Sigue la preparación de la Preaudiencia Nacional en Guanajuato ante el Tribunal Permanente de los Pueblos

Preaudiencia Nacional del Tribunal Permanente de los Pueblos sobre el Tema del Agua en Guanajuato, México este Septiembre

El 20 de septiembre del 2013, en San Miguel de Allende, estado de Guanajuato, la Coalición en Defensa de la Cuenca de la Independencia (CODECIN) realizará una preaudiencia nacional del Tribunal Permanente de los Pueblos.

El tema de la sesión será el sistema hidráulica en toda la republica mexicana, con una énfasis en el caso del Acuífero de la Independencia, ubicado en la parte norte del estado de Guanajuato.

Se ha publicado un breve anuncio de forma audio, anunciando el evento y su lugar.  Aquí se comparte el anuncio en castellano:

https://sites.google.com/site/media14pesos/mp3/Preaudience%20Voice%20Recording%20Ad.mp3?attredirects=0&d=1

Se publicará mas detalles sobre el evento muy pronto.

National Session of the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal to be held in Guanajuato, Mexico on the Issue of Water

On September 20^th, 2013, in San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, the Coalition in Defense of the Independence Basin (la Coalicion en Defensa de la Cuenca de la Independencia, CODECIN) will host a national session of the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal. 

The theme of the session will be the national hydraulic system of Mexico, with a special focus on the case of the Independence Aquifer located in the northern part of the state of Guanajuato. 

A brief audio clip has been released, announcing the event and its location.  That audio clip, in Spanish, is shared here:

https://sites.google.com/site/media14pesos/mp3/Preaudience%20Voice%20Recording%20Ad.mp3?attredirects=0&d=1

More details to be released soon about the event.  

The Mexico Chapter of the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal: Free Trade, Violence, Impunity and Peoples’ Rights

            Legal systems are established to deliver justice to wrongfully injured parties.  Nevertheless, in societies around the world, the law is frequently used to impede, rather than to facilitate, access to justice.  In such situations, the State might use its attributes and powers to benefit private interests that are contrary and prejudicial to public interests.  The Mexico chapter of the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal (PPT) characterizes this phenomenon -- of private interests’ co-opting a State and diverting the State’s resources to private, rather than public, needs -- as “desviacion de poder”: that is, “misuse of power.”[1]

            The concept of “misuse of power” is the central concern of the Mexico chapter of the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal (PPT).  The Tribunal does not simply affirm legal rights, but also highlights the incompatibility of the free trade economic model with universally recognized rights.[2]  In the Mexico chapter of the Tribunal, the Tribunal’s main theme is “Free Trade, Violence, Impunity, and Peoples’ Rights.”

General Structure of the Mexico Chapter of the Tribunal

            To understand the Tribunal’s work in Mexico, one must understand the Tribunal’s structure.  The Tribunal consists of different audiences and pre-audiences throughout Mexico.  The audiences include (i) a general introductory audience; (ii) seven thematic audiences; and (iii) a final audience. 

The Tribunal held a general introductory audience during May 2012 in Ciudad Juarez in the state of Chihuahua.  At this audience, the Tribunal listened to communities and organizations present evidence on the destructive relationship between free trade policies and the seven thematic audience topics.  The Tribunal issued a finding at the end of the general introductory audience about the results of the hearing and initiated the seven thematic audiences.[3]

The seven thematic audiences will continue until the Tribunal adjourns in 2014.  These separate audiences, which are the Tribunal’s “work groups,” cover the following topics: (i) dirty war; (ii) violence against migrants; (iii) violence against women; (iv) violence against workers; (v) violence against food sovereignty; (vi) environmental devastation; and (vii) violence against the media.

Each thematic audience will involve a hearing devoted to one of these topics, considered in relation to the structural violence produced by a free trade, neoliberal economic model.  For example, the Tribunal’s judges will hold a separate hearing on the violence inflicted on women by this economic model.  The Tribunal’s judges will also hold a separate hearing on the environmental devastation caused by free trade neoliberal policies. 

During the separate thematic audiences, the goal is to reveal the relationship that each theme has to violence generated by free trade neoliberal economic policies.  The Tribunal encourages the presenting of witnesses’ testimony at each audience, but does not require it.  Each thematic audience lasts about a day and a half or two days.  The judges issue a finding that is made public at the end of the audience.  Because the Tribunal is a public opinion court, the findings do not legally bind the State or individuals.  Nevertheless, grassroots movements and organizations may use the findings as part of their overall strategies for engaging in civil resistance.

