Hunger Striking Indigenous Prisoners in Chiapas Begin a New Stage of Struggle

Hunger striking Indigenous prisoners in Chiapas have begun a new stage of struggle, transitioning to daily fasts in order to continue their struggle in the face of extreme health deterioration from the strike. The original in Spanish was published by the Working Group No Estamos Todxs.

To the Public

To the CIG Support Networks

To the National Indigenous Congress

To the Zapatista Army of National Liberation

To the National and International Sixth

To the Non-governmental Human Rights Defenders

To the Network Against Repression and for Solidarity

To the Independent Organizations

To the Indigenous Peoples of Mexico and the World

To the Civil Society of Mexico and the World

Prisoners in struggle, Adrián Gómez Jiménez and Juan de la Cruz Ruíz, members of the organization, La Voz de Indígenas en Resistencia, and Germán Montejo and Abraham López Montejo, members of the organization, La Voz Verdadera del Amate. Both organizations are adherents to the Sixth Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle of the EZLN, imprisoned in CERESO #5, San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico.

To the compañerxs and hermanxs, to the media, to the support networks, to the journalists, to all those that have followed our struggle in CERESO #5, our space of struggle. We send you a fraternal and combative salute from this prison.

This past March 15^th, we declared a hunger strike. Four months have already passed. Our health is deteriorating. The four of us are very sick. We were in the Hospital of Cultures. Our fragile bodies and our state of health have reached their limits. At any moment our bodies could collapse and suffer a heart attack.

Thus, today July 28^th, 2019, we declare ourselves on an indefinite daily fast from 12-6 pm and we will remain carrying out our sit-in.

When we began the hunger strike, we bet our lives on our freedom. We will not end the struggle until we obtain our freedom and until we are with our families. Our demands are the same: that are cases are taken up at the reconciliation table; that there is a review of testimonies of torture, the negation of our due process and the irregularities in our files; that there is a review of human rights abuses and lastly the demand for our absolute freedom.

Those are our demands to the government of Chiapas; to the General Secretary Brito Mazariegos; to the President of the State Commission of Human Rights in Chiapas, Fernando Pérez; and to the Human Rights Prosecutor, Jesus Ernesto Molina Ramos.

Lastly, we extend an invitation to the independent organizations at the state, national and international levels, to the state, national and international human rights defenders, to continue demanding true justice and freedom to the political prisoners.

No more bars. Until we are all free.

Uniting the voices and forces of the Mexican people, true justice will be achieved.

Respectfully,

Adrián Gómez Jiménez

Juan de la Cruz Ruíz

Germán López Montejo

Abraham López Montejo