The Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas Human Rights Center (Frayba) in Chiapas denounced that, on the night of 22 July, a raid was conducted at the private home of its director, Dora Robledo, in San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas. This incident, which occurred just days after Dora Robledo was confirmed as the organization’s director, is the second raid suffered by a member of the organization in less than ten months. It adds to the context of harassment, intimidation, threats, and systematic surveillance of Frayba and its members, which is why the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has granted them precautionary protection measures.

Frayba has also denounced the negligence and lack of response from the authorities responsible for ensuring its safety and from the Mechanism for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders after the Mechanism’s emergency button was activated. The organization considers the act to be “a serious violation of human rights and of the international protection framework, as it contravenes the precautionary measures issued by the IACHR, with which the Mexican State is obliged to comply.”

Frayba is an organization with a long and renowned track record defending human rights, particularly the rights of indigenous communities; it is a key actor and a pioneer in the state of Chiapas – a state that has for years experienced a serious and complex situation of political violence, extractivist dispossession, territorial and religious conflicts, and paramilitary and organized crime activity. Given this, the work of Frayba denouncing the systematic rights violations against communities and accompanying them in their search for justice and their exercise of rights is crucial. This work has exposed the organization and its members to repeated attacks and accusations, which have come even from the highest realms of the federal government.

The National Network of Women Human Rights Defenders in Mexico and IM-Defensoras extend our solidarity with Frayba and its director, Dora Robledo. We demand an exhaustive investigation of the incidents denounced and we urge authorities in the different levels of government to comply with their obligation to guarantee the safety and protection of all persons that are part of the organization.

We also call on public authorities, national organizations and the international community to recognize and embody support for the important human rights work that Frayba conducts in Chiapas, a territory in dispute between the most brutal expressions of the policies of death and the alternatives of resistance and community autonomy that are examples of struggle and hope in the region and throughout the entire planet.