The Fray Matías de Córdova Human Rights Center denounced that in the early hours of 20 March, unknown individuals entered its premises, tampered with the security cameras, and stole electronic equipment used in its work defending human rights and supporting people on the move. This incident is situated within a context of harrasment, intimidation, threats and systemic surveillance faced by the Fray Matías Center and its team.

The Fray Matías Center has also denounced the late response from the authorities responsible for ensuring its safety, as well as that from the Mechanism for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists, of which it is a beneficiary. They raise alarm about the direct risk that this attack means for the organization’s work and for the safety of those who are part of it.

The National Network of Women Human Rights Defenders in Mexico and IM-Defensoras express our concern about this attack, which is a serious violation of the significant and widely recognized defense work carried out by the Fray Matías Center. We condemn these acts aimed at inhibiting their defense work and increasing integrity and security risks for their team members and the people they accompany who face situations of displacement and mobility.

We demand that the authorities carry out an immediate and prompt investigation to identify those responsible for the attack, and that they urgently implement protection measures to guarantee the security and protection of everyone involved in the organization, for them to be able to continue their work defending rights. 

We also call on public authorities, national organizations and the international community to recognize and embody support for the important human rights work that the Fray Matías Center conducts in Chiapas.