PBI-Mexico highlights Inter-American Court of Human Rights hearing for the Raramuri community in Choréachi, Chihuahua

Isela Gonzalez addresses the court.

On June 11, PBI-Mexico posted: “The public hearing has already begun before Inter-American Court of Human Rights. The Raramuri Community in Choréachi say their right to land is at risk of being violated and that they face persecution and discrimination.”

PBI-Mexico highlights: “We recognize the worthy struggle of the Sierra Tarahumara’s Indigenous communities for their ancestral territory.”

PBI-Mexico accompanies the Sierra Madre Alliance (ASMAC) that accompanies Indigenous communities such as Coloradas de la Virgen in the Sierra Tarahumara region in the northwestern state of Chihuahua. The threats against them including logging and mining concessions.

The Guardian has previously reported: “To defend the Tarahumara’s rights, [ASMAC director Isela] Gonzalez has organised protests, led occupations of government offices, filed lawsuits and compiled dossiers for the national government, the Inter-American Court for Human Rights and the United Nations.”

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights is an autonomous judicial institution based in the city of San José, Costa Rica that rules on whether a State has violated an individual’s human rights, rather than if individuals are guilty of human rights violations.

The Court has noted: “Matter of Members Choréachi Indigenous Community regarding Mexico. The public hearing will be held on June 11, 2021, starting at 8 a.m. (Costa Rican time). It will be transmitted by the Inter-American Court’s social networks.”

This relates to a request to the Court asking that it order the State of Mexico to protect the life and personal integrity of the members of the Choréachi community.

ASMAC has tweeted: “For more than 50 years, the Raramuri community of Choréachi has defended its territory, facing great risks. We demand safety conditions for those who defend the environment!”

And the Centre for Women’s Human Rights (CEDEHM) has tweeted: “We have nothing to guarantee that we are the owners of our territory. What we want is for Choréachi to be as before, for the community to be recognized for living without violence and persecution, for our human rights as indigenous people to be respected.”

The live broadcast of the Inter-American Court hearing can be seen here.

PBI-Mexico has previously noted: “PBI has accompanied ASMAC since 2018 due to the risks they face in their legitimate and recognized work in defense of human rights.”

Peace Brigades International and Amnesty International-Canada convened a webinar on March 11 with Isela Gonzalez to speak on issues impacting Indigenous peoples in Mexico.