Sunday 23 September 2012

#YoSoy132 activist goes missing in Ensenada, Baja California


The spokesperson for Mexico’s #YoSoy132 pro-democracy youth movement in the port of Ensenada, Baja California, has gone missing. (Update: Aleph Jiménez has since been found alive).

Aleph Jiménez was reported missing to the Attorney General for the state of Baja on Saturday, September 22.

Aleph Jiménez

Jiménez works as a science instructor in the department of physical oceanography at the Center for Scientific Research and Higher Education of Ensenada (Centro de Investigación Científica y de Educación Superior de Ensenada).

According to the state Attorney General’s office, Jiménez was last seen around 4:30 pm on Thursday, September 20 at the Santander bank in Ensenada. He was wearing beige trousers, a white shirt, a camouflaged backpack, and a black and white cap. He is of fair complexion, with green eyes, and may have a beard.

He had previously filed a complaint with the Human Rights Ombudsman, alleging that he and some friends were physically attacked on September 15 during Mexico’s Independence Day celebrations.

A communiqué from the Legal and Human Rights Committee for #YoSoy132 has “urged authorities to present our colleague alive,” adding a request that “public servants from the three levels of government stop the acts or omissions that violate the human rights of members of #YoSoy132 in Ensenada, as well as in the rest of the country.”

The communiqué is notable for the directness of its supposition that the Mexican State, at all levels, bears some responsibility for Jiménez’s safety.

This may be due to the fact that on Tuesday, September 18, Jiménez led a press conference to clarify the events of the night of September 15. During the conference, Jiménez alleged that members of #YoSoy132, journalists, as well as “concerned citizens” were assaulted by members of the Municipal Police.

Demo outside the state Attorney General's office (Photo: Héctor Banda via La Cronica)

This disappearance raises concern that, as president-elect Peña Nieto brings the PRI back to power on December 1st, a “dirty war” against journalists and dissenters is now under way. Though not necessarily orchestrated from Los Pinos (Mexico’s White House), government inaction could act as tacit approval for such repression.

There is widespread concern, for example, regarding the disappearance of the Mexican blogger Ruy Salgado of the “El 5antuario” (The Sanctuary) website. Salgado went missing on Saturday, September 8.

(TE Wilson is the author of Mezcalero, a Detective Sánchez novel.)




Twitter: @TimothyEWilson
Email: lapoliticaeslapolitica [at] gmail [dot] com

N.B.: If you are having difficulty submitting to the e-mail feed at the top of this page, press "enter" on your keyboard instead of the "submit" button.

1 comment:

  1. If my friend who is a Mexican citizen names me, a US citizen on her property as a beneficiary in Baja California, if she were to die would the property then be mine under my name or would it be transferred to the Mexican government?

    hvac school in California

    ReplyDelete