Front Line is deeply concerned following reports that human rights defender Mr Rommel Caín Chacan Pale and his family received threats on 5 June 2009. Rommel Caín Chacan Pale is a human rights lawyer and member of the Civil Police Monitor based in Tlapa de Comonfort in the La Montaña region of Guerrero.

Further Information

Rommel Caín Chacan Pale works to actively document human rights abuses and provides legal defence for the victims of such abuses. To date, the Civil Police Monitor has registered 185 cases regarding 16 of the 24 police forces in the region and 13 complaints against the Mexican Army.

On 5 June 2009, Rommel Caín Chacan Pale received a threatening telephone call from an unidentified caller who informed him that he and his family were under surveillance. On 9 April 2009, Rommel Caín Chacan Pale, together with 106 other human rights defenders in Guerrero, was granted provisional protection measures by the Inter-American Court on Human Rights due to the general climate of danger and risk for human rights defenders in Guerrero at this time and the fact that the organisations of these human rights defenders have been particularly targeted. However, the government has thus far failed to implement these measures or provide the necessary security equipment for the protection of Rommel Caín Chacan Pale or the other 106 human rights defenders.

Front Line believes that the threats against Rommel Caín Chacan Pale and his family are directly related to his work in the defence of human rights. Front Line is seriously concerned for the physical and psychological integrity of Rommel Caín Chacan Pale and his family. Front Line sees this as part of a pattern of ongoing harassment against human rights defenders in Guerrero, Mexico.