18 de June de 2018 Press Release

The assassination of a human rights defender in Mexico still unpunished

Washington, D.C. and San José, October 19, 2011.- From the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL) we deeply regret the impunity in which the Mexican State has kept the assassination of human rights defender Digna Ochoa y Plácido, whose 10th anniversary is celebrated today. The Office of the Government Procurator of the Federal District filed the case on September 9, after a long, biased and not diligent process to investigate the events.

For ten years, the case has been pending before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (CIDH). However, the Inter-American Commission has not yet decided on its admissibility. Despite multiple requests from civil society organizations, the IACHR has denied the latest requests for a hearing to address this issue.

 

The murder of Digna Ochoa is an emblematic case and a warning of the lack of protection of human rights defenders in Mexico. Dozens of activists are still threatened, attacked and killed because of their job. Only taking into account the cases from Mexico that have been accompanied by CEJIL before the IACHR and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, more than one hundred defenders, and some of their relatives are beneficiaries of urgent protection measures by these two bodies.

 

Viviana Krsticevic, Executive Director of CEJIL, said: “We again express our condolences to Digna’s family. She was a lawyer who courageously took on human rights causes that put her at great risk. With her murder, a voice of support was lost for many people who experienced violations of their fundamental rights. “

 

Krsticevic added that the impunity derived from the lack of diligent investigation of this crime has encouraged a climate of harassment in Mexico. “The State must make a firm commitment to seek justice for the assassination of Digna Ochoa, as well as to implement a policy that allows other human rights defenders not to be intimidated or silenced while doing their work”, she concluded.

 

On the 10th anniversary of the death of Digna Ochoa, CEJIL insists again on the importance of Mexico adopting effectively, and in consensus with civil society organizations, an adequate institutional mechanism for the protection of human rights defenders that also includes the investigation of the attacks they suffer.

 

Furthermore, CEJIL urges the Mexican State to reopen the case, independently of the proceedings before the Inter-American Commission, and to investigate it seriously, in order to identify and punish the persons responsible for the murder of Digna Ochoa. In addition, CEJIL urges the IACHR to seek a rapid advance of the respective procedure.

 

Facts

 

The human rights defender Digna Ochoa was murdered on October 19, 2001, at her office in Mexico D.F. Previously, she had been the victim of threats, harassment, and physical attacks, that’s why the IACHR and the Inter-American Court had granted her precautionary and provisional protection measures. Her murder occurred two months after the Court’s measures were lifted.