International Courant
The group commemorates Marcelo Perez as an outspoken advocate of indigenous labor rights within the Mexican state of Chiapas.
A priest identified for his activism in protection of indigenous and labor rights in Mexico has been killed after leaving church providers, native authorities stated.
Catholic priest Marcelo Perez was getting back from church on Sunday when two males on a bike drove previous his automotive and shot him, prosecutors within the southern state of Chiapas stated.
“Father Marcelo has been a logo of resistance and has stood with the communities of Chiapas for many years, defending the dignity and rights of the individuals and dealing for true peace,” stated the Jesuits, Perez’s non secular order, in an announcement.
The killing comes amid heightened violence within the southern state, the place round 500 murders happened between January and August this yr.
Along with the rights of indigenous peoples and farm staff, the Jesuits stated Perez was additionally an outspoken critic of organized crime teams.
“This area suffers not solely from killings, but additionally from compelled recruitment (into prison teams), kidnappings, threats and plunder of pure assets,” the non secular order stated.
Mexican human rights activists and environmental defenders have lengthy condemned violent intimidation and intimidation by prison teams and state safety forces.
Perez himself was a member of the Tzotzil Indigenous Peoples and had served the group in Chiapas for twenty years, constructing a repute as somebody who may assist settle disputes, particularly over land.
“We’ll cooperate with all authorities in order that his loss of life doesn’t go unpunished and the responsible are delivered to justice,” Chipas Governor Rutilio Escandon stated in a social media put up, calling the killing “cowardly.”
However in Mexico, legal responsibility for homicide is the exception somewhat than the rule, with about 95 p.c of all murders remaining unsolved.
Rights activists and indigenous land defenders face widespread violence and intimidation in Mexico.
A 2023 Amnesty Worldwide The report discovered that these teams face excessive ranges of criminalization and persecution as a part of a “broader technique to discourage and dismantle advocacy for land, territorial and environmental rights.”
The rights group additionally stated Mexico “is among the many nations with the best variety of murders of environmental defenders.”
On Sunday, the United Nations human rights workplace in Mexico stated that “a number of nationwide and worldwide organizations had publicly warned of the rising variety of threats, assaults and criminalization in opposition to” Perez, the priest.
It says these threats “have elevated in recent times on account of his tireless work for justice and the rights of indigenous peoples.”
Priest shot useless in southern Mexico after leaving Sunday service | Crime information
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