"Mexico: Attempted murder of human rights defender Juan Carlos Flores Solís", 28 November 2022

...The undersigned organizations hereby recognize the indispensable work of the lawyer and human rights defender of the FPDTA-MPT, Juan Carlos Flores Solís, for his human rights work and defense of the right to access to water, a healthy environment and the self-determination of peoples.

The work of Juan Carlos Flores Solís, as a member and lawyer of the FPDTA-MPT, has focused on legal and social accompaniment of different indigenous Nahua communities fighting against mega-projects and against the extraction and contamination of water, both in the Cuautla River, in the municipality of Ayala, Morelos, and in the Metlapanapa River, in the municipality of Juan C. Bonilla, Puebla.

...These attacks seek to undermine and hinder the exercise of his right to defend human rights, as his legal and social accompaniment work is translated into denouncing the serious environmental impacts related to the industrial activity of both Mexican and transnational companies operating in the centre of the country.

...[O]n the 17th of October of this year Juan Carlos Flores Solís was driving his car to the city of Cuernavaca, where he had to resolve issues related to his human rights work. During the trip, he noticed strange noises in the car. Upon inspecting the car in detail, he noticed that the lug nuts (bolts) of one of the front tires were completely loose. After a thorough inspection by a professional mechanic, who confirmed that they could not have been loosened naturally, it is presumed that someone intentionally loosened the tire to put Juan Carlos' life and integrity at risk....

It is important to mention that this was not an isolated event. On the contrary, it is part of an increasing pattern of threats and intimidation against Juan Carlos Flores Solís, his family, his support network and other members of the FPDTA-MPT...

For these reasons, the undersigned organizations call on all levels of the Government of Mexico to guarantee the safety and integrity of Juan Carlos Flores Solís...

The BHRRC had already registered three other attacks of intimidation and death threats against Juan Carlos Flores Solís on the following dates: 05 April 2022, 10 April 2022 and15 April 2022.