REFUGEES FACE CHARGES IN MEXICO
Arrest Warrants Issued for 11 Evangelical Christians Targeted in November Attack
by David Miller
MIAMI, January 15 (Compass) --Two months after a violent shooting
incident drove them from their native village in the Chiapas highlands,
27 Tzotzil-speaking Christian families remain homeless and in hiding for
fear of reprisals from powerful caciques (traditional village leaders).
Adding to their plight, authorities in San Cristobal de las Casas have
issued arrest warrants for 11 of the refugees.
The Tzotzil peasant farmers face charges ranging from battery to
attempted homicide and illegal arms possession. Caciques accuse the
evangelical Christians of firing high-powered rifles at them during the
November 14 confrontation in which seven persons sustained bullet wounds and other injuries.
But the 109 men, women and children of the village of Los Pinos who
sought asylum in the district capital following the violence say it was
the caciques themselves who fired the lethal shots after provoking a
violent confrontation with evangelicals.
One of the men being sought by authorities, Juan Lopez Patishtan, told
Compass in late November that a group of 25 assailants forcibly took him
from his home the day of the shooting and were leading him to the school
house in nearby Tzetelton for a "trial" before local caciques. When
Lopez's neighbors intercepted the group about 100 yards from the
building and appealed to them to release Lopez, the attackers began
beating the evangelicals with sticks. Suddenly shots rang out from the
school.
"We immediately fell on the ground to keep from being shot," Juan Lopez
said. "But the caciques' men kept standing and beating us with the
sticks. That's how they got hit."
During the ensuing confusion, the evangelicals crawled into the
surrounding woods. They spent the night there with their families in
order to avoid cacique search parties and later fled on foot to San
Cristobal to seek asylum. Presbyterian pastor Salvador Lopez has helped
provide shelter and food for the Los Pinos refugees since their arrival
in the city.
A native Tzotzil from San Juan Chamula, Rev. Lopez was himself expelled
from his ancestral village 26 years ago when his family converted to
evangelical Christianity. He says the caciques' local political
influence grants them virtual impunity for crimes committed against
evangelicals.
"The government cannot control the caciques," Salvador Lopez said.
"Things have been out of hand, from 1976 until now. There always seem to
be problems when it comes to believing in the Word of God."
Observers say the Tzetelton incident is but one of several cases of
religious persecution that has occurred in the Chiapas highlands since
the beginning of last year, when a new municipal government composed of
caciques openly hostile to evangelicalism assumed power in Chamula.
In another case, a group of caciques abducted Mariano Lopez and his 16
year-old son, Manuel, while the two were walking on a rural road near
Los Pinos on November 3. The caciques took the pair to the Tzetelton
schoolhouse for "questioning" and beat them. Manuel Lopez suffered
bruises, his father sustained cracked ribs and abrasions.
Their assailants then arranged for Chamula municipal police to arrest
the Lopezes and hold them several days in the town jail. Mariano Lopez
said that authorities filed no formal charges against them, nor did they
give reasons for the mistreatment he and his son suffered.
Mariano Lopez and his family are now among the 109 refugees living in a
churchyard in San Cristobal, fearing more mistreatment from caciques.
According to human rights attorney Abdias Tovilla, Chiapas caciques have
used harassment tactics against Tzotzil Christians for years in order to
discourage them from practicing their evangelical faith. Once conflicts
occur, such as in Los Pinos, caciques manipulate information reported in
the local press to place blame on evangelical Christians.
"Right now the judicial authorities believe the caciques version, that
the Christians fired high powered weapons at the traditionalists,
causing serious injuries," Tovilla said. "So now they are facing legal
accusations which, if substantiated, will lead to incarceration without
bail."
At press time, Tovilla was seeking a federal injunction against the
arrest warrants, hoping to buy time for the 11 evangelicals and present
evidence in their favor.
Compass Direct Flash News is distributed as available to raise awareness
of Christians worldwide who are persecuted for their faith. Articles may
be reprinted by active subscribers only.
