Organized crime groups charge a floor fee and threaten Christian churches that do altruism in favor of young Mexicans, the international organization Open Doors (Open Doors) denounced before the United States Congress .
Dennis P. Petri, who presented the report in September 2015, exposed that Christian churches (Evangelical or Catholic) become targets of crime when their behavior constitutes a direct threat to the operations of criminal groups (Spanish version here ).
The specialist in religious freedom from the VU University of Amsterdam assured that the administration of rehabilitation centers is the initiative most affected.
“When religious groups organize activities for young people, to prevent them from getting involved in organized crime, especially in the north and northeast of the country, cases of intimidation arise,” he said on November 17 while participating in the Tolerance and Religion forum. in the Chamber of Deputies of Mexico.
The report describes that the presence of the Sinaloa cartel and the Zetas has generated chaos and violence in some areas of the country, especially in entities such as Nuevo León, Tamaulipas and Michoacán.
The document entitled Challenges to Religious Freedom in America: testimony before the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives, denounces that the collection of floor fees is a massive phenomenon in churches.
“Churches are seen as centers of income by organized crime, since they are considered to have a large amount of financial resources. This is only true for larger churches, but it makes all churches vulnerable to extortion and kidnapping for ransom.
When interviewing parishioners, the document exposes, it was observed that extortion of religious temples is, for now, the most significant threat in some areas of the country, but it is difficult to assess the scope because most of those affected do not report it.
“Criminal organizations make all kinds of threats, including kidnapping family members if the extorted entity refuses to pay. Victims cannot always report threats, because there is no legal certainty and because the police themselves are corrupt,” the document details.
There are churches that have closed due to orders from drug cartels for not paying floor fees and evangelistic activities are restricted in parts of the country.
The report denounces that the right that is violated is freedom of association, which is an intrinsic element of freedom of religion.
“There are reports of people who are prohibited from attending religious services or are required to inform the drug cartels every time a church is visited.”
“Cartel members who convert to Christianity and consequently abandon crime run the risk of being killed,” it is claimed.
Also, it is detailed that within the churches there is a sophisticated surveillance and supervision of criminals who analyze the content of the sermons.
Therefore, speaking from the pulpit on issues such as injustice, violence, drug use, drug trafficking, corruption or organized crime is extremely dangerous and can lead to intimidation of religious leaders.
Some threats can be beatings, attacks on leaders’ houses, or even assassinations.
The violence has caused some churches to interrupt mass gatherings at the risk of being attacked and in many areas, it was decided not to organize religious services during the night. “These restrictions are a form of ‘self-imposed curfew’, significantly reducing religious expression in the life of the church,” the document denounces.
