The forced disappearance of activist Claudia Uruchurtu Cruz, which occurred in the municipality of Asunción Nochixtlán, Oaxaca, is about to complete two years on March 26th of 2023. During these long months the search for justice has been a struggle undertaken by Claudia’s family and friends. For the first time they have achieved indictment for the crime of forced disappearance against municipal authorities in office.
In the context of the hearing being held today in the courts of Tanivet, the Committee for the Integral Defense of Human Rights Gobixha A.C. maintains the demand for justice for Claudia and calls for the Judiciary of the State of Oaxaca, to act in accordance with the law and guarantee the human rights of the activist so that this case is not one more in which impunity and human rights violations prevail.
On Friday, March 26th of 2021, Claudia Uruchurtu participated in a protest in front of the town hall building in Nochixtlán, Oaxaca, where she was subsequently, forcibly, and violently removed by several subjects who forced her into a van, according to witnesses.
Following the investigation of the case, an arrest warrant was executed against the acting municipal president, Lizbeth Victoria Huerta, for whose sentence the crime was reclassified as obstruction of the law, sentencing her to four years and two months in prison. In view of this, the federal government announced that the sentence would be challenged in order to avoid acts of impunity.
Those of us who defend human rights will continue to be vigilant in this case so that justice reaches Claudia Uruchurtu promptly and expeditiously.