San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas, México
May 23rd 2026
Bulletin no. 07
- Not even the serious inconsistencies in the experts’ reports prevented the state of Chiapas from taking action against members of the Tseltal Maya community, including vulnerable elderly individuals
- The federal courts must decide whether to put a stop to this persecution or allow the continued violation of the rights of victims of internal forced displacement
On May 21, 2026, nine members of the Moreno Hernández family, who are members of the National Indigenous Congress (CNI), appeared before the Supervisory and Trial Court of the Judicial District of Yajalón for the reading of the charges in criminal case 41/2025, in which they are unjustly accused of the crime of aggravated dispossession. Although the prosecution presented expert reports with serious inconsistencies during the hearing, Supervisory Judge Agustín López decided to indict all the accused, including two elderly individuals—a woman and a man aged 73 and 85, respectively—who are hard of hearing and cannot read or write. Likewise, three Indigenous women, mothers responsible for the care of 12 minor children, were also indicted.
No precautionary measures, such as detention or periodic reporting, were imposed at this hearing, thanks to the injunction filed by CNI lawyers. However, the judicial process continues, and the risk remains that, once the federal judge issues his ruling, the Yajalón Supervisory Judge will impose precautionary measures.
There is concern over the bias and arbitrariness with which the legal process has been conducted, as well as the biased attitude of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, which seeks to impose the most severe measures against the accused, as was the case with Francisco Moreno Hernández, who remains unjustly deprived of his liberty due to the factory of guilty parties. This constitutes a violation of the right to access to justice, due process, and legal certainty, as well as the provisions of the American Convention on Human Rights and other international and regional instruments signed and ratified by the Mexican State.
It should be noted that the nine accused individuals, plus Francisco Moreno Hernández, along with 25 others, including children and adolescents, are victims of forced displacement following the repressive actions that took place on February 12, 2026, in the ejido of Jotolá, municipality of Chilón—events perpetrated on lands legitimately recovered in the context of the 1994 uprising of the Zapatista National Liberation Army. Since then, those lands have been occupied peacefully, continuously, and publicly for 30 years by the Hernández Moreno family.
During the aforementioned operation, state authorities engaged in practices aimed at intimidating, silencing, and coercing the population—through acts of torture and the excessive use of force by law enforcement. The State Guard, the Office of the Indigenous Justice Prosecutor, the Agrarian Court, and the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples participated in these events. The right to communal and ancestral property of indigenous peoples was also violated, a right recognized in international standards such as Convention No. 169 of the International Labour Organization, the United Nations Declaration, and the American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, as well as in Article 2 of the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States.
In light of the above, we urge: federal judges to take into account the serious human rights violations committed in this case and to rule in favor of the 35 victims of internal forced displacement, including children and adolescents; and the Supervisory Court to refrain from carrying out any act of arrest or re-arrest against the nine individuals.
We urgently call for national and international solidarity to stand with the criminalized and displaced Tseltal families, demanding an immediate end to judicial persecution. It is essential that organizations, collectives, communities, independent media, human rights defenders, and civil society remain vigilant, speak out publicly, and take action to prevent repression and impunity from continuing to advance against the peoples who are defending their territory.
Original text by Frayba published on May 23rd, 2026.
Translation by Schools for Chiapas.