Letter from Brutalized Chiapan Prisoners

Cereso #5 San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas
April 24, 2008

Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas Human Rights Center and other organizations and Pueblo Creyente, compañeros in the EZLN, compañeros from The Other Campaign and the Mexican people and other national and international organizations

We denounce the current situation of the group of political prisoners The Voice of los Llanos and the other three compañeros who are in solidarity with us. Today marks 72 hours since the beating the following precisos gave us: Bartolo García Suarez, Damián Gutiérrez García, Elías Domínguez Trejos, and Eleuterio de la Cruz Martínez [translators' note: Precisos are mestizo prisoners who who maintain control, discrimination, and racial violence within the prison with the tacit approval of prison authorities.]. Today, at 72 hours after the attack, they called us to the judicial area, asking us what happened. At the same time lawyer Jurídica Rocío Victoria used intimidating words and harassed us, asking us if we'd already thought long and hard about bringing charges against the precisios because Bartolo is going to defend himself, and he has the full support of the prison population. These words are very telling, but we're also aware that that's not the real situation. We also responded to her asking why 72 hours passed before they called us, when they as the prison authorities could have acted in the moment instead of waiting until now. But they did take action against The Voice of Los Llanos, requesting that we be transferred to another prison while the aggressors enjoy privilege and we are suffering. We're in a very small medical area without medical attention. We can't make food, we can't send anyone to bring our clothes so we can change, and as of this time the director hasn't resolved anything. We talked to him on Tuesday morning, and at this time we don't know if we're waiting for a solution or if we're being punished. And the people who should be here in this area are the aggressors. At this time we don't know how the prison director is managing the situation.

We've received information from fellow prisoners that the precisos are waiting for us together with the workers. They've suspended their work under the condition that they greet us with a beating when we return to the general population--these are the plans of the precisos. We want justice and that they be transferred as soon as possible. If not, the authorities give the orders, meaning that they're involved in the actions against The Voice of los Llanos.

We request that you keep yourselves informed of our situation and that you continue demanding justice so that prison corruption can be done away with.

Respectfully,
Political prisoners, The Voice of los Llanos, adherente to the EZLN's Other Campaign

Tiburcio Gómez Pérez, Agustín Rodríguez Jiménez, Antonio Díaz Pérez, Diego Rodríguez Hernández, Juan Díaz López, Miguel Díaz López, Nicolás Pérez Núñez

and other compañeros in solidarity: Mateo Gómez Santiz, Agustín Díaz Gómez, Orlando Santiso Castillo

Translation by Kristin Bricker. Originally published in Narco News.