Community leaders in Montenegro in the San Juan Bautista Valle Nacional Municipality of Oaxaca State, Mexico, arbitrarily detained a married couple on 20 July in an attempt to pressure them to withdraw a complaint made to the Oaxaca State Ombudsman’s Office regarding their experiences of violations of freedom of religion or belief (FoRB).

Tito Mariano Méndez was put in a community jail cell at 9.30am on 20 July following a meeting of the Communal Assembly under the pretext that he had failed to fulfil his responsibilities in the Chinanteco ethno-linguistic community, including by refusing to sell beer to generate income for a local Roman Catholic festival. His wife, Esther Abigail Pérez Ramírez, was also imprisoned shortly after community leaders learned that details of the incident had been shared on social media. There are concerns for Mr Mariano Méndez’s health as he is recovering from gallbladder surgery and is still undergoing treatment.

Sources told CSW that the claim that Mr Mariano Méndez had failed to comply with community obligations was false, pointing out that in November 2023 he completed his turn on the health clinic committee, and has consistently held many such roles in the past. Instead, they say, the order to imprison them came in retaliation after community leaders received an official notification and a request for information from the state ombudsman following the complaint filed by Mr Mariano Méndez and Ms Pérez Ramírez.

The couple’s complaint referred to incidents they experienced due to the fact that they are Protestant Christians. In 2020, their house was destroyed in an arson attack following threats from community leaders due to their religious beliefs. In 2023, they pulled their children out of the local school due to severe mistreatment and discrimination because of their faith. Mr Mariano Méndez then filed a complaint with the ombudsman’s office in Tuxtepec, Oaxaca, which requested a report from Montenegro community leaders regarding the family’s situation.

The Oaxaca State government is aware of the arbitrary detention and was reported to be traveling to the area on 21 July to negotiate the couple’s release. Sources told CSW that they hoped that government and local officials could reach a ‘good agreement’ and while this was ‘a positive start, we know it is only the beginning.’

Pablo Vargas, Director of Impulso18, said: ‘We call on the authorities at all three levels, including Municipal President Marcelo Santos Meneses, Oaxaca State Governor Salomón Jara Cruz, and President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, to intervene urgently in the situation to ensure that Tito Mariano Méndez and Esther Abigail Pérez Ramírez are immediately put at liberty without condition and to ensure that all rights included in the constitution and federal law to protect freedom of religion or belief are upheld for all.’

CSW’s CEO Scot Bower said: ‘It is difficult to understand how anyone is being put in prison because of their religious beliefs in Mexico in 2024. The arbitrary detention of Tito Mariano Méndez and Esther Abigail Pérez Ramírez, simply because they requested support from the government to ensure they were able to freely practice their faith without discrimination, shows how the government of Mexico is failing to meet not only its international human rights obligations, but, even more fundamentally, its commitments to uphold basic rights in its own constitution and laws. This case is unfortunately not unique and it is past time that the Mexican government, at every level, implements policies to uphold freedom of religion or belief for all that extend to the local level and communities governed under Uses and Customs.’

Notes to Editors:

1. Montenegro is an indigenous Chinanteco-speaking community governed under Uses and Customs, which protects the right of indigenous communities to maintain their cultural and traditional methods of local governance with the caveat 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. The Mexican constitution guarantees FoRB and other human rights to all citizens. However, in practice FoRB violations are common among indigenous communities governed under Uses and Customs and the Mexican government at the federal, state, and municipal levels does 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.   
2. The FoRB violations in Montenegro have been carried out principally by C. Bulmaro Pérez Felipe, in coordination with community police officers, including Commander Alfredo Pérez García and C. Silvino Miguel Monterrey, Community Secretary C. Sixto Pérez Ríos, Community Treasurer Araceli Cruz Jiménez, and local justice officers Víctor Bautista José and Damián Cruz Jorge.