San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico,
April 15, 2026
Petition for the release of the members of the National Indigenous Congress of Jotolá, Chiapas
On Thursday, April 16, at 12 p.m., the initial hearing for Antonia Hernández López, Jerónimo Moreno Hernández, and Victorio Moreno Hernández will take place at the Yajalón trial court for the alleged crime of aggravated dispossession. Ten members of the National Indigenous Congress (CNI) of Chiapas are accused of the aforementioned crime in criminal case 41/2025 in the Jotolá ejido, municipality of Chilón, Chiapas. However, on February 12, 2026, a violent eviction took place, resulting in the forced displacement of 30 people and the arrest of Francisco Moreno Hernández and María de Jesús Sánchez Gómez, who have been unjustly charged.
In light of this situation, we call on the authorities to guarantee, respect, and protect freedom, life, personal integrity, and safety, and we invite civil society to send letters to the Attorney General of the State of Chiapas, the Prosecutor for Indigenous Justice, and the Superior Court of Justice to request their intervention regarding the initial hearing for Antonia, Jerónimo, and Victorio.
We demand:
First: The immediate and unconditional release of our compañerxs Francisco Moreno Hernández and María de Jesús Sánchez Gómez.
Second: The immediate revocation of the eight outstanding arrest warrants issued in criminal case 41/2025.
Third: An investigation into and punishment for the human rights violations committed by the State Guard, the Indigenous Prosecutor’s Office, the Agrarian Court, and the INPI.
Fourth: Urgent humanitarian assistance, prioritizing medical care for minors (two of whom have disabilities), the elderly, and a pregnant woman.
Fifth: Restitution of lands, housing, and other property that has been destroyed or stolen.
Sixth: An end to the dispossession of recovered lands and the criminalization of those who defend the land and territory.
Sign the petition here!
Go to the link and scroll down to the petition boxes. There are two! All signatures! No matter your geography!
Published by Frayba on April 15th, 2026.
Translation by Schools for Chiapas.
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Text and carrusel in collaboration with nodho.dh.
Background of the Case
The Moreno Hernández family, members of the National Indigenous Congress, has been working the same 5 hectares of land in the ejido of Jotolá, in Chilón, Chiapas since 1994. These land were recuperated after the EZLN uprising, which put an end to generations of exploitation under the hacienda (plantation) system. With the founding of theejido, Manuel Moreno Pérez , the father of the Hernández Moreno was recognized as an ejidatario, and since then the family has lived and worked on the land peacefully over 30 years.
Cronology of the facts:
February 12 of 2026 – Violent evictions and first detentions
8:00 a.m. Elements of Municipal Police detain Francisco Moreno Hernández as he is going to work, accusing him of aggravated robbery.
11 a.m. Without showing an eviction order, barging onto the property where eight Hernández Moreno families live were:
- 30 police of the State Guard
- Staff othe INPI (National Institute for Indigenous Peoples) and of the Agrarian Tribunal
- More than 50 ejidatarios armed with hammers, led by Los Cruces
- One active National Guard troop, masked and dressed as a civilian, Jose Moreno Sánchez (son of the ejidal commission.)
During the Operation:
- They beat the members of the family and steal their phones to stop the documentation of the acts.
- One son of Francisco is choked until he is left unconcious and handcuffed, despite not having had an arrest warrant against him at that moment.
- María de Jesús Sánchez Gómez (Francisco’s wife) is detained, beaten, choked by the knee of an agent of the Indigenous Prosecutor’s Office of Yajalón, and threatened with being disappeared. (“You are the one acting the stupidest.”)
- While this happened, the attackers destroyed 5 houses with hammers, burned belongings, killed livestock, destroyed crops (corn and coffee) and stole the savings of the family.
- 30 people from eight families are forcibly displaced (among them: 17 children, one woman, 4 months pregnant, two elderly adults, and 2 youth with disabilities.
Torture and other cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment.
During her detention and transport, María de Jesús Sánchez was tortured by a member of the Indigenous Prosecutor’s Office and threatened with being disappeared.
February 17 of 2026
Initial hearing to establish jurisdiction:
- María de Jesús Sánchez Gómez is released upon condition of weekly reporting, after arguing in her own defense that she has two disabled children that depend on her.
- Francisco Moreno Hernández faces charges for alleged aggravated robbery of two women of the ejido of Jotolá and of the cemetery of the ejido. All of this is based on a topographical land survey conducted on lands that have never been occupied by the Moreno family. He has been ordered to be held in pretrial detention (the most severe measure), even though the prosecution did not argue that it was necessary.
Francisco is denied release:
- The Yajalón Supervisory and Trial Court denied Francisco’s request for release, arguing that he could pose a risk “to the victims” (two women communal landholders who have accused him and the alleged occupation of the communal cemetery)
- We know that justified pretrial detention keeps the usual suspects behind bars during lengthy legal proceedings, which almost always means psychological and economic strain for the person detained and for their family.
Meanwhile:
The eight displaced families, which amount to 30 people, are falling ill, bothe psychologically and physically, due to to their precarious conditions as refugees, not able to return to their homes, now destroyed. Among the affected persons, there is a four-month-pregnant woman with pains in her belly and a baby with gastrointestinal illness.
We should recall that ORCAO (a paramiltiary group, formerly campesino organization) has committed these kinds of actions over a long period of time, focusing on harrassment and attacks in order to seize the land and territory, with the complicity of the local, state, and federal governments.
We call on Civil Society to share this case, and to carry out actions to demand the release of our compañero, Francisco Moreno Hernández, stop the arrest warrants, and guarantee the physical and psychological well-being of the displaced families!
Original text by gt_noestamostodxs on Instagram.
Translation by Schools for Chiapas.