Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 23, 1994 TAG: 9401230066
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: SAN CRISTOBAL DE LAS CASAS, MEXICO LENGTH: Medium
The government had no immediate comment.
The estimated 2,000 rebels, most of them destitute Mayan Indian peasants, launched their revolt New Year's Day in the southern state of Chiapas, one of Mexico's poorest states.
The rebels say they acted out of desperation because of rampant poverty, corruption and human rights abuses. Scores of indigenous people have been arrested on suspicion of taking part in or cooperating with the rebellion.
Morris Tidball, a member of an Amnesty International watchdog team, said many of the 70 rebel suspects held in the state's Cerro Hueco Prison showed signs of torture.
"A great majority of the charges are not founded, except in confessions obtained through torture," Tidball told The Associated Press. The human rights group's team toured the prison in the Chiapas state capital, Tuxtla Gutierrez, on Friday.
Tidball, a physician, founded Argentina's international forensic team, which investigated the torture of thousands of Argentines who disappeared in the 1980s during that country's "dirty war."
He said the rebel suspects should be given a speedy trial and the means to defend themselves, and that most of them did not speak Spanish and were not allowed access to interpreters or lawyers.
The team plans to return to Mexico City soon and ask federal authorities to investigate the situation "because we are very worried about torture," Tidball said.
The team had been denied access to the prison earlier in the week, even though the Interior Department promised it access.
Rep. Robert Torricelli, D-N.J., chairman of the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on inter-American affairs, wrote to President Carlos Salinas de Gortari to complain about the delay.
The government's National Commission for Human Rights has said it is investigating similar allegations, including the disappearance of 102 people and seven possible executions in the town of Ocosingo.
Presidential troubleshooter Manuel Camacho Solis and Catholic Bishop Samuel Ruiz have been trying to get rebel leaders to bring their grievances to the bargaining table.
by CNB