On January 29, 2016, authorities of the Office of the Assistant Attorney-General for Organized Crime Investigation (SEIDO) of the Attorney General’s Office (FGR) arbitrarily initiated an investigation against the journalist Marcela Turati Muñoz, the rights defender Ana Lorena Delgadillo, Director of the Foundation for Justice (FJEDD), and the Regional Director of the Argentine Team of Forensic Anthropology (EAAF) Mercedes Doretti.  Their work was the documentation, public denouncement, legal assistance and investigation of the massacre of 72 people ―58 men and 14 women― the majority of whom were Central and South American migrants—and of the 48 clandestine graves located in San Fernando, Tamaulipas, in which 206 human remains were located. Eight years later, the would-be investigation is still open, and for this reason the three rights defenders continue to be criminalized and exposed to the risks and impacts of this situation on their lives and work. 

It is important to note that ever since the beginning of this illegal investigation against the women defenders, serious human rights violations have been documented that were implemented by the Office of the Attorney General. Accordingly, on February 4, 2016, office personnel illegally required telecommunications information of Ana Lorena and Marcela, along with personal data and writings in order to analyze their signatures. Ana Lorena, Marcela and Mercedes were spied upon by SEIDO agents without having been informed of the reasons for the investigation. This violated their right to defense and access to justice, privacy, freedom of expression, defense of human rights, and non-discrimination.  Institutions of the Mexican government invested human, economic, and technological resources in attacking through criminalization and espionage the persons who were accompanying victims of the Massacre of San Fernando that remains in impunity 13 years later. Despite the grave nature of these events, the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) arbitrarily closed the file derived from the complaint presented in 2021 by the three defenders, and only reopened it after they presented a protective order and repeatedly urged the Commission to resolve the massacre.

The criminalization process to which the three comrades are subjected not only implies a violation of national legislation, but is also contrary to international human rights norms and standards.

We of the National Network of Women Human Rights Defenders in Mexico and the Mesoamerican Initiative of Women Human Rights Defenders (IM-Defensoras) demand the immediate closure of the prosecution’s investigatory file against Ana Lorena Delgadillo Pérez, Marcela Turati Muñoz y Mercedes Doretti, and an end to their criminalization.

Likewise, we call on the Mexican government to investigate and delineate responsibilities for the criminal offenses committed against these human rights defenders upon having illegally initiated the investigation, and to offer guarantees for the protection of their integrity and the right to freely engage in their labor of communication and defense of rights.