Miriam Rodríguez Martínez
Miriam Rodríguez Martínez | |
|---|---|
| Died | 10 May 2017  San Fernando |
Miriam Rodríguez Martínez (circa 1967 - 10 May 2017, San Fernando, Tamaulipas, Mexico) is a Mexican human rights activist. She became a parent of "Missing Child Parents" after her daughter was abducted and killed. Miriam was killed by militants who broke into her home on May 10, 2017.[1]
Life
Miriam Elizabeth Rodríguez Martínez lived in the San Fernando community in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. She was killed on May 10, 2017, the day when Mexico celebrates Mother's Day. She was injured severely and died on the way to hospital.[2] Tamaulipas is one of Mexico's most violent states. According to government data, it has the largest number of people missing in the country.[3]
Rodríguez's daughter, Karen Alejandra Salinas Rodríguez, disappeared in 2012.[4] In 2014, she found her daughter's body.[5] Rodríguez kept searching for nearly two years, until 2014, when her daughter's body was found in the tomb of an unknown. She then told authorities about the murder of her daughter. Some of the men arrested for her daughter's case have escaped prison after their arrest.[4] Rodríguez said in interviews that she received death threats from criminal organizations and local authorities were not protecting her.[3] Along with finding her daughter, she was making efforts to help other parents whose children had disappeared, and from it came the Colectivo de Desaparecidos (The Vanished Collective) organization.
On May 10, 2017, a group of militants broke into Rodríguez's home and killed her. She was shot 12 times and died immediately.
In solidarity with her, protesters raised their voices in protest the day she was killed, calling on the Mexican and U.S. governments to ensure the safety of human rights defenders.[6]
References
- ^ "Mexican woman who uncovered cartel murder of daughter shot dead". The Guardian. 12 May 2017. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
- ^ "La trágica historia de la madre que fue ejecutada luego de encontrar a los asesinos de su hija". Infobae (in European Spanish). 10 May 2019. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
- ^ a b "Gunmen Kill Mexican Activist for Parents of Missing Children". nytimes. 12 May 2017. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
- ^ a b Villegas, Paulina (2017-05-12). "Gunmen Kill Mexican Activist for Parents of Missing Children". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-03-08.
- ^ "Obituary: Miriam Rodríguez Martínez died on May 10th". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 2020-03-08.
- ^ "Justice for Miriam Rodriguez". Retrieved 9 March 2020.