Sandra Luz Hernández

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Sandra Luz Hernández
Born1960
Mexico
Died12 May 2014(2014-05-12) (aged 53–54)
Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico
Cause of death
Gunshot wounds
OccupationMadre buscadora
Years active2012–2014

Sandra Luz Martínez Hernández[a] (1960–2014) was a Mexican human rights activist and madre buscadora. A member of Madres con hijos desaparecidos (lit. 'Mothers with Disappeared Children'), she was murdered while searching for her missing son, Édgar García Hernández, in Sinaloa.

Activism

In February 2012, Hernández's son, Édgar, disappeared after he was abducted by armed individuals who had broken into his home. Édgar worked for Marco Antonio Higuera Gómez, then serving as Attorney General of Sinaloa.[2]

Two years after Édgar's disappearance, Hernández began her own investigation to find him, while also holding public protests about the authorities' inaction in searching for him. She joined Madres con hijos desaparecidos, a collective of women whose children had disappeared, which campaigned against impunity regarding the disappearances of young people in Mexico.[3][4][5]

Hernández publicly said to both the press and authorities that she believed Gabriel and Joel Valenzuela Valenzuela were involved in Edgar's disappearance and had information about his whereabouts. She publicly called on Governor of Sinaloa Mario López Valdez and Gerardo Vargas Landeros, the general secretary of the Government of Sinaloa, to demand they be summoned for interview; the men were never summoned.[1]

Murder and investigation

On 12 May 2014, Hernández attended a meeting with staff from the Sinaloa Attorney General's office. She later received a telephone call instructing her to meet with an informant in the Benito Juárez neighbourhood of Culiacán. Accompanied by another activist, she arrived at the designated location at 16:00, following which she was shot at least 15 times by a man, who then fled the scene.[5][6]

On 20 May, the Attorney General of Sinaloa announced that Jesús Fernando Rodríguez Valenzuela, a 25-year-old man, had been arrested in relation to Hernández's murder. It said that he had committed the murder for "personal reasons" and that the shooting was unrelated to Hernández's work as an activist and madre buscadora, with Valenzuela being reported to be an acquaintance of Hernández's son Édgar. The state prosecutor alleged that, following Hernández's "pressure" on her son's friends during her investigation into his disappearance, Valenzuela had "panicked" and killed her. It was reported that Rodríguez Valenzuela's car had been seen by a witness close to the crime scene, and that he had led investigators to where he disposed of the gun used in the shooting.[7]

On 21 May, the prosecutor stated that Rodríguez Valenzuela had linked Édgar to the kidnapping and murder of a person in 2012 in order to steal 120,000 USD from them. It was alleged by human rights groups that the prosecutor's statement linking Édgar to criminality was done to "criminalise" Hernández and her search for her son.[8]

On 13 March 2015, Rodríguez Valenzuela was acquitted by the Ninth Criminal Court in Culiacán due to a lack of evidence and "negligence in due process". His lawyer also stated that Rodríguez Valenzuela had experienced arbitrary detention and had been kept in "unsanitary" conditions.[1]

Legacy

Two days after Hernández's murder, the federal Secretariat of the Interior issued a statement urging Governor López Valdez to conduct a "thorough investigation" into her death, stating it "would not rest" until Hernández's killer had been brought to justice.[8]

Red TDT, an association of 84 Mexican human rights organisations, issued a statement condemning Hernández's murder and demanding justice, while expressing solidarity with her family.[5] The Mexican Commission for the Defence and Promotion of Human Rights also released a statement calling on authorities to investigate both Hernández's murder and also the disappearance of her son.[6] The Executive Commission for Attention to Victims lamented Hernández's death, and commented on the intimidation, violence and attacks suffered by activists trying to help the victims of enforced disappearances and murders, as well as to achieve justice for them.[4]

The National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) initiated its own investigation into Hernández's death, which it shared with the Attorney General of Sinaloa. It requested local authorities provide "precautionary measures" for Hernández's family.[9]

Notes

  1. In this Mexican name, the surname is Martínez and the second or maternal family name is Hernández. By her own choice, Hernández was known by her second surname.[1]

References

  1. Vizcarra, Marcos (16 November 2015). ""Sandra, 24 horas antes de morir"" ["Sandra, 24 hours before she died"]. Noroeste (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 21 June 2026. Retrieved 21 June 2026.
  2. Díaz, Gloria Leticia (14 May 2014). "Indigna asesinato de madre que buscaba a su hijo en Sinaloa; ONG exigen justicia" [Outrage over the murder of a mother searching for her son in Sinaloa; NGOs demand justice]. Proceso (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 21 June 2026. Retrieved 21 June 2026.
  3. "Sandra Luz Hernandez". HRD Memorial (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 17 June 2020. Retrieved 21 June 2026.
  4. "Condena la CEAV el asesinato de la activista Sandra Luz Hernández; exige a las autoridades una investigación puntual y efectiva" [The CEAV condemns the murder of activist Sandra Luz Hernández; it demands a thorough and effective investigation by the authorities.]. Gobierno de México (in Spanish). 13 May 2014. Archived from the original on 29 July 2018. Retrieved 21 June 2026.
  5. "Condenamos el asesinato de Sandra Hernández, defensora de derechos humanos y madre de persona desaparecida" [We condemn the murder of Sandra Hernández, human rights defender and mother of a disappeared person.]. Red TDT (in Spanish). 14 May 2014. Archived from the original on 21 June 2026. Retrieved 21 June 2026.
  6. Avilés, Eva (14 May 2014). "CMDPDH condena el asesinato de Sandra Luz Hernández en Culiacán, Sinaloa" [CMDPDH condemns the murder of Sandra Luz Hernández in Culiacán, Sinaloa]. Comisión Mexicana de Defensa y Promoción de los Derechos Humanos (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 21 June 2026. Retrieved 21 June 2026.
  7. Valdez, Cynthia (20 May 2014). "Cae presunto asesino de la activista en Sinaloa" [Suspected killer of activist arrested in Sinaloa]. Milenio (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 21 June 2026. Retrieved 21 June 2026.
  8. ""Silencian a Sandra Luz"" ["Sandra Luz is silenced"]. Noroeste (in Spanish). 15 November 2015. Archived from the original on 21 June 2026. Retrieved 21 June 2026.
  9. "Indaga la CNDH el homicidio de la activista Sandra Luz Hernández" [The National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) is investigating the murder of activist Sandra Luz Hernández]. La Jornada (in Spanish). 22 May 2014. Archived from the original on 21 June 2026. Retrieved 21 June 2026.