CSW calls for protection for religious leaders

CSW is calling on the Mexican government to carry out a thorough investigation into the assassination of Father Marcelo Pérez Pérez.

He was shot to death on 20 October after officiating Mass in the city of San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas State, Mexico. Sources have told CSW that at least four other Roman Catholic priests and a number of civil society organisations have also received threats.

The Mexican authorities announced the arrest of one suspect on 22 October. Father Pérez Pérez and the other individuals and organisations under threat are believed to have been targeted by transnational organised criminal groups, due to their calls for an end to violence and corruption.

In September 2024, Father Pérez Pérez led a public march calling for peace in the region and spoke out against the growing presence of organised crime in Chiapas. Powerful and violent organised criminal groups including the Sinaloa and the Jalisco New Generation Cartels have been vying for control over territory in the state, which is rich in natural resources and borders Guatemala, making it geographically strategic for the trafficking of humans, arms and narcotics.

Religious leaders in Mexico have been a target of organised criminal groups for many years and the country has been designated one of the most dangerous in the world for Roman Catholic priests. The mass displacement of civilians, including Protestant religious leaders, in the highlands of Chiapas and along its borders, due to criminal violence has become particularly acute in the last year.

CSW’s Head of Advocacy Anna Lee Stangl said: ‘We grieve with the people of Chiapas who have lost a courageous advocate for peace and human rights in their state with the assassination of FatherPérez Pérez, and we stand with those who are calling for justice and for the protection for religious leaders and civil society organisations that remain under threat. Although an arrest has been made in the case, a thorough investigation is imperative to ensure that all those responsible for Father Pérez Pérez’s death – including those at the very top of transnational organised criminal groups – are held to account. President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo and Chiapas State Governor Rutilio Escandón Cadenas must take swift and coordinated steps to eradicate these organised criminal groups spreading terror across the state, and this includes aggressively combatting corruption.’