The Undersecretary for the Enforcement of Criminal Sanctions and Security Measures of the state of Chiapas has used defamatory language with the intention of discrediting the work of the Cereza Collective and its coordinator, woman defender Patricia Aracil. It is troubling that this official has alluded to the alleged existence of an administrative file opened against the woman defender, which could be a Record of Attention, in connection to certain events that took place in the State Center for Social Reinsertion (CERSS) Number 5.

The Cereza Collective is a leading organization for women prisoners, providing legal and psychological accompaniment in addition to carrying out other actions to improve the conditions in which they are incarcerated. Its coordinator, Patricia Aracil, has a long track record defending the rights of women deprived of their liberty, throughout which she has accompanied several cases that, due to their visibility, have placed her in the sights of the authorities.

The National Network of Women Human Rights Defenders in Mexico and IM-Defensoras demand that the authorities of the State of Chiapas stop the defamation and discrediting of the Cereza Collective and Patricia Aracil, perpetrated by the Undersecretary for the Enforcement of Criminal Sanctions and Security Measures. We demand guarantees for the protection of all members of the Collective and its coordinator and the exercise of their work defending human rights, as well as the end of any action against the Collective that could be aimed at prosecuting them.