After the seven hearings for the different thematic audiences, the Tribunal will conclude with a final audience.  In the final audience, the judges will use the information collected and the findings issued in the other hearings to discuss free trade’s adverse impact on the rights of the people, to indicate those responsible for violating the people’s rights, to publicize the violations, and to shed light on the relationships between free trade, violence, and the judicial system.[4]

Structure of the Thematic Audiences and Pre-Audiences

Although the work done in each thematic audience is notable, the bulk of the grassroots component of the Tribunal arguably occurs during the pre-audiences. 

The next article in this series will examine the pre-audiences, their structure, their importance to the Tribunal’s mission, and their role in organizing communities practicing civil resistance.

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[1] Silvia Ribeiro, Desviación de Poder, La Jornada, July 28, 2012, at  http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2012/07/28/opinion/028a1eco.

[2] Tribunal Permanente de los Pueblos, Boletín Informativo No. 3, at http://www.tppmexico.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/BOLETIN-3-TPP-CAPITULO-MEXICO.pdf.  

[3] Tribunal Permanente de los Pueblos, Dictamen de la Audiencia General Introductoria, May 27-29, 2012, at http://www.tppmexico.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/TPP-Ciudad-Juarez-definitivo-1.pdf.

[4] Tribunal Permanente de los Pueblos, Boletín Informativo No. 3, at http://www.tppmexico.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/BOLETIN-3-TPP-CAPITULO-MEXICO.pdf.   

The Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal: An Experiment in Populist Justice

            Imagine, for a moment, that the State has polluted your water with toxic levels of arsenic, or robbed you of your family land, or disappeared your brother, or assassinated the members of your community. Where would you seek redress?  To what forum would you take a case of that nature?
                                 

            If a society’s legal system still functions properly to some extent, you might find “relief” in that society’s courts.  But, in a society where the legal system no longer functions - where the legal system has broken down completely - one cannot hope for justice in that society’s courts.  Instead, new spaces for such cases are needed - like the proceedings held by international courts.

            International courts generally come in two different kinds.  First, there are the courts whose jurisdiction States have recognized by treaty or statute.  Then, there are “opinion tribunals,” whose jurisdiction States have not recognized.  Currently, two opinion tribunals of substantial weight are being conducted in the world today: (i) the Russell Tribunal, which just completed its final session investigating allegations of human rights abuses in Palestine; and (ii) the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal, which is currently holding hearings on allegations of human rights abuses throughout Mexico.

            This article is the first in a series of articles that will discuss the work of the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal in Mexico - its history, structure, goals, role as a community-organizing tool, and legal findings.  This Tribunal provides the opportunity to fuse legal advocacy with grassroots movements, meaning it is a legal experiment with great potential both for organizing communities and justice advocates alike.

             

“Public Opinion” Courts

The Russell Tribunal and the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal are “public opinion courts,” convened by citizens who seek a forum in which to present legal complaints, usually against a government or State-supported actors.  Because they are “public opinion” courts, they do not have legal status or the power to enforce their judgments.  Nevertheless, due to the prominence and respect accorded to members of these Tribunals, their pronouncements (decided based on evidence presented in court) exert social pressure on the State to take action against those found guilty in Tribunal proceedings   

For communities charging the State with human rights violations, these Tribunals serve as an alternative to the State courts.  Presenting a case against the State in a domestic court may prove impossible, dangerous, or pointless.  These opinion tribunals are a grassroots solution to counteract the impediments faced when bringing a case against the State in its own court.

History of the Russell Tribunal and the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal

After the Vietnam War, British philosopher Bertrand Russell and French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre joined other notable public figures to form the Russell Tribunal.  The original purpose of the Russell Tribunal was to provide a forum in which witnesses could testify about war crimes committed during the Vietnam War, particularly war crimes committed by United States’ military forces.

