These days mark the second anniversary of the disappearance of human rights lawyer Ricardo Arturo Lagunes Gasca and community leader Antonio Diaz Valencia. Their families and representatives, civil society organizations, friends, collectives and academics called for global action to demand their return alive, truth, and justice.
In a statement for which they are collecting signatures, they point out that the two environmentalists were victims of enforced disappearance on January 15, 2023. They had won lawsuits that would allow them to defend the indigenous community of Aquila and set the agenda for a mining development of Latin America’s largest steel company Ternium at the Aquila mine in Michoacán, Mexico. Since then, they have not been heard from and their loved ones continue to demand that they be found and presented alive.
According to the document, the disappearance of Ricardo and Antonio is a symbol of the violence against human rights defenders in Mexico. They point out that since the defenders disappeared, numerous clandestine graves were found with hundreds of bodies and remains that are still unidentified. This is in addition to the more than 72,000 unidentified bodies. The case for the disappearance of Ricardo and Antonio remains without significant progress to investigate, prosecute, and punish all those intellectually and materially responsible for this terrible crime.
Sign Two Years Without Ricardo and Antonio: Global Action Against Impunity! (Google Docs)