Claudia Elizabeth Hernández Herrera
Claudia Elizabeth Hernández Herrera is a human rights lawyer from in Mexico, originally from the city of San Luis Potosí, in the State of San Luis Potosí. Claudia Elizabeth is a graduate from the School of Transnational Justice (EJT), an initiative promoted by the Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Project (ProDESC A.C.) The EJT promotes education and training of human rights defenders in order to enhance the defence and promotion of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ESCR) in Mexico.
Claudia Elizabeth accompanies agrarian and territorial processes of indigenous and peasant communities in the town of Cerro de San Pedro in the State of San Luis Potosí. Her work in human rights defence began with a strong commitment to defend the territory and its communities from the destruction caused by the extractive sector in Mexico, in particular by projects executed by the mining company San Xavier in the State of San Luis Potosí.
As a result of her work in defense of the territoty and the restitution of collective rights of peasant and indigenous communities, the defender and human rights lawyer Claudia Elizabeth has been subjected to multiple violations by local authorities, including harassment, threats, torture, physical attacks and judicial harassment, including arbitrary detention and fabricated charges.
HRDs working in the defence of territory in Mexico, particularly indigenous territory, face a high level of risk. They are criminalised, imprisoned, defamed, and often killed.
