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Miroslava Breach Case

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Journalist Miroslava Breach was murdered on March 23, 2017. Even though two men have been convicted for the crime, there are two arrest warrants still pending: one against the intellectual author of Miroslava’s murder and the current leader of the drug trafficking group “Los Salazar”, and another against a material author of her murder.

Miroslava Breach Velducea was a journalist who covered narco-politics issues and serious human rights violations, including forced displacements of several communities in the Sierra Tarahumara, and the other communities’ opposition to the exploitation of their water resources by private companies. Miroslava was working as a correspondent for the newspaper La Jornada when she was murdered in Chihuahua on March 23, 2017, while she was in her car, preparing to take one of her children to school.

The first declarations by the state authorities connected the crime to “narcopolitics.” Months after her murder, the possible participation of political actors was discarded as a line of investigation, attributing the crime exclusively to a drug trafficking group. For 10 months, the Fiscalía de Chihuahua (Chihuahua Prosecutor’s Office) denied Miroslava’s sisters access to the investigation, arguing that they were not victims or offended parties of the crime.

While the case remained within the local jurisdiction, the authorities refused to open lines of investigation into public officials of the current administration who may have been involved in Miroslava’s murder. Thanks to legal action taken by Propuesta Cívica, on January 12, 2018, almost ten months after the homicide, Miroslava’s siblings were able to gain partial access to the investigation. Furthermore, in April of the same year, the investigation was brought under the jurisdiction of the Federal Government and the Fiscalía Especial para la Atención de Delitos cometidos contra la Libertad de Expresión (FEADLE) (Special Prosecutor’s Office for Attention to Crimes Committed against Freedom of Expression), where it remains to this day.

In March 2020, three years after the crime, Juan Carlos Moreno, alias “El Larry,” was sentenced in the first instance to the minimum sentence of 50 years in prison as a material co-perpetrator in Miroslava’s murder, and the judge acknowledged the link between the murder and Miroslava’s work as a journalist. The sentence was increased to 51 years and 3 months in the second instance.

Another important development in the case was the arrest of Hugo Amed Schultz Alcaraz, former mayor of Chínipas, a small town in the state of Chihuahua, where Miroslava was from. On June 15, 2021, he was sentenced to 8 years in prison, thanks to the collaboration between Propuesta Cívica and the FEADLE. Schultz Alcaraz’s participation in Miroslava’s murder was proven, due to the context analysis presented where the links of several politicians with organized crime actors operating in the area were proven. Additionally, Miroslava’s journalistic works, in which she mentioned the former mayor and his links with drug trafficking, were also taken into account.

At this time, it is pending that the Fiscalía General de República (Attorney General’s Office) execute two arrest warrants, one against the intellectual author of Miroslava’s murder and the current leader of the drug trafficking group “Los Salazar,” and another against a material author of her murder.

Miroslava’s case is being heard before the Federal Courts of Justice. Simultaneously, the case is being supervised by the Protection Mechanism for Human Rights Defenders and Journalists to ensure the protection of Miroslava’s family; and the Executive Commission for Attention to Victims (CEAV), so that they may have access to comprehensive reparation for the violations against them. On the other hand, the investigation remains open before the Attorney General’s Office, specifically, before the FEADLE.

In recognition of the important work of journalists in Mexico and the need to end impunity for crimes against them, the international community created the Premio Breach / Valdez de Periodismo y Derechos Humanos (Breach/Valdez Journalism and Human Rights Award). This was also done as a posthumous tribute to Miroslava and another journalist murdered in Mexico on May 15, 2017.

Freedom of expression in Mexico is at serious risk. Since 2000, 159 journalists and media workers have been murdered. 2020 reported a 45% increase in the number of attacks against journalists, and a total of 7 journalists killed. In 2021, Article 19 recorded an aggression against the press every 14 hours; with 644 attacks documented throughout the year, and seven journalists murdered.

Human Rights Watch has pointed out that “Mexico is one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists, on par with war zones like Syria and Afghanistan in terms of number of journalists killed, the Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders say.” The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has documented high impunity levels in Mexico.

Also of concern is the stigmatizing and delegitimizing discourse from the highest authorities of the State, questioning, for example, the origin of their funding and accusing them of belonging to the “conservative movement.” Lately, these accusations have been made against organizations such as Article 19, and others critical of President López Obrador’s administration, such as La 72, Home-Shelter for migrant people, or the Centro Mexicano de Derecho Ambiental (CEMDA).

Reporters Without Borders is also supporting the case