On June 15, the Peace Brigades International-Mexico Project posted: “PBI Mexico expresses concern about the events that occurred today in the offices of Consorcio Oaxaca, an organization that we accompany.”
PBI-Mexico adds: “We join the call to ensure the safety and integrity of the human rights defenders who make up the organization and the beneficiary persons who accompany them.”
On Monday June 15, at around 8:40 am in the morning, unknown individuals left a package at the front door of Consorcio Oaxaca with the remains of what appears to be an animal, reportedly the head of an animal, and a threatening message.
Soledad Jarquín Edgar is promoting a campaign to demand justice and the investigation of the murder her daughter Maria in June 2018.
Consorcio Oaxaca explains: “During the last weeks, we have accompanied with great commitment the campaign ‘Until Justice Arrives’ demanding justice for the femicide of María del Sol Cruz Jarquín, a young photojournalist murdered on June 2, 2018 in Juchitán de Zaragoza.”
It adds: “This campaign has been promoted by Soledad Jarquín Edgar, feminist journalist, mother of María del Sol and supported by countless civil organizations, national and international human rights organizations and embassies. The process of demanding justice for María del Sol has been marked by constant attacks against Soledad Jarquín and who have supported her demand.”
Pagina 3 reports: “[Consorcio Oaxaca] attribute that the threat could be related to the questions they have made to [Oaxaca Governor Alejandro Murat Hinojosa] about femicides, the disappearances of women and the attacks on human rights defenders.”
That article adds: “In addition to evidencing the negligence, omission and complicity of the authorities in femicides, they have requested the resignation of the attorney general, whom they have exhibited for their inability to deliver justice.”
From 1985 to 2014, 47,178 women were killed in Mexico due to their gender, according to data compiled by RFK Human Rights and Center for Women’s Holistic Development (CEDIMAC) for a 2018 report. From 2015 to June 2019, at least 3,080 women were murdered.
In 2019, 1,006 of 3,825 murders in Mexico were officially classified as femicides. In 2015, when authorities began counting these crimes, the number was 426.
Consorcio Oaxaca states: “We demand guarantees for those of us who defend human rights, in particular the right to justice, truth and reparation. We call on the international community to be attentive to what comes after our denunciation, in relation to our work, our life and our security.”
The National Institute for Women (Inmujeres) has also called on authorities to grant the necessary preventive measures, precautionary measures of protection that guarantee the life, integrity, and safety of the members of the Oaxaca Consortium.
Consortium for Parliamentary Dialogue and Equity Oaxaca (Consorcio Oaxaca), is a feminist organization dedicated for 17 years to the promotion of women’s rights as well as the protection of human rights defenders in Oaxaca, Mexico and the Mesoamerican region.
The risks faced by Consorcio Oaxaca members are high because of the cases it accompanies and its work promoting and defending women’s rights. PBI-Mexico has provided Consorcio Oaxaca with accompaniment since March 2016.