{"id":29843,"date":"2024-06-14T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-06-13T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/csw-yeo.1wp.site\/press\/no-solution-for-protestant-families-after-fifty-days-of-displacement-6247\/"},"modified":"2026-09-23T19:11:26","modified_gmt":"2026-09-23T18:11:26","slug":"no-solution-for-protestant-families-after-fifty-days-of-displacement-6247","status":"publish","type":"press","link":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/es\/press\/no-solution-for-protestant-families-after-fifty-days-of-displacement-6247\/","title":{"rendered":"No solution for Protestant families after fifty days of displacement"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Fifty<\/span>days after the<\/span><\/span><\/span>forced displacement<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/b> on 26 April<\/span> of more tha<\/span>n 150<\/span>Baptist<\/span>Protestants in<\/span>H<\/span>i<\/span>dalgo<\/span> State,<\/span> Mexico<\/span>,<\/span><\/span>t<\/span>he<\/span>govern<\/span>m<\/span>ent<\/span><\/b>has failed to take any action to ensure that those responsible for the displacement are held to account and the rights of the religious minority group are protected.<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The forced displacement<\/span> of the members of the Great Commission<\/span><\/span>Fundamental<\/span>Baptist<\/span>Church<\/span>, the<\/span><\/span>culmination of a decade of violations of freedom or religion or belief<\/span>(<\/span>FoRB<\/span>)<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span>in the neighbouring villa<\/span>ges of Rancho Nuevo and<\/span>Coamila<\/span>, in<\/span> the municipality of<\/span>Huejutla<\/span> de<\/span> Reyes, took place after village leaders, all Roman Catholics, cut off the electricity to the homes of the re<\/span>ligious minority families,<\/span>vandalised<\/span> their church, and blocked access to<\/span> some of their homes.<\/span>The displaced group, which includes over 70<\/span>children<\/span> and infants, was first housed in a municipal building before being moved to a sports complex.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sources told CSW that the municipal government, which holds primary responsibility to resolve the situation, has \u2018washed its hands of the matter\u2019 and has communicated to the religious minority group that if they wish to return to their homes, they should comply wi<\/span>th the<\/span><\/span><\/span>demands<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span>of the community leaders, which include penalties for declining to participate in Roman C<\/span>atholic religious activities and would force the religious minority families to pay large fines, based on the date of their conversion to Protestantism<\/span> \u2013<\/span> which have been increased to<\/span> a<\/span>cumulative total of 750,000 MXN (approximately 40,000 USD).<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The newly appointed Hidalgo State Director of Religious Affairs, Margarita Cabrera Rom\u00e1n, has<\/span>reported<\/span>ly<\/span> returned<\/span> to the state capital of Pachuca, claiming that<\/span>she has done all she can<\/span>.<\/span><\/span>\u2018<\/span>They<\/span>refuse to admit that there is a religious element and<\/span>are claiming it is an internal conflict between neighbours<\/span>. [The government officials]<\/span>have told<\/span>[the members of the community]<\/span>to sort it out themselves,<\/span><\/i>\u2019<\/span> the source told CSW.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another source told CSW that, following<\/span>country-wide elections<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a> in early June, the outgoi<\/span><\/span>ng municipal government had no political interest in resolving the case<\/span>and<\/span>addressing<\/span>the associated<\/span>human rights vi<\/span>olatio<\/span>n<\/span>s.<\/span><\/span>\u2018<\/span>It might be necessary to wait until the next government takes office in October, but it will be the third term for the incoming municipal president<\/span>,<\/span>\u2019<\/span> they said<\/span>, highlighting that in<\/span><\/span>the last two decades<\/span>, no municipal government in<\/span>Huejutla<\/span> de<\/span> Reyes has ever taken action to<\/span>address<\/span><\/span>violations<\/span> of<\/span>FoRB<\/span>, de<\/span>spite regular<\/span>occurrences<\/span>, many severe,<\/span><\/span>in communities in the municipality, all affecting Protestant Christians.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

