Oaxaca, Oax:- On 31 July, human rights defender Father Alejandro Solalinde, director of the migrants' shelter “Hermanos en el Camino” in Ciudad Ixtepec, and accompanied by PBI, was detained along with his escorts for almost an hour as a result of false accusations of illegally carrying arms. The detention took place in Puebla city while the migrants' human rights defender participated in the “Paso a paso hacia la Paz” (Step by Step towards Peace) caravan, the (some 500) members of which had arrived in the centre of the city the previous night.

It is reported that on the afternoon of 31 July, as participants in the caravan in favour of migrants rested near the temple of Our Lady of the Assumption in the centre of Puebla City, a group of approximately thirty masked officers of the city's Municipal Police arrived in ten vehicles, closing off a 50-metre perimeter around the temple, on the premise that the vehicle in which Fr Alejandro Solalinde had been travelling contained heavy arms.

As a result of the threats to which he is subjected, Father Alejandro Solalinde travelled with bodyguards with the necessary permits to carry arms. Despite having been shown the official letter of collaboration provided by the Government of Oaxaca, which contains the aforementioned permissions, the Municipal Police officers detained the Catholic Priest and his two bodyguards, taking them to the offices of the Secretaría de Seguridad Pública y Transporte Municipal (SSPTM – Ministry of Public Security and Municipal Transport). Meanwhile, it is reported that the participants in caravan remained surrounded by elements of the Local, State, and Ministerial Police.

After almost an hour in detention, and following corroboration of the permits for carrying arms, the human rights defender and his bodyguards were released. Subsequently, the director of the SSPTM in Puebla, Mr Amadeo Lara Terrón, claimed that the official letter of collaboration had been “misplaced” and that therefore neither he nor those under him were aware of the arrival of the caravan in the city.

The Dimensión Pastoral de Movilidad Humana, has submitted a formal <media 7904>complaint to the National Commission for Human Rights</media> as a result of the facts described above, asking the body to confirm a likely violation of human rights and criminalization of human rights defenders.

PBI has accompained Alejandro Solalinde and his team since July 2010, due to the insecurity which they face an the necessity for a complete implementation of their precautionary measures and for a complete and efficient investigations of the reports which they have made.

For more information (in Spanish), see:

"Retienen a Alejandro Solalinde al llegar a Puebla la caravana Paso a Paso por la Paz” - La Jornada

Alejandro Solalinde es detenido porque "se traspapeló un oficio" - Vivir México

“Detienen al padre Alejandro Solalinde por portación de armas” - PubliMetro