The Russell Tribunal began its work in 1966 and 1967 by holding hearings on the Vietnam War in various cities in Europe.  After the hearings on the Vietnam War, the Russell Tribunal held hearings from 1973 through 1976 on human rights violations in Latin America.  After the Latin American hearings, the Russell Tribunal did not convene for twenty-five years.  Thereafter, the Russell Tribunal held a series of hearings on various subjects: a hearing in 2001 on Human Rights in Psychiatry; a hearing in 2004 on war crimes in Iraq; and, beginning in 2009, hearings on Palestine, lasting from 2009-2013.[1]

During the quarter century that the Russell Tribunal was inactive, Italian Senator Lelio Basso sought to continue the work of opinion tribunals on a permanent basis.[2]  He sought to identify and to publicize cases of systematic violations of fundamental human rights, particularly those in which legislation failed to protect the people facing oppression.[3]  Concerning the legitimacy of public opinion courts, Basso stated: 

“The needs of public conscience can become a recognized source of law [...] and a tribunal that emanates directly from the popular consciousness reflects an idea that will make headway: institutionalized powers and the people, from whom the former claim legitimacy in actual fact tend to diverge and only a truly popular initiative can try to bridge the gap between people and power.”[4]

            In 1979, Basso founded the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal (PPT) in Italy on the basis of principles set forth in the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Peoples.  The Tribunal headquarters remain in Italy.  Currently, the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal comprises more than 130 members of high moral reputation.  Its President is Salvatore Senese, and its Secretary General is Gianni Tognoni.

            To date, the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal has held thirty-six sessions all over the world, including recent sessions in Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and Colombia.[5]  The Tribunal is currently holding “audiences” (its term for its sessions or hearings) in Mexico, which began in 2011 and will end in 2014.[6]

Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal in Mexico

            The current hearings of the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal are taking place throughout communities in Mexico.  Although the international press has given attention to the drug war in Mexico, the scope of human rights violations in Mexico goes far beyond drugs and cartels.  The international press has allowed this larger scope of human rights violations in Mexico to pass largely unnoticed.  The hearings of the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal in Mexico allow communities suffering injustices to bring the facts about the injustices and the intensity of their suffering to the world’s attention.

            The next article in this series will examine the structure and the work of the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal in Mexico.

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[1] Russell Tribunal on Palestine, available at http://www.russelltribunalonpalestine.com/en/ (last visited on March 8, 2013).

[2] Janine Odink, The Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal, 11 Neth. Q. Hum. Rts. 229-232 (1993).

[3] Lelio and Lisli Basso Foundation, International Section, Introduction, available at  http://www.internazionaleleliobasso.it/?page_id=207&lang=en (last visited on March 8, 2013).

[4] Lelio and Lisli Basso Foundation, International Section, Introduction, available at  http://www.internazionaleleliobasso.it/?page_id=207&lang=en (last visited on March 8, 2013).

[5] Lelio and Lisli Basso Foundation, International Section, Introduction, available at  http://www.internazionaleleliobasso.it/?page_id=207&lang=en (last visited on March 8, 2013).

[6] Tribunal Permanente de los Pueblos México, available at http://www.tppmexico.org/ (last visited on March 8, 2013).

Asphalt Plant Violates Right to Health, Life, and Education in the Colony of Las Peras

The Colony of Las Peras

The tourist center of San Cristóbal de las Casas presents a bohemian image with its international restaurants, jewelry stores, cafes, and street performers. This image, however, is deceptive, belying grave violations of human rights violations occurring behind the scenes. Located on the outskirts of San Cristóbal are the “colonies” that form the perimeter of the city, areas that visitors rarely see. In the Colony of Las Peras, (“Las Peras”), one of these human rights violations occurs daily.

Las Peras has a small but growing population. Apart from the houses of its inhabitants, the colony includes a grade school, a kindergarten, a tortilla shop, a church, and several small stores. Despite the people's presence, in 2005 the company ALZ Construcciones, S.A. de C.V. installed an asphalt plant directly across the colony’s borderline in neighboring territory. This asphalt plant functions almost daily, creating a grave health risk for both the children and adults of Las Peras.

Effects of the Asphalt Plant

The process of making asphalt generates numerous byproducts that have a deleterious effect on the health of the people of Las Peras.

First, the asphalt plant produces a smoke that carries with it the chemicals emitted during asphalt production. These chemicals can include arsenic, benzene, hydrogen sulfide, chromium, formaldehyde, and cadmium, to name a few. The smoke’s funnel can reach 50 to 60 meters in height, and disperses widely when the wind blows.

