Individuals at Risk

When her sister, Lilia Alejandra, became one of the hundreds of victims of the serial killings that have been taking place in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico for more than a decade, Maria Luisa Garcia Andrade decided to take action.

17 year-old Lilia Alejandra (her mother shown, left) was working in a maquiladora, or factory, in the border town of Ciudad Juarez. When she didn't come home one day in 2001, her family feared the worst — but the police took no action until her body was found several days later. Lilia Alejandra had been held captive, sexually assaulted and strangled until she died.

Maria Luisa became involved with Nuestras Hijas de Regreso a Casa (Our Daughters Return Home), which has been agitating for justice in the unsolved murders and disappearances.

Now her life, too, is in danger.

For over a decade now, women and girls in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico have been disappearing on their way to and from their jobs. Over 400 female employees of the city's many maquiladoras, or sweatshops, have gone missing since 1993, and many of them turn up dead a few days after they disappear, many of them showing signs of sexual violence or rape.

At this point, the murders in Ciudad Juarez are old news. Several books have been published and a number of documentaries have been filmed about the situation, and a Hollywood movie, Bordertown, starring Jennifer Lopez and supported by Amnesty, is due for limited release at the end of August.

Amnesty's Women's Human Rights campaign has long been active on the Ciudad Juarez murders as well. Its 2003 report Mexico: Intolerable Killings, along with subsequent actions and activism, has played an important role in bringing attention to the lack of accountability in Ciudad Juarez and the mishandling of the murders by local law enforcement authorities.

But the murders continue.

In the last few years, the Mexican government has placed the case under federal oversight to address concerns that police in Ciudad Juarez were not doing enough to investigate the killings. The Federal Special Prosecutor's Office has put out several reports on the situation, and 2005 saw the creation of the Special Commission for the Prevention and Eradication of Violence against Women in Ciudad Juarez.

Yet somehow, despite the international outcry, women continue to disappear on their way home from work, the local government continues to downplay the crisis, and the murderers continue to go unpunished.

To make matters worse, human rights defenders in the area, including Maria Luisa, are coming under attack. Members of Nuestras Hijas de Regreso a Casa are subject to regular harassment, and the organization has been robbed several times (UA 167/07). Marisela Ortiz Rivera, one activist, received a text message on June 22 saying "disfruta de la vida mientras puedas" ("enjoy life while you still can"). And after reporting the theft of documents related to the 2001 murder of her sister, Maria Luisa was told "ya me enteré que nos volvieron a denunciar, porque no dejan las cosas por la paz, total mañana apareces muerta, o yo muerto!" ("I found out that you've complained about us again, why don't you let things be? Either you'll turn up dead tomorrow or I will!").

So what can you do?

• Write letters to the Mexican government to make sure Ortiz Rivera, Garcia Andrade and the other activists involved with Nuestras Hijas de Regreso a Casa get the protection they need and deserve.
• Sign a petition to Mexican president Felipe Calderon urging him to take action.
• Participate in the "Cross Petition," a campaign to call attention to violence against women in both Mexico and Guatemala.
• Contact your congressperson in support of the "Concurrent Congressional Resolution on Juarez," passed unanimously in May 2006.

After more than a decade, the only things that are clear are that the murders aren't going to stop anytime soon, and that the only tool we have to halt them is shame. So do whatever you can to make sure the Mexican government feels pressure to remedy the situation — before more women die.

Rachel Dempsey