The Digna Ochoa Human Rights Center A.C. denounced the filing of criminal complaints with the Attorney General's Office against families from Arriaga and Pijijiapan, Chiapas, related to the right-of-way for the train on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec Interoceanic Corridor (CIIT). In a press release, the center informed that the complaints were filed by Ferrocarriles del Istmo de Tehuantepec (FIT) and the Ministry of Communications, Infrastructure and Transport (SCIT) for the alleged crime of invading national assets, as defined in article 150 of the National Assets Law. The organization detailed that the lawsuits are directed against three women from the municipality of Pijijiapan and against four women and one man from Arriaga. All the people reported belong to families in a situation of vulnerability. The use of criminal law to resolve a territorial and administrative conflict is extreme and disproportionate. It indicated that these actions represent an act of criminalization of the civilian population, particularly of women. The center highlighted that the complaints could affect fundamental rights, such as the right to due process, the presumption of innocence, adequate housing, and legal security, in addition to implying discrimination by gender or socioeconomic status. The organization warned that the events could configure a “pattern of criminalization of poverty,” by using the criminal system as a mechanism of pressure, intimidation or displacement of families settled in areas linked to the railway right-of-way. In the statement, it was recalled that the Mexican State has the obligation to respect, protect and guarantee human rights, in accordance with article 1 of the Constitution and the international treaties ratified by Mexico. The center emphasized that FIT, SCIT and federal authorities must guarantee that any action on the right-of-way is carried out without resorting to criminalization, prioritizing administrative mechanisms, social dialogue, mediation and comprehensive solutions. It also warned that forced evictions without procedural guarantees, without prior consultation and without decent relocation alternatives constitute serious violations of human rights, according to the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. The organization contextualized these facts within a broader scenario of federal megaprojects, in which communities have denounced the lack of prior, free, informed and culturally adequate consultation, as well as risks of dispossession, forced displacement, rupture of the social fabric and effects on livelihoods. “No infrastructure project can be imposed through criminal coercion,” the center said in the press release, and recalled that prior consultation is a binding right recognized by ILO Convention 169, the Mexican Constitution and inter-American jurisprudence. Given the seriousness of the facts, the Digna Ochoa Human Rights Center demanded the immediate cessation of criminal persecution, the review and eventual dismissal of the complaints by the FGR, and the suspension of any eviction attempt while adequate legal and humanitarian conditions do not exist. The organization also requested the full guarantee of due process, the presumption of innocence and the integrity of the people reported, as well as the opening of an inter-institutional dialogue mechanism with the participation of affected families and human rights organizations. Finally, it called on the National Human Rights Commission, the Chiapas State Human Rights Commission, international organizations, the media and civil society to follow up on the case and prevent possible serious violations of human rights.