''We demand that the Mexican government and President Zedillo be the first to be tried by the Court, for genocide against the Mayan people, for crimes against humanity," Federico Mariani, president of the Ya Basta association told TerraViva.

The group held up placards denouncing the Mexican government and army for its actions against the Zapatista movement in Chiapas, in Southern Mexico, as part of the "world day against the war in Chiapas."

Mariani is one of the 134 Italians working with NGOs who were expelled by the Mexican government in May. Mariani said that 80 members of the group were banned from Mexico for 10 years, while another 43, including himself, were banned for life. Several Italian MPs and representatives of the city governments of Venice, Trieste, Verona, Genova and Padova, were among those expelled.

Andrea Micangeli, an engineer with the University of Rome who is part of the expelled group, said the Mexican government has ignored calls from the Italian Foreign Ministry to lift the ban and allow the resumption of humanitarian and technical work of Italian NGOs in the region. Huge projects of cooperation have been frozen by Mexico, including a water turbine he was working on, Micangeli said.

Visiting the impoverished state of Chiapas this week, Zedillo accused religious and human rights groups of using doublespeak and refused to pull the army troops out of the area, in which the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) operates. The government "wants to solve the conflict without defeating anyone", Zedillo said, claiming share the same ideals of justice with the EZLN.

But, he added, the government was determined to impose "the rule of law" in the region.