AWARDED THE 2023 TATA VASCO RECOGNITION.
Chilapa de Álvarez, Guerrero, July 21, 2024.
Seeking refuge in other countries to save my life.
The path to a new learning process was anything but easy, given the reality marked by the vehemence of violence, poverty, discrimination, neglect, and entangled by institutional gaps, especially the absence of governments. However, the important knowledge gained is enriching for the defense of human rights in the crisis facing the state of Guerrero.
On March 5, 2024, I had the pleasure of receiving a gold medal from the President of the Franco-Mexican Friendship Group, Senator Daniel Lauret, in recognition of my work for human rights. On April 25, I was awarded another medal by Representative Sophia Chikirou of the France-Mexico Friendship Group, President of the National Assembly.
These are recognitions that touch our already unyielding spirit, allowing us to continue fighting alongside the families and Indigenous communities suffering from disappearance and forced displacement. We hope to contribute to the state’s democratization and continue the battle for equality, justice, and truth.
Guerrero is a dangerous land for human rights defenders. It is even more alarming when the authorities lack the will to uphold human rights, much less protect those who fight and demand these rights for the benefit of the victims. They fail to recognize the contributions made by human rights organizations to build peace and consolidate democracy. Furthermore, they abandon them to their fate and to all kinds of risks when carrying out their activities. This is why human rights defenders are forced to seek protection outside the country, having to travel to other countries for several months, as happened to me in early January 2024 as director of the Morelos Center.
We are a small team, but we have been able to firmly defend families who are victims of both forced disappearance and internal displacement. However, faced with constant threats, harassment, and various incidents from state and, especially, non-state actors, I had to leave the country for six months in France. There, they recognized my career as a human rights defender and my commitment to those most in need. They valued my indigenous origins and the suffering I, as a woman born in the mountains, had endured since birth. The intention was to get away from danger, but my activism prevailed, raising awareness about the work the Morelos Center does with victims of forced displacement and victims of the disappeared in Mexico, as well as with Indigenous women who suffer gender and sexual violence. The issue that caused the most concern, and the focus of their interest on how the Mexican government addresses it, was families of internal forced displacement.
The approach was based on the experience of the Morelos Center, which began supporting displaced families from the Coyuca de Catalán mountain range in 2011. During that time, 21 environmentalists and forest defenders were murdered. After their displacement, we worked on Law 487 so they could be relocated and receive appropriate care. On that occasion, we successfully completed the relocation and short-, medium-, and long-term projects.
In 2016 and 2018, we accompanied displaced victims from the municipalities of Leonardo Bravo, Heliodoro Castillo, and Zitlala. It was the largest displacement in the history of the state of Guerrero, where around 1,800 people fled their homes at the same time because 3,000 armed men invaded their towns, killing people, extorting them, and recruiting young men and girls. At that time, the Morelos Center immediately began its support, making it a priority to raise national and international awareness of what was happening and that the victims were in a state of vulnerability. A 37-day sit-in was held, and commitments were made with the federal government for recognition as victims of internally forced displacement. This is how they were given victim status, which had not previously existed for displaced victims. This consisted of providing support for rent and food, psychological care, health care, and education. These achievements led us to suffer threats, and the more we accompanied and demanded, the more they increased until we left Guerrero on May 15, 2020, as victims of internally forced displacement.
Unfortunately, the nightmare did not end. The threats and harassment became more frequent, and I felt I could not take it anymore. It was during those difficult times that I was selected from Mexico for an initiative to protect defenders promoted by French President Manuel Macrom since 2021 to protect Human Rights Defenders who are at very high risk. Each year, France selects 15 defenders from the same number of countries. While in France, we are trained in various topics to continue carrying out our work, and we also connect with several international organizations. In my case, the visits to organizations in Brussels, Geneva, and Strasbourg, where we had the honor of being received by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights; we visited the Council of Europe; we were received by the United Nations Commissioner for Refugees and Forced Displacement (UNHCR); we were in the European Parliament while it was in session; We also visited the Court of Justice and were welcomed by various special rapporteurs, such as the Special Rapporteur on Disappeared Persons, as well as by the International Committee against Torture and Impunity, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), and the Ministry of Ecological Transition. We were also welcomed by the Ministry of Europe and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the President of the Senate of the Republic of France, Ambassador Delphine Borione, Ambassador Delphine O, the Parris Bar Association, Doctors Without Borders, Journalists Without Borders, and many other organizations that are now with us.
For our part, we attended various training sessions, including international humanitarian law, civil and political rights, indigenous peoples’ rights, women’s rights, asylum procedures, communication strategy, conflict management and nonviolent communication, the best negotiation and leadership seminar at Sciens-PO, international criminal law, the international human rights protection system, and physical security training, as well as forced displacement.
This represents a great achievement not only for the movement of human rights defenders in Guerrero, but for the entire country, as governments are now under international scrutiny to ensure that human rights work in Mexico is guaranteed.
Returning to Mexico and Guerrero is a moral obligation in the face of an increasingly grim reality. Indigenous families with relatives who have disappeared, and families who have been displaced, find themselves in exile. State and federal authorities have been unable to build paths to peace and tranquility. Violence is spreading to the most remote villages in the state. Organized crime groups have taken control of territory and social and community life. The security strategy has not worked; criminals roam the streets with impunity. Governments must guarantee the return of displaced families, but first create the conditions by dismantling the criminal groups that threaten to undermine not only democracy, but life itself.
Sincerely
Teodomira Rosales Sierra
General Director of the Morelos Center