Anti-femicide activist murdered in Mexico

MEXICO CITY, Mexico

Mexican anti-femicide activist Ana Luisa Garduno Juarez was found dead by local authorities of southern Morelos state of Mexico in the early hours of Friday.

Police reports said that a call was placed over gunfire inside a bar in Morelos' Temixco city, on Thursday night. By the time authorities arrived, Garduno was found dead suffering gunshot wounds on her body.

On Friday, Morelos Governor Cuauhtemoc Blanco expressed his solidarity with Garduno’s relatives and said authorities are working on solving the case as no suspect has been apprehended by now.

As an activist, she worked closely with the relatives of femicide victims and forced disappearance. Alongside other families, she formed a civil group-oriented to bring support and legal counseling to families victims of violence from her hometown in Morelos.

Garduno’s activism began after the murder of her daughter Ana Karen Huicochea Garduno, who was murdered in December 2012 by her then-boyfriend.

For almost ten years and through her organization "Ana Karen Lives," Garduno and her family pushed authorities to bring her daughter’s killer to justice, who, as of today, remains in freedom.

Both mother and daughter were killed using a firearm.

On Tuesday, over 20 of the country’s 32 states demonstrated in front of governmental buildings over the recent cases of murdered journalists in Mexico.

According to the ministry of interior, there have been 97 activists and 52 journalists murdered from 2018 to date, with the deputy minister responsible for human rights, Alejandro Encinas, saying a 90% rate of impunity regarding the homicides.

"We have to close ranks among all levels of government to face this scourge, for society as a whole, not only for the press or human rights defenders, but to defend two fundamental rights: the right to freedom of expression and the right to defend all human rights," said Encinas at a press conference.