Acteal massacre

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The Acteal Massacre was a massacre of 45 people attending a prayer meeting of Roman Catholic indigenous townspeople, including a number of children and pregnant women, who were members of the pacifist group Las Abejas ("The Bees"), in the small village of Acteal in the Mexican state of Chiapas. It was carried out on December 22, 1997 by unknown paramilitary forces.

While the Las Abejas activists professed support for the goals of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation, they renounced their violent means. Many suspect this affiliation as the reason for the attack, and government involvement or complicity. Soldiers at a nearby military outpost didn't intervene during the attack, which lasted for hours, and the following morning, soldiers were found washing the church walls to hide the blood stains.^{[citation needed]}

The EZLN and many Chiapas residents accused the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) of complicity, and following the change of government in 2000, survivors alleged that the investigation was being stalled, with authorities refusing to question or arrest suspects in the attacks.

Las Abejas, composed of people from 48 indigenous communities in the highlands of Chiapas, continue to work for peace and demonstrate their solidarity with other social struggles by issuing communiqués that denounce violence and, most importantly, through actions centered around fasting and prayer. In November 2006, 100 men and 100 women members of the Abejas organized a peace and justice caravan to Oaxaca, to show their support for the Popular Assembly of the Oaxacan People (APPO) and denounce the repression and violence perpetrated by the state and federal governments. They also delivered at least three tons of food, water, and medicine to the APPO.

On August 27, 2007, Martín Rangel Cervantes, writing in national daily El Universal, stated that a federal judge assigned to the Acteal case sentenced, on July 22, 18 persons from the Tzotzil ethnic group for their responsibility in this massacre. Each one got 25 years in prison. Links to the Wikipedia as an aid tool were quoted in the sentence, according to the newspaper article. [1]

Names of Those Killed at Acteal Massacre	Age

Lucia Mendez Capote	13
Vicente Mendez Capote	5
Manuel Santiz Culebra	57
Loida Ruiz Gomez	21
Victorio Vazquez Gomez	22
Graciela Gomez Hernandez	3
Guadalupe Gomez Hernandez	2
Roselia Gomez Hernandez	5
Miguel Perez Jimenez	40
Antonia Vazquez Luna	27
Rosa Vazquez Luna	14
Veronica Vazquez Luna	20
Margarita Vazquez Luna	3
Juana Vazquez Luna	8 months
Ignacio Pukuj Luna	unknown
Micaela Pukuj Luna	67
Alejandro Perez Luna	16
Juana Perez Luna	9
Silvia Perez Luna	6
Maria Luna Mendez	44
Nanuela Paciencia Moreno	35
Maria Perez Oyalte	42
Margarita Mendez Paciencia	23
Daniel Gomez Perez	24
Susana Jimenez Perez	17
Josefa Vazquez Perez	27
Maria Capote Perez	16
Martha Capote Perez	12
Micaela Vazquez Perez	9
Juana Gomez Perez	61
Juan Carlos Luna Perez	1
Antonia Vazquez Perez	30
Lorenzo Gomez Perez	46
Sebastian Gomez Perez	9
Daniel Gomez Perez	24
Juana Perez Perez	33
Rosa Perez Perez	33
Marcela Luna Ruiz	35
Maria Gomez Ruiz	23
Catarina Luna Ruiz	31
Marcela Capote Ruiz	29
Marcela Capote Vazquez	15
Paulina Hernandez Vazquez	22
Juana Luna Vazquez	45
Alonso Vasquez Gomez	46