PBI-Mexico demands repressive actions stop after 95 students arrested at protest over lack of access to the Internet for school

Stop the repression of students. Photo by Pablo Ramos.

On May 24, the Peace Brigades International-Mexico Project posted this article by the Tlachinollan Mountain Human Rights Centre.

The Tlachinollan article notes: “On [Tuesday] May 18, more than 300 students from the rural normal of Mactumactzá, Chiapas, were violently evicted by the state police when they were protesting in the collection booth ‘Chiapa de Corzo’ to demand the publication of the call and examination of new entry in its face-to-face mode as most applicants are indigenous without access to virtual technology platforms.”

IM-Defensoras further explains the protest was to require that Normal Schools take place in person with the appropriate bio-sanitary measures “since most students come from indigenous and rural communities without internet access, so the digital divide implies for all these people a condition of exclusion and structural discrimination.”

El Pais provides the additional context: “Rural Normal Schools are the place where the majority of teachers who work in the most disadvantaged schools in the country are trained and the Covid-19 pandemic has brought to light, even more, the digital divide that Mexico is experiencing, reaching teachers and students equally.”

Repression of the protest

The Spanish news agency EFE  reports: “Students and other organizations have reported that Tuesday’s protest was suppressed with excessive use of force by agents, who used tear gas to defuse the demonstration. In addition, they reported sexual harassment against women in detention.”

Tlachinollan highlights that 95 students were arrested, 74 of them women. Most are Indigenous Tsotsil, Tseltal and Chol peoples.

Protests for their release

On Friday May 21 there was a protest to demand the release of the students. EFE reported that there were protests in the city of Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas, Mexico City, and the city of Cintalapa where the students are being held in a jail.

EFE also notes: “In Cintalapa, some 500 teachers of the National Coordinator of Education Workers (CNTE), parents and members of organizations demonstrated in demand for the freedom of the now imprisoned.”

And La Jornada reports that a protest was held in various parts of the capital of Chiapas (Tuxtla Gutiérrez) including blocking the San Cristobal-Ocosingo-Palenque road to demand the release of the students and two others who were arrested.

Ongoing judicialization

IM-Defensoras notes that by Sunday May 23 a judge ordered the release of 74 of the students but 19 remain in custody with a hearing to be held on Tuesday May 25.

PBI-Mexico states: “PBI demands that repressive actions by the government be stopped and recalls that today begins the international week of the missing person, a subject that remains very present in Mexico.”

The Peace Brigades International-Mexico Project has accompanied the Tlachinollan Mountain Human Rights Centre since late 2003.