Case History: Malú Garcia Andrade
On 16 February 2011, Malú García Andrade was attending the protest action in support of the families of the disappeared, raped and murdered women of Chihuahua State when she received notice that her home was on fire and that it had reportedly been intentionally lit by armed individuals. Whilst nobody was injured in the blaze, the home of the human rights defender suffered serious damages. Many members of NHRC have filed complaints after receiving threats as a result of their fight against femicide in the State.
Malú García Andrade is President of the organisation Nuestras Hijas de Regreso a Casa – NHRC (May Our Daughters Return Home).
On 3 February 2012, human rights defender Ms Norma Andrade was attacked by an unknown assailant in the south of Mexico City.
Norma Andrade is the founder of Nuestras Hijas de Regreso a Casa – NHRC (May Our Daughters Return Home). Her human rights work focuses on fighting for justice for the victims of femicide and their families in the State of Chihuahua.
On 3 February 2012, at approximately 9:00 am, Norma Andrade had left the house where she was staying in the Coyoacán neighbourhood in the south of Mexico City to bring her granddaughter to school when she was attacked by an unidentified man. The assailant approached her and slashed her face with a knife before fleeing the scene. The human rights defender went to hospital where she received treatment for a two-inch laceration in her cheek.
Front Line Defenders previously issued an urgent appeal following an attempt on the life of Norma Andrade. On 2 December 2011 she was shot at five times at her home in Ciudad Juárez by an unknown man. According to information received, she was discharged from hospital after a couple of days following death threats directed at the staff treating her. Following this attack, the human rights defender requested protection from the authorities in Chihuahua and she was moved to Mexico City for her safety, where her home location was supposed to be known only to federal and state officials.
Norma Andrade founded NHRC following the abduction, rape, torture and murder of her daughter, Ms Lilia Alejandra Garcia Andrade, in Ciudad Juárez on 14 February 2001. Furthermore, Front Line Defenders issued an urgent appeal concerning another daughter of Norma Andrade, Ms Malú García Andrade, President of NHRC, after she was forced to leave Ciudad Juárez when her home was intentionally set on fire on 16 February 2011.
Front Line Defenders believes that the knife attack against Norma Andrade is directly related to her fight for justice for the murder of her daughter as well as the joint struggle for justice for the killing of women and girls in the State of Chihuahua. Front Line Defenders is seriously concerned for her physical and psychological integrity particularly given that she has been the victim of two violent attacks within two months.
On 2 December 2011, human rights defender Ms Norma Andrade was shot five times in Ciudad Juárez in the State of Chihuahua.
She was hospitalised as a result of injuries sustained, and she is reportedly in a stable condition. Norma Andrade is the founder of Nuestras Hijas de Regreso a Casa – NHRC (May Our Daughters Return Home). Her human rights work focuses on fighting for justice for the victims of femicide and their families in the State of Chihuahua.
On 2 December 2011, at approximately 2pm, Norma Andrade was shot five times on Fernando Pacheco Parra Street in Ciudad Juárez by an unknown man. She sustained injuries to her torso, right shoulder and right hand.
Unknown individuals had reportedly telephoned the school where Norma Andrade works at approximately 8am on the morning of the attack, asking if the human rights defender had already arrived and then asking at what time she would be likely to arrive, and if she would come to work in the afternoon. Upon failing to garner information from the teaching staff, the unidentified callers said that they would be waiting for her outside the school.
Many members of NHRC have filed complaints after receiving threats as a result of their fight against femicide in the State. It is reported that the authorities have failed to effectively investigate these complaints and have failed to bring those responsible to justice.
On 14 February 2001, Ms Lilia Alejandra Garcia Andrade, Norma Andrade's daughter, was abducted, raped, tortured and murdered in Ciudad Juárez. Norma Andrade's other daughter, Ms Malú García Andrade, President of NHRC, was the subject of a Front Line urgent appeal when her home was intentionally set on fire. She subsequently had to leave Ciudad Juárez for her own safety and that of her family.
According to reports, on 30 September 2011, Malú García Andrade received threatening phone calls from an unidentified caller who is reported to have said that the location of the human rights defender and her family had been discovered. A few days later, a close acquaintance of Malú García Andrade was physically assaulted, and the victim was instructed to tell the human rights defender that “le daban doce horas para abandonar la ciudad o de lo contrario asesinarían a sus familiares” (they were giving her 12 hours to leave the city or else they would kill her family members). When reporting these events to the federal and state authorities, Malú García Andrade asked for increased protection for her mother due to the threats that they both faced.
Front Line believes that the shooting of Norma Andrade is directly related to her legitimate work in the defence of human rights, particularly her struggle against femicide in the State of Chihuahua. Front Line remains deeply concerned for the physical and psychological integrity of all human rights defenders in the state of Chihuahua. Front Line believes that the Mexican authorities must show their commitment in the fight against impunity and ensure that the alarming pattern of femicides in the State of Chihuahua, and particularly in Ciudad Juárez, comes to an end and that those working to promote and protect the rights of women and girls are protected.
On 16 February 2011, the home of human rights defender Ms Malú García Andrade was set fire to, reportedly by armed men, as she attended a hunger-strike and protest in front of the offices of the Chihuahua State Attorney General in Júarez.
Malú García Andrade was attending the protest action in support of the families of the disappeared, raped and murdered women of Chihuahua State when she received notice that her home was on fire and that it had reportedly been intentionally lit by armed individuals. Whilst nobody was injured in the blaze, the home of the human rights defender suffered serious damages.
Malú García Andrade's sister, Lilia Alejandra, was abducted, raped, tortured and murdered in Ciudad Júarez in February 2001. Many members of NHRC have filed complaints after receiving threats as a result of their fight against femicide in the State.
In February 2011 a number of attacks have occurred against those fighting for justice over the killings of women: three members of the family of Josefina Reyes, a human rights defender who was killed in January 2010, were abducted on 7 February and remain unaccounted for; on 15 February the home of Sara Reyes, mother of Josefina Reyes, was burned down, just one day prior to the incident at the home of Malú García Andrade.
Front Line believes that the fire attack on the home of Malú García Andrade is directly related to her fight for justice for the murder of her sister in 2001 as well as the joint struggle for justice for the killing of women and girls in Chihuahua State.
Front Line remains deeply concerned for the physical and psychological integrity of all human rights defenders in the state of Chihuahua. Front Line believes that the Mexican authorities must show their commitment in the fight against impunity and ensure that the alarming pattern of femicides in the State of Chihuahua, and particularly in Ciudad Juárez, comes to an end.
