Ciudad de México a 4 de junio de 2023
To all International and Autonomous Human Rights Organizations.
To all Civil Human Rights Organizations.
To all Collectives of Relatives of Victims of Disappearance and Internally Forced Displacement.
To the social organizations.
Human rights defenders displaced from Guerrero are at risk of death.
To all media outlets, all my contacts, the media, federal and state authorities and officials, I, Ms. Teodomira Rosales Sierra, inform you that since yesterday morning, June 3rd, I realized that my WhatsApp account had been hacked and several of my contacts have been scammed and extorted. Therefore, I am calling on you all to please not fall into this trap. As the director of the José Ma. Morelos y Pavón Regional Center for the Defense of Human Rights, which serves displaced and missing families, I have a large number of contacts among the victims. We organize civil organizations, collectives, and government agencies. Therefore, the scams and extortion schemes are multiplying; many are falling into this trap. I urgently call on the authorities to act ex officio in this case, which is affecting the psychological and economic situation of many of the victims we work with and damaging the moral integrity of Ms. Teodomira Rosales Sierra.
For the members of the Board of Directors and the Operations Team, respectively, this is very concerning. We have repeatedly denounced the high risk in which we carry out our work. Little or nothing has been done to address the problem. We are also unaware of a strategy to guarantee our return to Guerrero state with the assurance that we can continue our work without risk to our lives. As we say, just as the process of relocation and comprehensive reparation for the families of victims of internal forced displacement is taking shape, various incidents have occurred against the victims and their representatives at the Morelos Center:
- In April 2023, one of the families began receiving threats via cell phone, claiming that they were going to kill their 13-year-old daughter. The threats continued all week. They mentioned everything the girl was doing and what she was wearing at the time.
- On May 13, death threats began against another family from another town. 3.- On the night of May 14, armed men broke into the home of another family and stole several of their belongings.
The above, coupled with the situation currently unfolding against me as General Director of the José Ma. Morelos y Pavón Regional Center for the Defense of Human Rights, which raises alarm bells, we want to make it clear that, given the context and the work we do, we believe this situation originates within the government. Currently, we are talking about more than 130 families who should receive full reparations for damages and relocation. This represents a multi-million dollar sum that both the federal and state governments are unwilling to pay. This could translate (as we are seeing), into increased pressure on the families and their representatives through narco-paramilitary groups to discourage them from claiming their rights.
We demand that authorities at all levels stop this attack against the human rights defenders of Guerrero and the victims they represent.
That they conduct a prompt and expeditious investigation to guarantee my physical and moral integrity. life and that of all members of the Morelos Center.
I demand immediate relocation and full reparation for all families who are victims of Internally Forced Displacement.
Sincerely,
Ms. Teodomira Rosales Sierra
General Director of the Morelos Center