San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas
October 20, 2024
Bulletin No. 23
We condemn the execution of human rights defender and JTatik priest Marcelo Pérez Pérez.
- For years we insisted that the Mexican State address the sources of threats and aggressions against him, without effective measures being taken to guarantee his life, security and integrity.
- We demand truth, justice and protection measures for all human rights defenders in Chiapas.
This Sunday morning, October 20, 2024, the Mayan Tsotsil priest and human rights defender Marcelo Perez Perez was murdered. For years he dedicated himself to the struggle for the life of the people and the construction of peace in Chiapas, as well as to denouncing the violence that has been taking place for decades in the state, for which the Mexican government is responsible.
The events took place in the Barrio de Cuxtitali, in San Cristobal de Las Casas, after concluding the morning mass. Testimonies report that when he entered his vehicle to go to the parish of Guadalupe, he was killed by people riding a motorcycle who shot him.
Father Marcelo Perez was the target of constant threats and aggressions by organized crime groups, for which the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) ordered the Mexican State to implement precautionary measures on his behalf since 2015. Unfortunately, the Mexican government has failed to address the root causes of the threats against him. Far from protecting him, the Mexican State criminalized him, encouraged the accusations against him and prosecuted him by issuing an arrest warrant.
The execution of the human rights defender Marcelo Pérez takes place in a context of a serious escalation of violence against citizens in all regions of Chiapas, as part of the strategy of violent takeover of the national territory, required by the current phase of reconfiguration of the Mexican State.
From the Board of Directors and the Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas Human Rights Center, we express our categorical condemnation of this crime against humanity, responsibility of the Mexican State for not preventing, guaranteeing and protecting the integrity and life of the parish priest Marcelo Pérez, as well as for its tolerance and acquiescence towards the criminal groups operating in Chiapas.
Marcelo’s prophetic denunciation of the historical, continuous and systemic violations of human rights in the state of Chiapas, his accompaniment, commitment and struggle for the life of the communities where he exercised his priestly ministry, led him to be the object of threats and attacks against his integrity and life for years. Those who have wielded power for decades today celebrate the death of Father Marcelo.
This execution is one more example of the security crisis, serious human rights violations and crimes against humanity that Frayba has been denouncing for more than 35 years.
In recent months we have denounced before national and international bodies the serious crimes against humanity due to forced disappearances, extrajudicial executions, forced displacement, control of the population through the violent takeover of several regions of Chiapas.
The deplorable murder of Father Marcelo echoes the grave risk that exists for the population and in particular against human rights defenders, including the Pueblo Creyente (Believing People), pastoral agents of the Diocese of San Cristobal, human rights organizations, communities that defend land and territory, and in general all those people and communities that defend life in Chiapas.
We reiterate the responsibility of the state and federal governments for the extrajudicial execution of Father Marcelo Perez Perez Perez. The Mexican State for decades has bet on impunity allowing the operation of macro-criminal entities as part of the “governance” in a supposedly democratic State.
We embrace the family of our jTatik Marcelo, the communities with which he walked, the Diocese of San Cristobal, the Pueblo Creyente of Chiapas and all those for whom his departure is a wound to the heart.
We demand from the Mexican State truth and justice in the face of this crime through a diligent investigation of the material and intellectual authors, taking into account his work as a human rights defender and peace builder.
We call on national and international civil society to repudiate this crime by joining our demands.
Original text published by Frayba on October 20, 2024.
Translation by Schools for Chiapas.