[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 78 (Tuesday, June 16, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1131-E1132]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 AN INTERNATIONAL SPOTLIGHT ON CHIAPAS

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. LEE H. HAMILTON

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 16, 1998

  Mr. HAMILTON. Mr. Speaker, I commend to my colleagues' attention the 
attached statement by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the 
Honorable Mary Robinson. The situation in Chiapas, Mexico is only 
getting worse, and Mrs. Robinson is right to call our attention to the 
brutal situation in southern Mexico. It is high time that all sides in 
that festering conflict renounce violence and dedicate themselves to a 
peaceful resolution of that conflict.


[[Page E1132]]



Statement by Mary Robinson, United Nations High Commissioner for Human 
        Rights on the Human Rights Situation in Chiapas, Mexico

       I have been following with mounting concern the situation 
     of human rights in the Chiapas region of Mexico. News reports 
     and almost daily submissions from representatives of 
     indigenous groups and NGOs indicate an alarming deterioration 
     over the past several days.
       These reports paint a grim picture of an atmosphere of fear 
     among the indigenous people of Chiapas caught between 
     government forces supported by officially funded militias on 
     one side and armed resistant groups on the other. Such 
     conflict does not serve the interests of anyone.
       The deaths of nine people in what has been reported as an 
     action by government forces in the town of San Juan de Ia 
     Libertad this week is just the latest in a string of violent 
     incidents in a region already affected by widespread 
     displacement, dispossession and severe poverty.
       These are serious violations of the rights of indigenous 
     people. As High Commissioner and as the UN Coordinator for 
     the International Decade of the World's Indigenous People, I 
     appeal to the Government of Mexico to look urgently at ways 
     of restoring dialogue with communities in Chiapas. A 
     reduction in the military presence in the region could be an 
     important first step in restoring confidence that a peaceful 
     solution might be found. This would also contribute to 
     improving the current climate of fear.
       The Office of the High Commissioner is prepared to assist 
     the Government in meeting its obligations under the 
     International Covenants and other human rights treaties it 
     has ratified including ILO Convention 169 of 1989 on 
     Indigenous and Tribal Peoples. We would also welcome 
     opportunities to assist civil society organizations active in 
     promoting respect for human rights as an essential condition 
     for improving the lives of people in Chiapas.

     

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