By: Elio Henríquez, correspondent
San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas

The Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas Human Rights Center (Frayba), demanded the liberation of José Díaz Gómez, an indigenous support base of the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN, Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional), who has been “arbitrarily deprived of his freedom for eight months” in the Catazajá prison.

It said that Díaz Gómez, originally from Ranchería El Trapiche, Salto de Agua municipality, “was arbitrarily detained with signs of excessive use of force, torture, cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment at the time he was forcibly disappeared and held incommunicado by members of the Specialized Police attached to the Jungle District Prosecutor’s Office, who executed the arrest warrant.”

In a statement, it maintained that “the state judiciary has violated his guarantee of due process, accused of the crime of robbery carried out with violence,” since “Frayba documented that on November 25, 2022, José Díaz was arrested at approximately 4:00 p.m., in Salto de Agua and in the company of a relative, he was intercepted by a black van with police agents on board, who showed him an alleged arrest warrant, put him in the back of the pick-up, handcuffed, blindfolded and beaten on various parts of his body. He was dispossessed of 1,400 pesos, his wallet and his credential.”

The Frayba said that the Selva District Prosecutor’s Office “requested an arrest warrant with deficient evidence and without adherence to the principles of efficiency, professionalism and objectivity, in which no further indications were found to assume direct criminal responsibility.”

It reported that the indigenous Chol “is waiting to carry out his intermediate stage hearing, since the Prosecutor’s Office requested deadlines for the complementary investigation since December 2022, but the situation of procedural delay, criminalization and collusion of authorities brings as a consequence the risk of continuing illegally deprived of his freedom for more than a year.”

It demanded that the Prosecutor’s Office “desist from the criminal action against José Díaz, in order to unjustly criminalize him and keep him deprived of his freedom.”

In addition, the Frayba added, “there is an arrest warrant for the same crime against four other indigenous support base members of the EZLN, which puts their dignity and human right to freedom at imminent risk , as a form of intimidation and harassment of Zapatista autonomy.”

On the other hand, the Ajmaq Resistance and Rebellion Network demanded the release of Manuel Gómez Vásquez, an EZLN support base, who “was tortured and violated from the moment of his arrest. He is accused of a crime he did not commit.”

It also demanded the release of Bersaín Velasco Aguilar, Agustín Pérez Domínguez, Juan Velasco Aguilar, Martín Pérez Domínguez and Agustín Pérez Velasco, who are not Zapatist bases.

Originally Published in Spanish. by La Jornada, Thursday, July 6, 2023, https://www.jornada.com.mx/notas/2023/07/06/estados/frayba-exige-liberar-a-base-de-apoyo-del-ezln-preso-en-catazaja/ and Re-Published with English interpretation by the Chiapas Support Committee