Trial for the alleged material authors of the murder of Raramuri land defender Julian Carrillo Martinez delayed until February 1

On January 27, El Diario reported:

“With two material detainees and no intellectual author, the start of the trial in the case of Julian Carrillo, a Raramuri defender of the Coloradas de la Virgen community, who was murdered two years ago, was postponed until next Monday, according to Amnesty International Mexico.

The trial was scheduled for yesterday Tuesday; however, it was postponed until February 1st while the fight to find those responsible will continue, in addition to the fact that Carrillo’s family continues to be displaced for fear of returning to their community since the authorities have not provided them with protection.

Carrillo Martinez was murdered in October 2018, weeks after his community denounced a mining concession in their territory, as well as being an activist for the environment and against illegal logging, for which Amnesty International Mexico continues to demand justice.

The family of the Raramuri defender was the victim of a wave of violent attacks and murders, in just two years they killed five of its members, which is why those who remain fear for their lives.

In January 2019, the General Prosecutor of the State arrested two alleged minor material authors; however, due to various injunctions promoted by the defense, the process has been delayed and postponed at various times.”

La Verdad has previously reported that a Special Prosecutor had announced that 29-year-old José Feliciano R. M. and a 17-year-old with the initials PCC had been arrested “without revealing the motive for the homicide”.

Mining and logging concessions

Aristegui has previously reported: “One of these concessions was granted to Mario Humberto Ayub Touche, an important businessman from Chihuahua, and two sons of Artemio Fontes Lugo, a local chief [who in April 2007 was granted permits by Mexican environmental authorities] to exploit the forest of Coloradas de la Virgen.”

That article adds: “It was then that indigenous Rarámuri and Odami, advised by the organization Alianza Sierra Madre [ASMAC], decided to undertake a legal struggle to request the cancellation of forest harvesting permits and for the recognition of their right to the territory they have occupied for generations.”

The ASMAC website also notes: “In addition to committing murder and property theft, [Artemio Fontes Lugo] began to strip [Coloradas de la Virgen] of the forest resource, thereby bringing the loss of other natural resources essential to cultural survival.”

And Kathy Price at Amnesty International Canada has noted: “The assassination came just a week after Julian spoke out against the environmental impacts of a mining concession awarded by authorities to a Canadian mining company without the free, prior and informed consent of the Indigenous people whose lands would be impacted.”

The Peace Brigades International-Mexico Project has accompanied the Sierra Madre Alliance (Alianza Sierra Madre, A.C. or ASMAC) since 2018.

In the coming weeks, Isela González, the director of ASMAC, will be featured on a webinar jointly organized by PBI-Canada and PBI-Mexico. More on that soon.

Photo: On October 24, 2019, PBI-Mexico accompanied ASMAC at the public ceremony in front of the Government Palace of Chihuahua marking the one-year anniversary of the murder of Julián Carrillo Martínez.