Ernesto Sernas Garcia
Dr. Ernesto Sernas Garcia is a Constitutional Law professor at Universidad Autónoma Benito Juárez de Oaxaca and is currently legally representing 23 activists, members of the organisation Sol Rojo, that were arbitrarily detained and accused of carrying explosives and terrorism in 2015. Despite the release of the 23 activists, the criminal procedure against them is still ongoing. Before his disappearance, Dr. Ernesto Sernas Garcia was going to submit a group of evidence that could proof the irregularities on the criminal procedure and human rights violations against the 23 activists.
Human rights defenders (HRDs) and journalists in Mexico are subject to intimidation, legal harassment, arbitrary detention, death threats, acts of physical aggression, enforced disappearances and killings as a result of their activities in defence of human rights and the exercise of freedom of expression and journalism.
Disappearances are endemic in Mexico, often happening with collusion from the state. HRDs working on the issue face serious risk, up to and including death. HRDs working in the defence of territory, particularly indigenous territory, face a similar level of risk. They are criminalised, imprisoned, defamed, and often killed. Journalists working on any of these issues, or issues related to the drugs trade and the government's complicity in this, also run the risk of losing their lives.
