Leading Human Rights Attorney Denounces Threats on his Life

Tlachinollan attorney Vidulfo Rosales has litigated a series of emblematic cases of military and police corruption and abuse in Mexico

(2012-06-01) One of Mexico's leading human rights attorneys is being forced to temporarily leave Mexico due to very direct threats on his life. The attorney, Vidulfo Rosales, leads the legal team at the Tlachinollan Center for Human Rights of the Montaña (Tlachinollan), a leading human rights organizations in the country, which has litigated a number of emblematic cases of abuse in recent years.

The anonymous death threat makes specific reference to Mr. Rosales and to several high-profile cases of human rights violations that Tlachinollan has litigated, including the cases of the Parota hydro-electric dam, the rape and torture of two indigenous women in 2002, and most recently the killings and torture committed against rural teaching students in December of 2011. The threat reads in part:

…stop f---ing around, shut up or we will send you back home in pieces… F---ing lawyer, stop defaming the authorities, you already owe us many times over, you get involved in everything, La Parota, the so-called raped women, and now the Ayotzinapos [sic] vandals… You are going to die… Yours, The Law.

The team at Tlachinollan denounced the death threat in a meeting with Guerrero state level authorities headed by Governor Angel Aguirre on May 23. Tlachinollan representatives lamented that Federal authorities were not in attendance to evaluate the needed security and investigation measures and endorse the denouncement.

Also on May 23, national and international human rights groups, including , the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice & Human Rights (RFK Center), Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the Washington Office on Latin America, signed a statement demanding federal and state governments carry out a full investigation of the threats and implement emergency protective measures for Mr. Rosales and the team at Tlachinollan. (Statement also available in Spanish.)

The RFK Center joined Tlachinollan in calling for an immediate response that meets the urgency of the situation. "The issues being litigated by Mr. Rosales and Tlachinollan are vital to ensuring much-needed justice reforms and providing basic protections for thousands of victims across Mexico; that is why they are being targeted," said Salvador Sarmiento, RFK Partners for Human Rights Advocacy Officer. "The state and federal government must immediately investigate these threats and prosecute those responsible to the full extent of the law."

In 2010, Tlachinollan director Abel Barrera Hernández received the RFK Human Rights Award for his courageous work to end human rights violations committed against indigenous persons in Mexico. "The RFK Center is monitoring the situation in Guerrero and is in touch with our colleagues at Tlachinollan," said Sarmiento.

Mr. Rosales and every member of Tlachinollan's team have been granted protective measures by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, the human rights tribunal of the Organization of American States. Based in the Montaña (mountain) region in the state of Guerrero, Tlachinollan accompanies thousands of victims and survivors of abuse every year, and has litigated a number of emblematic cases in recent years.