Adriana Marcelina Linares Arroyo
Adriana Marcelina Linares Arroyo is an indigenous Mixteca human rights defender and the General Coordinator for the Coordinadora Estatal de madres, padres de familia y tutores en defensa de la educación laica y gratuita (State Coalition of mothers, fathers and tutors in defense of secular and free education).
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.
