Mexican Human Rights Defender Is Shot Dead in Chiapas

A hitman on a motorcycle shot and killed Simon Perez on Monday in the Simojovel municipality in the state of Chiapas.

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When the attack occurred, Perez was accompanied by his son and walking to a public market to buy food.

Besides being a well-known advocate for the Indigenous peoples of the Chiapas Highlands, this Tzeltal Indigenous activist worked as a catechist in Santa Catarina parish in the Pantelho municipality.

In 2020, Perez was president of Las Abejas de Acteal, a Christian, pacifist, anti-neoliberal grassroots organization that was attacked by paramilitaries in the Acteal community on December 22, 1997. On that occasion, the aggressors murdered 21 Tzotzil Indigenous women, 15 children, and 9 elderly people.

In recent years, Perez accompanied the struggle of communities that were fighting against racism and demanding respect for their economic, social, and cultural rights.

Social leaders demanded that Chiapas authorities investigate Perez's murder and guarantee the safety of his family and Las Abejas de Acteal members.

Since Dec. 2018, at least 45 human rights defenders have been killed in Mexico, as recalled by the "All Rights for Everybody" Network (Red TDT).