Indigenous Prisoners in Chiapas End Hunger Strike After 16 Days

Indigenous prisoners in CERSS No. 5 and CERSS No. 10 in Chiapas have ended their hunger strike after sixteen days. Here we provide an update following the strike as the struggle for their freedom continues.

 

After just over two weeks of consuming only water and honey, four Indigenous prisoners in two different prisons in Chiapas have ended their hunger strike. This act of resistance sought to put pressure on state authorities to review their cases, and release them, for irregularities, lack of evidence, torture and discrimination. The strike also sought to demand adequate medical attention in the prisons of Chiapas, particularly at this pivotal moment with the threat brought by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The names of the prisoners and organizations who participated in the strike are as follows:

CERSS No. 5

Organization: La Voz Verdadera del Amate

Germán López Montejo

Abraham López Montejo

Organization: La Voz de Indígenas en Resistencia

Adrián Gómez Jimenez

CERSS No. 10

Organization: Vineketik en Resistencia

Marcelino Ruiz Gómez

For more information on how to get involved in the struggle for their freedom go here

For previous updates on the strike check these links:

Update after two weeks of the strike here

Update after the first week of the strike here

Update after three days of the strike here

Declaration of hunger strike CERSS No. 10 here

Declaration of hunger strike CERSS No. 5 here

Communique from CERSS No. 5

June 4, 2020 (Day 15 of Hunger Strike)

To the Public

To the Networks of Resistance and Rebellion

To the National Indigenous Congress

To the Zapatista Army of National Liberation

To the National and International Sixth

To the Network Against Repression and for Solidarity

To the Human Rights Defenders and Non-Governmental Organizations

To the Mass and Alternative Media

To the Independent Organizations

To the People of Mexico and the World

Thanks to the compañerxs, brothers and sisters, family members, and everyone else who has been attentive to our struggle these past weeks demanding justice and freedom. The Chiapas state prosecutor’s office has us imprisoned arbitrarily. They dedicate themselves to fabricating crimes. Those who are today employed in the prosecutor’s office are not the exception. They are all corrupt government functionaries who detain innocent people. Just as they have done to us. As of today, we continue unjustly imprisoned.

The government of the so-called fourth transformation governs with pure hypocrisy. We have seen this first hand in our demand for justice. To this day we continue demanding our freedom so we can leave this dungeon. It is not right that we are paying for crimes that we did not commit. Furthermore, we were tortured by the prosecutor’s office together with judicial agents. Today, our cases are held up because of the COVID-19 health emergency and the possibility of contagion in this prison. There are already eight people infected and one prison guard has died. It is alarming. Contagion is imminent. It was necessary for us to carry out this act of resistance in defense of our health and well-being.

This prison must provide us with healthcare, medicine, food, and above all, it must take the necessary sanitary measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19. It was necessary for us to carry out a 16-day hunger strike demanding our well-being and our freedom.

COVID-19 tests are necessary to insure we are not sick. According to the health workers, we have tested negative. But their words are empty. They have not shown us any results. They are violating our rights as human beings, ignoring us. For that, we denounce their unwillingness to give us our test results, and the medical negligence in the prison in general. Throughout our strike, we told the nurses that we had pain and diarrhea. They have not given us medicine. What is the point of them asking us how we are when they are not going to give us medicine?

Because the prison has denied us medicine, we are seeking out natural medicine to control diarrhea and other sicknesses. We carried out this hunger strike to demand our rights. Healthcare is our right. Tomorrow, June 5, will mark sixteen days of our hunger strike. We will eat food at 12:00 pm tomorrow. We carried out this strike together with Marcelino Ruiz Gomez of the organization, Vineketik en Resistencia, who is imprisoned in CERSS No. 10 in Comitán de Dominguez. We are together in the same struggle against this rotten prison system. We hope the competent authorities can look at this matter, and give us our freedom.

Enough of so much injustice and ignorance on part of government functionaries!

We want to again emphasize that the prison authorities are trying to move us from our encampment of resistance which we have maintained here inside this prison. They want to move us to the regular bedding area. Telling us that we are less likely to get sick there, and that here where we are, we might jump the fence and escape. We want justice. We do not want to be on the run. Our intention is to remain in this space of struggle in an indefinite encampment regardless of what they bring at us, whether it be threats, beatings or transfers, rain or shine.

We also want to emphasize that we want our bathroom back. They have closed them off to us. They have allowed us access to another bathroom but it closes at 10:00pm. It particularly affected us when our diarrhea came on from the hunger strike. We need our necessities to be met. This is abuse that the authorities are carrying out against us.

We make a call out to the state, national and international support networks and independent organizations, the national and international sixth, the Abejas de Acteal, the brothers and sisters who have been attentive to our struggle, and those that are struggling from below and to the left. We ask that the solidarity continue for our next action. If there is no resolution from state authorities we plan to carry out more actions. We hope that you can continue supporting us.

From CERSS No. 5, we send a fraternal and combative salute to the communities, peoples, and civil society of Mexico and the world, who are struggling and resisting against the bad governments.

Uniting our voices and forces, with those of the Mexican people, true justice will triumph.

Respectfully.

Adrián Gómez Jiménez (La Voz de Indígenas en Resistencia)

Abraham López Montejo (La Voz Verdadera del Amate)

Germán López Montejo (La Voz Verdadera del Amate)

Communique from CERSS No. 5

June 5, 2020

To the Public

To the Networks of Resistance and Rebellion

To the National Indigenous Congress

To the Zapatista Army of National Liberation

To the National and International Sixth

To the Network Against Repression and for Solidarity

To the Mass and Alternative Media

To the Human Rights Defenders and Non-Governmental Organizations

To the Independent Organizations of Mexico and the World

Today, June 5, eight prison guards came to our space of struggle to supposedly take photos of the walls. These eight prison guards did not follow any of the security protocols meant to address the pandemic. The eight security guards can possibly infect us. Just today we ended our hunger strike and we are very vulnerable to whatever contagion. They are not respecting our space of struggle. They have put a fence around our space, sending their guards to infect us.

We denounce these acts. They do not care about our health, security or well-being. We know, and it has been confirmed, that one guard from this prison has died because of the disease. Nothing guarantees that these guards who entered our space last night are not infected with COVID-19.

We invite the state, national and international organizations, along with the state, national and international human rights defenders, to continue demanding true justice.

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

Respectfully,

Adrián Gómez Jiménez (La Voz de Indígenas en Resistencia)

Abraham López Montejo (La Voz Verdadera del Amate)

Germán López Montejo (La Voz Verdadera del Amate)