A Baptist woman in Mexico remains hospitalized in serious condition after being tied to a tree and beaten before Christmas.
Her pastor at Great Commission Baptist Church in Rancho Nuevo also was assaulted when he tried to intervene and was detained two hours by local authorities.
No arrests were made, even though complaints were filed with the Hidalgo State Human Rights Commission and the Hidalgo State Prosecutor’s Office.
‘Not an isolated incident’
Officials with Christian Solidarity Worldwide, a United Kingdom-based human rights organization, noted Rancho Nuevo — an indigenous Nahuatl-speaking community in Hidalgo State — has a documented history of violating the religious freedom of minority faith groups.
“This was not an isolated incident,” said Anna-Lee Stangl, joint head of advocacy for CSW. “The situation in her village, Rancho Nuevo, has been ongoing since 2015. Religious minority children in Rancho Nuevo have been blocked from attending school since 2018.
“CSW has documented 20 other similar cases in the state of Hidalgo and about 100 in different states across the country.”
Maria Concepcion Hernández Hernández was attacked Dec. 21 after she visited a plot of land she owns because a neighbor asked her to remove two trees. Since 2015, local authorities in Rancho Nuevo have prohibited Baptists from accessing or using their own land to cultivate crops.
A half dozen Roman Catholic men allegedly participated in the assault. CSW reported the local Catholic church rang its bells immediately prior to the attack — at a time when they typically are silent.
When Pastor Regelio Hernández Baltazar tried to stop the attack, he was assaulted and detained by local leaders who demanded he hand over the deeds to plots of land owned by his church members. When he refused, the authorities threatened to take the deeds by force and seize the property.
Governed under Law of Uses and Customs
Rancho Nuevo is governed under Mexico’s Law of Uses and Customs, which recognizes the right of indigenous communities to maintain their cultural and traditional local governance.
The law stipulates local authorities must govern in line with rights guaranteed in the Mexican constitution and international conventions. In practice, however, the state and federal government does little to protect minority rights in those areas, Stangl said.
Elijah Brown, general secretary and CEO of the Baptist World Alliance, called for prayer.
Maria Concepcion was listed in critical condition for two weeks, but her condition improved this past weekend.
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EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Ken Camp and originally published by Texas Baptist Standard.
