Mexico: An Indigenous Zapotec defender detained arbitrarily for defending his land and territory in Oaxaca

Pablo López Alavez is an indigenous Zapotec and human rights defender of environmental and indigenous rights. For more than 20 years, he has dedicated his life to protecting the forests of San Miguel and San Isidoro Aloapam in Oaxaca from deforestation. Throughout this time, Pablo held various public positions in his community, such as community policeman, member of the Drinking Water Committee, treasurer of the Road Committee, chairman of the Community Bus Committee and chairman of the Secondary School Committee. He reported on illegal logging and raised awareness about environmental protection and sustainability. In return, he has gained enemies, including the illegal loggers working in the area, and is facing numerous legal accusations.

In 2000, in a context of criminalisation of social protest, he was charged and sentenced with unfounded accusations concerning attacks against the lives of members of the community. It would be a few years before he was deprived of his liberty on 15 August 2010.

Detention and aggression

Pablo was with his family when he was arbitrarily arrested by 15 men with masked faces and heavy weapons. They attacked him and forced him to enter a vehicle without any explanation or warrant for his arrest. During his detention, he was a victim of torture. When he arrived at Etla’s prison the next day, he discovered that he had been accused of a murder that took place in 2007, even though no proof of his involvement in the murder was ever shown. His wife and children had to move out of the village for their safety and to be able to visit him. Now, there is always concern for the safety of his life partner and defender, Yolanda Pérez, who, as a monolingual indigenous woman, was forced to become bilingual in order to fight for Pablo's freedom.

Since then, the Zapotec defender has faced a process of criminalisation against him, characterised by violations of due process and his human rights, which have been denounced on a national and international level. The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) of the United Nations in its Opinion No. 23/2017, described his detention as arbitrary and called on the Mexican State to free him immediately and to offer reparations for the harm caused.

Criminalisation and sentencing of the defender

Pablo was first sentenced in 2017, but in October 2020, the proceedings were ordered to be reinstated due to multiple violations of his right to due process. The legal process started once again, and finally, on 6 March 2025, the sentencing hearing was held during which he was sentenced to thirty years in prison and ordered to pay 112,000 Mexican pesos (more than five thousand euros) in reparation for the fabricated crime of aggravated homicide.

This sentencing is aligned with a general context of criminalisation, arbitrary detention, prolonged pre-trial detention, and excessive sentences on fabricated and unfounded charges. This pattern of arbitrary detention of indigenous human rights defenders in Mexico was also denounced by the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, Mary Lawlor, in 2024.

“I have no regrets about being a defender of nature” – Pablo López Alavez

In an interview with the newspaper EL PAÍS from prison in summer 2023, Pablo López Alavez asked for help from the former Mexican president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who has now extended to Claudia Sheinbaum. In this conversation, the defender is denouncing his imprisonment condition in the prison, the torture he has suffered, the passing hunger, and the constant harassment targeting his family on the outside, to the point that they had to abandon their community. Even so, he remains proud of his work as a defender of the land:

“I have no regrets about being a defender of nature. Everything I have done has been for the sake of my children’s and grandchildren’s future, and my community’s future. The water that comes down to the village comes from the hill that we protect. Our grandparents protected it; they died, but we came along. We are just passing through, but our children will be left behind. I don’t know how many generations will pass before we can take advantage of all that we have fought for. If we let our municipality continue to log year after year, what will happen? Over the years, streams have dried up. If we don't take care of the forest, everything will fall down.”

The defence of Pablo will appeal the decision and use any legal and political means available to ensure he is free.

Join us in calling for the immediate release of Pablo López Alavez!