CSW\u2019s Head of Advocacy Anna Lee Stangl said:<\/span>\u2018<\/span>The<\/span>refusal<\/span>of government officials at the municipal and state levels in Hidalgo<\/span><\/span>to<\/span>take action to address<\/span> a mass forced displacement of<\/span> these<\/span> men,<\/span>women<\/span> and children<\/span><\/span>on account of<\/span> their religious beliefs<\/span><\/span>clearly shows how deeply entrenched the culture of impunity around violations of freedom of religion or belief has become. CSW calls on the federal government to take<\/span>urgent<\/span>measures, where the state and<\/span>municipal govern<\/span>ment refuse to do so, to<\/span> intervene in the case of those displaced from Rancho Nuevo and<\/span>Coamila<\/span>,<\/span>and to<\/span>hold those responsible for<\/span>the<\/span>se<\/span><\/span>eg<\/span>regious human rights<\/span>violations<\/span><\/span>to<\/span> account<\/span> via the justice system<\/span>. In the longer term, we call on the incoming<\/span>presidency<\/span> of Claudia Sheinbaum<\/span>to<\/span>prioriti<\/span><\/span>s<\/span>e and<\/span>implement<\/span>polices that will<\/span><\/span>ensure that the rights of all are protected in Mexico and that no one is deprived of their fundamental rights based on<\/span><\/span>their religion or belief<\/span>.’<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notes to Editors:<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n\n
  1. Rancho Nuevo and<\/span>Coamila<\/span> are indigenous Nahuatl-speaking communities that are governed under Uses and Customs. The Mexican constitution guarantees FoRB and other human rights to all citizens. However, in practice FoRB violations are common among indigenous communities governed under the Law of Uses and Customs. This law protects the right of indigenous communities to<\/span>maintain<\/span> their cultural and traditional methods of local governance with the<\/span>caveat<\/span> that it must be applied in line with human rights guarantees in the Mexican constitution and in the international conventions to which Mexico is party. However, the Mexican government on both the federal and state levels<\/span>does<\/span> little to ensure that these protections are upheld. As a result, in many communities a religious majority attempts to enforce religious uniformity with consequences ranging in severity for members of minorities who wish to practice a religion or belief of their choosing.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n\n\n
  2. Human rights violations linked to FoRB have been ongoing and severe in the neighbouring villages of<\/span>Coamila<\/span> and Rancho Nuevo since 2015. Local authorities have repeatedly<\/span>attempted<\/span> to force members of the religious minority to<\/span>participate<\/span> in Roman Catholic religious festivals, including through financial donations, lighting<\/span>candles<\/span> and actively<\/span>participating<\/span> in acts of worship. Despite detailed documentation of the case dating back to 2015, the municipal government continues to deny that the incidents in Rancho Nuevo and<\/span>Coamila<\/span> are linked to FoRB.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n\n\n
  3. Women from Rancho Nuevo<\/span>participated<\/span> in CSW research that was used for<\/span><\/span>Let Her Be Heard<\/span><\/span><\/a>, a groundbreaking report on how indigenous women in Mexico experience FoRB violations, published in April 2022.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n\n\n
  4. Hidalgo State<\/span> government<\/span><\/span>officials<\/span>have<\/span>repeatedly and publicly denied the existence of any cases of religious intolerance<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u202fin the state. CSW\u2019s research has shown that it has one of the highest numbers of such cases in the country.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Fifty days after the forced displacement on 26 April of more than 150 Baptist Protestants in Hidalgo State, Mexico, the government has failed to take any action<\/p>","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":43979,"template":"","categories":[],"regions":[137,141],"class_list":["post-29843","press","type-press","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","regions-latin-america","regions-mexico"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press\/29843","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/press"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press\/29843\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40427,"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press\/29843\/revisions\/40427"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43979"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29843"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29843"},{"taxonomy":"regions","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/regions?post=29843"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}