An armed group torture and burn alive 15 Ikoots, including 2 women, in San Mateo del Mar, Istmo de Tehuantepec, Oaxaca
Ikoots community members of San Mateo del Mar called for an informative assembly meeting on Sunday however on the way, armed men had set up an alleged COVID-19 health checkpoint, and blocked the road with burning tires.
“Men with their faces covered began to fire their guns, immediately injuring several people in the vans,” denounced the Ikoots Union of Indigenous Organizations and Communities.
The Ikoots communities released a statement, “Faced with such a COWARDLY ATTACK, WE DENOUNCE THE STATE AND FEDERAL GOVERNMENT because we have warned them in a timely manner and form of the danger that looms for the Ikoots community. The supposed municipal president BERNARDINO PONCE HINOJOSA and the powerful businessman JORGE LEONCIO ARROYO RODRIGUEZ are complicit in these murders and continue to claim victims among the Ikoots while the federal authorities look the other way to these injustices.”
“This armed group not only attacked women and men who were defending their community rights; they also violently attacked the homes of several women, such as Okas Marissa Rangel Oviedo, an Ikoots women who is now also one of the victims and who had previously been deprived of her freedom along with her two young daughters,” explained the city council.
A second confrontation was also reportedly registered at the town of Huazantlán del Río. The residents stated that at least 20 people had been injured and others had disappeared.
There is still no official word on how many people have been disappeared and injured.