Because of this smoke, the people suffer from a chronic cough. As one resident of Las Peras states, “We say the cough now lives with us.” Both the adults and children experience problems breathing; pain of the chest, throat, and stomach; continuous headaches verging on migraines; and stinging irritation in the eyes. In addition, some inhabitants have noticed their skin sloughing off, as might happen after a chemical burn. Children have experienced diarrhea, and their stomach pain has lead to vomiting. Some children also manifest a red line in their fingernails, which, according to a medic from Doctors Without Borders, is a sign of poisoning.

Given the asphalt plant’s location right below the colony’s primary school and kindergarten, the children are the most severely affected. During school days, the wind carries the smoke and its chemicals into the classrooms, interrupting the classes and impeding both teaching and learning.

Second, the plant’s smoke produces an odor of burned rubber. This odor causes nausea, and affects the taste of the people’s food and water. The smell infiltrates throughout the house, passing through sweaters, sheets, and shawls that the people use to cover themselves as they try to ward off the smoke.

Third, the plant produces loud noises that affect the people’s nervous systems. When the asphalt plant works in the early morning, it wakes the people, depriving them of sleep. When the asphalt plant works in the day, it creates a constant background noise that sets the people on edge. This combination produces heightened stress in the colony’s population.

These effects are compounded by to the plant’s unrelenting operating schedule. As colony residents comment, “There is no day of rest for the people of the asphalt plant.” The asphalt plant may operate from Sunday through Saturday at any time of the day, including the very early mornings. With the continuous production of smoke, chemicals, odor, and noise, the people of Las Peras suffer a constant industrial assault on their health.

International Violations of Rights Committed by the Asphalt Plant

The asphalt plant violates a number of Mexico’s laws, including those regulating (a) the type and quantity of industrial emissions permitted, and (b) the distance allowed between this kind of heavy industry and an urban zone. These regulations are set forth in the Ley General del Equilibrio Ecologico y la Proteccion al Ambiente (LGEEPA, or the General Law of Ecological Equilibrium and the Protection of the Environment).

In the realm of international law, the asphalt plant – by its smoke, chemicals, odor, and noise – also violates the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the American Convention on Human Rights, among other international treaties and conventions that Mexican has signed and ratified. Articles in these treaties and conventions protect the right of children and adults to physical and mental health, the right of children and adults to an adequate life, and the right to an education.

Moreover, Article 1 and Article 133 of the Mexican Constitution establish that the international treaties and conventions ratified by Mexico automatically become part of the supreme law of Mexico. In laymen’s terms, if Mexico accepts an international law, that international law carries the same weight as a national law created by Mexico’s Congress. Thus, a violation of these international conventions is also a violation of the Mexican Constitution.

Omissions by the Mexican Government

The Mexican government has an obligation to ensure the enforcement of the laws it creates or accepts. The government, however, refuses to take action against the asphalt plant. In fact, the government not only refuses to take action, it provides excuses to allow the plant’s continued operation. Government officials assert that the asphalt plant came before the schools. First and foremost, this is incorrect. As the people testify, the schools have been present in Las Peras for anywhere from 25 to 30 years, much longer than the asphalt plant constructed only six years ago. Second, regardless of which arrived first, the well-being of the children and the colony’s inhabitants takes precedence over the profits of the asphalt plant.

Other government officials claim the asphalt plant is now legal, and they can do nothing more about the matter. This is also incorrect. The asphalt plant has not demonstrated compliance with the applicable domestic industrial standards for this kind of industry. In addition, the plant remains prohibitively close to an urban zone. Furthermore, the plant continues to violate the international treaties and conventions that protect the children’s and adults’ right to health, adequate life, and education.

By failing to enforce both domestic and international laws against the asphalt plant, the Mexican government is perpetrating an omission of the law – that is, ignoring its duty to enforce the law.

Submission of a Complaint to the United Nations

For these reasons, the people of the Colony of Las Peras united themselves with a larger movement of citizens within San Cristóbal in the hope of reclaiming their right to health, life, and education. The Movimiento Salvemos San Cristóbal (Movement Let’s Save San Cristóbal), along with the Colony of Las Peras and other communities affected by government inaction, banded together this past week to submit a complaint to the United Nations and the High Commissioner for Human Rights. This complaint challenges the Mexican government for its inaction and the continued illegal operation of the asphalt plant, owned by ALZ Construcciones, S.A. de C.V.

The people of Las Peras currently await an answer regarding their complaint. While they wait, they will continue their struggle for their health, life, and dignity – for themselves and for their children.