Mexico: Binnizá defender David Hernández criminalised for opposing Interoceanic Corridor
Biodiversidad en América Latina
"Joint Statement - New acts of criminalisation against David Hernández Salazar, Binniza indigenous and land rights defender", 01 November 2023.
...David Hernández Salazar is a human rights defender and Community Municipal Agent in the area of Puente Madera, as well as a general coordinator of the Assembly of Indigenous Peoples of the Isthmus in Defence of Land and Territory (APIIDTT). Since 2017, he has actively worked to defend the right to the common use of lands in the territory known as El Pitayal, which were threatened by the extraction of petroleum in Cerro Igú and by the instalment of the National Defence Secretariat Electrical Substation (SEDENA). As a member of APIIDTT, he has represented the Binniza Indigenous Community of Puente Madera since 2021 in the defence of their territorial and self-determination rights against the threat of the instalment of one of the Industrial Parks, or “Polo de Desarrollo para el Bienestar” (PODEBI) of the Inter-Oceanic Corridor, in the lands of common use of San Blas Atempa, Oaxaca.
On 18 October 2023, human rights defender David Hernández Salazar was notified of the Investigation Folder FED/OAX/SC/0001589/2021, in which he faces charges related to attacks on critical infrastructure. The criminal complaint was filed by legal representatives of the Secretariat of Infrastructure, Communications and Transportation. In the above-mentioned letter notifying David Hernández Salazar of the complaint against him, the human rights defender is required to appear for the initial hearing to be held on 1 December 2023. To date, the human rights defender and his legal representatives have not received any further information about the facts to which this new proceeding refers to.
David Hernández Salazar is currently also facing another criminal proceeding as a result of a complaint which was filed by the Municipality of San Blas Atempa and private parties in the Isthmus in Tehuantepec...This criminal case includes 17 arrest warrants against Binniza indigenous women and men from Puente Madera...