AI is concerned for the safety of dozens of Ch’ol and Tzeltal Indian activists whose whereabouts remain unknown after their arbitrary arrest on the morning of 16 november during a peaceful demonstration in the town of Palenque, Chiapas state. They were arrested when scores of local landowners and their armed guards, members of the Chiapas state police and municipals dispersed the demonstration. Many were released later that day but the whereabouts of 70 detainees remain unknown. Mario Landeros Cardenas, an Indian leader and human rights activist, was brutally beaten during the operation.
