Dear President of the CNDH and Governors Salgado Pineda and Ramírez Bella:
We are writing to express our rising concern over the precarious situation endangering Nahua Indigenous communities in the regions of Sierra and Montaña Baja of Guerrero and Michoacan states. Since May 6, criminal groups have waged military-style assaults on them. According to local (now displaced) residents, they warned authorities of an imminent attack weeks before, but the Army withdrew from its Joint Operations Bases in the region, and state and federal protection measures were denied. When the assault came, security forces stood by and watched.
Communities already victim to criminal organizations for decades are now being forcefully displaced and targeted by military grade weaponry as the territorial disputes between criminal organizations “Los Tlacos” and “Los Ardillos” are intensifying. Using high-caliber weapons, surveillance drones, and paramilitary tactics, the rivaling groups have encircled villages, burned homes, cut electricity and phone service, and fired shots at residents from the hillsides. There have been more than 2,000 people displaced and at least five reported murders.
In Guerrero, when families fled their homes toward neighboring Alcozacán, Los Ardillos pursued them with bullets. Among the affected is the family of 74-year-old Maria Cabrera who had to abandon their home and livestock overnight. When bombs fell and bullets ricocheted off concrete floors, her family fled into the mountains with only the clothes on their backs. She returned a week later only to salvage cooking pots and a small wooden cross. She left her home of 60 years, uncertain if she will ever be able to return.
We are concerned that the forced displacement might be linked to corruption and economic motives. Considering that the municipalities under attack hold forests, aquifers, fertile farmland and over 2,000 hectares that have already been granted as concessions to mining companies, there are surely others who would benefit from the forced displacement of the communities.
We urge that authorities in Mexico:
- provide humanitarian assistance and protection for those displaced
- investigate any political and familial ties between the armed groups and local political leaders
- hold responsible both the material actors and intellectual authors of this violence
- dismantle the criminal structures driving this violence
Sincerely,
Brian Stefan szittai
Co-Coordinator
copies: Lic. José Antonio Cruz Medina, Secretary of Public Security, State of Michoacan ~ via email
Lic. Daniel Antonio Ledesma Osuna, Secretary of Public Security, State of Guerrero ~ via email
Roberto Lazzeri Montaño, Ambassador of Mexico to the US ~ via email
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights: Andrea Pochak (Rapporteur for Mexico) and Riyad Insanally (Rapporteur for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples) ~ via email
US Embassy in Mexico City: Ambassador Ronald Johnson ~ via emaill
US State Department, Office of Mexican Affairs ~ via email
US Senators from Ohio (Husted and Moreno) ~ via email
US Representatives from Ohio (Beatty, Brown, Jordan, Joyce, Kaptur, Latta, Miller, Rulli, Sykes) ~ via email
The following people hereby urge you to take action on this matter as indicated in this letter:
