, Mrs. Jahangir was asked, "what is the message that you gave to the people who presented today?" Mrs. Jahangir replied by saying, "I9m happy that the Mexican Government has shown a willingness to change things. It seems sincere, but at the same time this willingness has to be accompanied by real results on the ground. Furthermore, this willingness has to reach the lowest levels of the administration who have to understand that the practices of yesterday don9t have a place in today9s world for two reasons: one, because people are not prepared to endure this any longer, and second, because the focus and vision of governments are changing."(La Jornada El Sur, July 18th, 1999, p.4)