Breathe
By Gabriela Sotomayor
Lilia Alejandra García Andrade was born August 31, 1983 in Ciudad Juárez, daughter of Norma Esther Andrade and José García Pineda. She had a daughter Jade Tikva, 1 year 8 months old and a son José Kaleb, 5 months 15 days old.
On February 14, 2001, Lilia Alejandra disappeared after leaving work on her way home. For seven days there was no information until February 21 when her body was found in a vacant lot with signs of physical and sexual torture. On February 22nd the authorities began investigating the case. In 2003 her father died of cancer and Norma has taken care of Alejandra's children and is seeking justice for her daughter.
For 23 years, yes, you read that right, 23 years, the Mexican authorities have dedicated themselves to unjustifiably delaying the investigation to clarify this crime, which is related to other femicides of girls committed in Ciudad Juarez, which has been identified due to the genetic profiles obtained from the analysis of the biological remains recovered from Alejandra's body.
According to the above, it was determined that the genetic profile of at least one of Alejandra's aggressors coincided with the genetic profile of the aggressor of 3 more girls that occurred in 1995, 1996 and 2005, as well as that of another girl, which coincided in terms of the modus operandi in 1994.
Throughout these years, the authorities opened 8 lines of investigation; however, the lack of due diligence did not allow them to be closed based on objective criteria. In 2008, after reviewing again some evidence found at the scene of the discovery, it was possible to link, based on a genetic sample, a man related to a policeman assigned to the homicide area of the Chihuahua State Attorney General's Office as one of Lilia Alejandra's assailants. Despite this, and due to the lack of justice, Norma's lawyers appealed to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR).
In these 23 years, Norma has taken full responsibility for her grandchildren Jade and José Kaleb, and at the same time has undertaken a tireless struggle to seek justice and truth for her daughter. On this path and from her painful experience, she has become an activist for the defense of women's human rights in Mexico, accompanying several families searching for their missing daughters or demanding justice for their murdered daughters.
The ongoing denunciation of impunity in cases of femicide and the corruption of the authorities who failed to investigate the case has meant that Norma, as well as her lawyer and attorney, have suffered harassment and threats for some time.
In particular, in the case of Norma, she has suffered two attempts on her life and has been a victim of forced displacement: On December 2, 2011, a man shot her six times outside her home, in front of her granddaughter; after this serious attack, she moved with Jade and Kaleb to Mexico City, believing that she would be safe there. However, on February 3, 2012, a man stabbed her in the neck when she was at the door of her new home after dropping her grandson off at school.
In none of the investigations initiated for both attacks, the authorities were able to identify the perpetrators. Strange.
The case of Lilia Alejandra before the IACHR involves first, the multiple omissions, negligence and irregularities that began from the moment of Lilia Alejandra's disappearance and that have been prolonged due to the lack of an investigation with due diligence, which has led to the case remaining in impunity for more than 23 years. The same as 99% of femicides in which the perpetrators are not brought to justice in Mexico.
Second, the Mexican State has not implemented adequate protection measures to safeguard Norma's life and integrity; third, the lack of investigation and punishment of the attack, threats and acts of harassment suffered by Norma; fourth, the absence of protection measures with a differential approach for Alejandra's daughter and son, who in addition to facing the loss of their mother, have also suffered serious psychological effects after the attacks to which their grandmother was a victim, as well as the forced displacement to Mexico City.
On November 14, Norma Andrade presented her case at the Graduate Institute (Maison de la Paix) in Geneva, Switzerland, where the documentary film directed by Brigitte Leoni, about her tireless search for justice, was screened. It should be remembered that in Mexico, according to the National Registry of Missing and Unaccounted for Persons until August 8, 2024 (since 1950), there are 116,386 "missing and unaccounted for" persons, of which 89,121 are men; 26,749 are women, many of them girls and teenagers and 516 victims are of undefined sex. In addition, it is estimated that at least every year, in the last decade, three thousand children and teenagers are orphaned by femicides. But only 238 minors have the support of the Mexican State.
Given this situation, what is absolutely incomprehensible is why the case of femicides and violence against women in Mexico is not part of the agenda of the UN Human Rights Council. It is a moral debt that the Council, and above all the UN, owes to the victims of this inhuman crime.
The opinions expressed are the responsibility of the authors and are absolutely independent of the position and editorial line of the company. Opinion 51.
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