On Tuesday March 10, 1998 I left San Cristobal de las Casas, at
approximately 2 PM, accompanied by Helen Kapolnek from Germany, Claudia
Meier from Switzerland, and Mexican citizen Gustavo Hernandez Martinez.
The four of us formed a Human Rights observation brigade organized by El
Centro de Derechos Humanos Fray Bartolome de las Casas.  We were joined by
a Swiss journalist, Michael Hegglin, who was working on a documentary piece
on the involvement of international activists and human rights observers in
Chiapas state.

Our brigade was sent to the Zapatista autonomous community of Ejido San
Jeronimo Tulija, in the municipality of Chilon.  The week beginning
February 28th to March 4th, San Jeronimo was invaded by members of the
Federal Army, State police forces, and federal police forces, but held off
from entering the actual village by approximately 1,500 inhabitants (mostly
women and children) of San Jeronimo and neighboring ejidos, some of whom
were hit with bayonets and spayed with gas. We were sent to observe the
current situation in the aftermath of this confrontation, to take
testimonies of human rights violations and maintain an observation presence
with a view to preventing further violent confrontation from occurring.

We arrived in San Jeronimo Tulija at approximately 2:30 PM. Migration
officials who were waiting in the community immediately demanded our papers
and passports. We told them that we were human rights observers from the
CDHFBC and showed them our credentials. We were filmed by military
personnel and individually photographed by immigration officials. All of us
were then transported to the immigration office in Palenque, despite the
fact that one of our group members was a Mexican citizen and another, the
Swiss journalist, had an FM3 visa permitting him to work in Mexico as a
journalist.

At the immigration office we were individually interrogated and given a
citation to present ourselves at the immigration office in San Cristobal
within 48 hours.  It was never explained to us why we were being given a
citation, nor which of Mexico's laws we had broken.  

At the immigration office in San Cristobal de las Casas we were
interrogated again twice on consecutive days. After the second
interrogation we were taken to Tuxtla Guttierez on the pretext that some
officials there needed to speak to us- we were told that we would be
returning to San Cristobal within a couple hours.  In Tuxtla, instead of
being taken to the immigration building, we arrived at the airport.  There
we were denied access to a telephone and put on a government plane to
Mexico City.  Again they promised that we would be returned to San
Cristobal later that day.

On arrival in Mexico City airport I was greeted by Margy Horan from the
U.S. embassy, who informed me that the order for my deportation had been
changed to "voluntary departure."  Immigration never fulfilled the promise
to return us to Chiapas, it was never explained how we were violating
Mexican law, I was denied access to a telephone until I had signed the
papers stating my voluntary departure, and released in Mexico City without
my belongings or money.

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