E/CN.4/2004/80/Add.2 page 15 43. The Government authorities stoutly maintain that there are no paramilitary groups in Mexico. Following the Zapatista uprising, the army presence in Chiapas increased considerably and there have been many complaints about the militarization of indigenous areas. There is speculation as to the number of troops in the area, and the Ministry of National Defence reports that 15,000 soldiers are currently based in military region VII. The presence of military camps and bases near indigenous communities, and military patrols and checkpoints on the roads, contribute to a climate that is ripe for provocation and friction with the civilian population. Under the current administration the army has made efforts to expand its “social work” among the population. In 2001 the Government ordered the Mexican Army to fall back from the seven military positions requested by EZLN in order to resume dialogue, and released the majority of the prisoners involved in the conflict. The Acteal massacre The slaughter of 46 unarmed civilians in Acteal in December 1997 by a group of individuals armed with high-powered weapons is probably the most serious and dramatic incident that has occurred in the conflict in Chiapas. The National Human Rights Commission established that various public officials in the State government were responsible by commission or omission. Many people in the municipality of Chenalhó were arrested, charged and tried for these murders. Although some were subsequently released for lack of evidence, it is reported that others remain unjustly imprisoned and regard themselves as victims of religious intolerance. The human rights organizations assert that the individuals who masterminded the massacre are still free and unpunished. Six years after the events, the crime has not been fully clarified nor has justice been done, while the population affected continues to suffer the consequences. 44. The presence of paramilitary groups has been reported, in Oaxaca, Guerrero and other States, contributing to an environment of insecurity and harassment for indigenous communities amidst environmental, agrarian, political and social conflicts, sometimes linked to guerrilla groups or organized crime, and the presence of the Mexican Army. In other areas (for example, in the Tarahumara Sierra) the indigenous communities accept the presence of the military because they help to restrain the violence associated with conflicts sparked off by livestock, logging and drug-trafficking interests. 45. Many human rights organizations informed the Special Rapporteur that the military on occasion participate in civilian public security operations and criminal investigations that fall outside their constitutional mandate: numerous checkpoints and searches on main and secondary roads, for example, arbitrary arrests and detention; body searches and inspection of possessions, raids on communities and properties, intimidating interrogations, death threats, extrajudicial or summary executions and sexual harassment and abuse of indigenous women, to mention only some of the complaints.