Arrest Warrants Issued for 11 Evangelical Christians Targeted in November Attack
by David Miller
MIAMI, January 15 (Compass) --Two months after a violent shooting
incident drove them from their native village in the Chiapas highlands,
27 Tzotzil-speaking Christian families remain homeless and in hiding for
fear of reprisals from powerful caciques (traditional village leaders).
Adding to their plight, authorities in San Cristobal de las Casas have
issued arrest warrants for 11 of the refugees.
The Tzotzil peasant farmers face charges ranging from battery to
attempted homicide and illegal arms possession. Caciques accuse the
evangelical Christians of firing high-powered rifles at them during the
November 14 confrontation in which seven persons sustained bullet wounds and other injuries.
But the 109 men, women and children of the village of Los Pinos who
sought asylum in the district capital following the violence say it was
the caciques themselves who fired the lethal shots after provoking a
violent confrontation with evangelicals.
One of the men being sought by authorities, Juan Lopez Patishtan, told
Compass in late November that a group of 25 assailants forcibly took him
from his home the day of the shooting and were leading him to the school
house in nearby Tzetelton for a "trial" before local caciques. When
Lopez's neighbors intercepted the group about 100 yards from the
building and appealed to them to release Lopez, the attackers began
beating the evangelicals with sticks. Suddenly shots rang out from the
school.
"We immediately fell on the ground to keep from being shot," Juan Lopez
said. "But the caciques' men kept standing and beating us with the
sticks. That's how they got hit."
During the ensuing confusion, the evangelicals crawled into the
surrounding woods. They spent the night there with their families in
order to avoid cacique search parties and later fled on foot to San
Cristobal to seek asylum. Presbyterian pastor Salvador Lopez has helped
provide shelter and food for the Los Pinos refugees since their arrival
in the city.
A native Tzotzil from San Juan Chamula, Rev. Lopez was himself expelled
from his ancestral village 26 years ago when his family converted to
evangelical Christianity. He says the caciques' local political
influence grants them virtual impunity for crimes committed against
evangelicals.
"The government cannot control the caciques," Salvador Lopez said.
"Things have been out of hand, from 1976 until now. There always seem to
be problems when it comes to believing in the Word of God."
Observers say the Tzetelton incident is but one of several cases of
religious persecution that has occurred in the Chiapas highlands since
the beginning of last year, when a new municipal government composed of
caciques openly hostile to evangelicalism assumed power in Chamula.
In another case, a group of caciques abducted Mariano Lopez and his 16
year-old son, Manuel, while the two were walking on a rural road near
Los Pinos on November 3. The caciques took the pair to the Tzetelton
schoolhouse for "questioning" and beat them. Manuel Lopez suffered
bruises, his father sustained cracked ribs and abrasions.
Their assailants then arranged for Chamula municipal police to arrest
the Lopezes and hold them several days in the town jail. Mariano Lopez
said that authorities filed no formal charges against them, nor did they
give reasons for the mistreatment he and his son suffered.
Mariano Lopez and his family are now among the 109 refugees living in a
churchyard in San Cristobal, fearing more mistreatment from caciques.
According to human rights attorney Abdias Tovilla, Chiapas caciques have
used harassment tactics against Tzotzil Christians for years in order to
discourage them from practicing their evangelical faith. Once conflicts
occur, such as in Los Pinos, caciques manipulate information reported in
the local press to place blame on evangelical Christians.
"Right now the judicial authorities believe the caciques version, that
the Christians fired high powered weapons at the traditionalists,
causing serious injuries," Tovilla said. "So now they are facing legal
accusations which, if substantiated, will lead to incarceration without
bail."
At press time, Tovilla was seeking a federal injunction against the
arrest warrants, hoping to buy time for the 11 evangelicals and present
evidence in their favor.
Compass Direct Flash News is distributed as available to raise awareness
of Christians worldwide who are persecuted for their faith. Articles may
be reprinted by active subscribers only.
