On December 16, PBI-Mexico tweeted: “11 years after the murder of #MaricelaEscobedo, women and organizations gather around the #CruzDeClavos in #Chihuahua to ‘honor the struggle of Marisela and that of all the mothers who seek justice in this country’.”

The Centre for Women’s Human Rights (CEDEHM) further notes: “Marisela was 52 years old when she was cowardly murdered. Until she was 48 years old, she had dedicated herself to her sons and daughters, to her vocation as a nurse and following her entrepreneurial spirit.”

Photo: Marisela became an activist after her 16-year-old daughter Rubi was murdered in 2008. Marisela was murdered in 2010.

“Marisela became the main investigator of the disappearance of her daughter Rubí Marisol Fraire Escobedo in August 2008. Thanks to the evidence collected by her, it was possible to determine that Rubí was murdered by her partner, Sergio Rafael Barraza Bocanegra who had already fled Chihuahua; Marisela managed to locate him and thanks to this he was able to be arrested to face a trial in the newly released New Criminal Justice System.”

“During Marisela’s statement in the trial against Sergio, she explained that she was there because she wanted her daughter’s femicide to be the last in Chihuahua. The Court acquitted and released the confessed murderer.”

“She [then] toured the country, led marches, held multiple protests, met with authorities at different levels, found Sergio on her own on three occasions and demanded his arrest, confronted the Governor, denounced collusion between authorities and drug trafficking, faced death threats from the murderer’s family, warned that she would be killed if they did nothing to protect her and that her death would be the shame of the Government.”

“On the night of December 16, 2010, Marisela Escobedo Ortiz was murdered outside the Government Palace of Chihuahua.”

CEDEHM comments: “Eleven years of impunity, with the entire family forcibly displaced in another country and with a sustained increase in violence against girls and women in Chihuahua, this remains the shame of the government, at all levels.”

The full statement from CEDEHM at Decimoprimer aniversario del asesinato de Marisela Escobedo Ortiz «La vergüenza del gobierno».

A 25-minute video of the ceremony can also be seen here.

     

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