MEXICO: Dam Resistance: Citizen Observation of Assembly in La Parota

Posted May 10, 2007 in [Water]

BACKGROUND

The citizen observation delegation to “La Parota” - a group formed by 36 people and 17 Mexican and international organizations and networks, which went to the zone where the dam is projected to be built - expresses to the public its opinion of some issues concerning the Assembly held on 5th and 6th of May:

The Assembly called for the 6th of May in San Juan Grande, Acapulco Municipality had, according to the Consejo de Ejidos y Comunidades Opositores a la Parota (CECOP), the purpose of legitimizing the expropriation of the land of the comuneros* to start the construction of the hydroelectric megaproject called La Parota. This Assembly sought to reinstate the one that took place in San Marcos on 23 August 2005 and was annulled (March 27, 2007) by the Unitarian Agrarian Tribunal in favor of the dam resistance.

We considered this new Assembly as a risk of another repression and provocation by the authorities. This is why we sent a delegation of citizen observation to verify the procedures of the Agrarian Assembly. The delegation is an answer to the national and international alert by CECOP and was supported by 47 organizations and networks of the civil society.

OBSERVATIONS

The civil delegation observed the following.

1) It is important to point out that the call for the Assembly was irregular for the following reasons:

First, through testimonies from the community we knew that the call was not announced in the most visible places as the Law dictates in article 25 of the Agrarian Law.

Second, the Assembly was called in a different place from that recognized by tradition in the community. These Assemblies normally take place in Cacahuatepec.

2) Concerning the Assembly we realized the following:

The registration was not set the way the Agrarian Law dictates because the Commissary did not bring the official listing of comuneros.

In spite of this, the agrarian authority instructed that registration should begin. Only two people registered and they did not show any ID or document that would credit them as comuneros.

Immediately after the Commissary, without checking assistance, suspended the Assembly saying that it was inquorate and stating there were only 543 comuneros. This number was impossible to prove because no attendance count was taken.

Fifteen minutes after arriving, the authorities left and on the way they signed and posted a call for a 2nd Assembly that was clearly written beforehand. Proof of this is what the call said, i.e. that the 1st Assembly was cancelled due to “violent acts”. It is important to stress that in the whole process there was no violence or physical aggressions by those present as shown in photographs, videos and testimonies collected by this delegation. This is in clear contradiction to what the Commissary argued as the reason to declare the Assembly null.

CONCLUSIONS AND ADVICE

1) The delegation considers that this type of Assemblies is not an adequate consultation mechanism in terms of the convention 169 of ILO, because the official list of Cacahuatepec only acknowledges 7,280 comuneros while there are 43 thousand inhabitants. It is clear that these Assemblies exclude the majority of the affected population.

2) The Assembly was irregular as explained earlier.

3) The civil observation delegation expresses its concerns that the Assembly was not organized with goodwill and that the purpose was to tire the resistance movement, to criminalize it and in this way to justify the possible use of violence and repression. This would in turn justify the use of the police in future assemblies to impose the project

4) We are concerned about the Assembly being declared null because this means that further assemblies require a smaller quorum to be valid. This could be a strategy by the authorities to ease the imposition of the project.

5) We confirm that there was no violence by any group that participated and that the resistance movement has continued non violent and legal defense of their rights.

6) We are concerned by the false argument that opponents are violent because it justifies menace, harassment and repression by the authorities.

7) We demand that the communities affected by the hydroelectric project “La Parota” are given complete, precise and impartial information about the project and compensations. We also demand that opponents should not be subject to menace and should be able to protest against the dam construction, and that international treaties and conventions of Human Rights signed and ratified by Mexico are followed.

8) We recommend that further assemblies are kept public as dictated by the Agrarian Law, thus allowing observation by national and international civil society in the procedures.

9) The delegation of observation is concerned that assemblies carried conducted in this way will be a factor to incite confrontation and inter-communitarian violence among opponents and those who favor the dam.

10) The delegation commits to give follow-up to the next assembly on May 20th and calls on the public opinion and the civil society in general to stay alert to what happens in the context of the project for La Parota dam.

Citizen Observation Delegation: Espacio por los derechos Económicos, Sociales y Culturales, Servicios y Asesoría para la Paz (SERAPAZ), Amnistía Internacional – Sección Canada, Servicio Internacional para la Paz (SIPAZ), Red de organismos civiles de Derechos humanos “Todos los derechos para Todos y Todas”, Liga Mexicana de Defensa de los Derechos Humanos (LIMEDDH), Centro Ollin Mexica, Centro de Estudios Sociales y Culturales Antonio de Montesinos (CAM), ADHEM, Food First International Action network ofna. México (FIAN), RADAR, Red Género y Comercio (REDGE), Calpulli Tlatoani, Unión Popular Revolucionaria Emiliano Zapata (UPREZ), Asociación de Familiares de Detenidos Desaparecidos y Victimas de Violaciones a los Derechos Humanos en México (AFADEM), Hijas de la Caridad de San Vicente de Paul, Álvaro Urreta (comunero de Tlanepantla, Morelos), Coalición de Organizaciones Mexicanas por el Derecho al Agua (COMDA), Paulina Fernández (Investigadora y académica de la UNAM).

* Comuneros have certificates of agrarian rights or certificates for use of common lands.