URGENT ACTION
WOMAN DISAPPEARED AMID POSSIBLE FEMICIDE
Cecilia Strzyzowski (28 years old) has been missing since June 1. She was last seen with her husband, César Sena, in Resistencia, Province of Chaco, Argentina. Her disappearance is being investigated as a femicide after possible human bones, blood traces and pieces of clothing were found at two properties belonging to Sena’s family who are powerful local leaders and were pre-candidates for the recent provincial elections. As a part of the investigation, César Sena and his parents have been detained. We demand an effective, impartial, independent, timely and gender-sensitive investigation to establish the truth about the disappearance and possible femicide of Cecilia Strzyzowksi.

TAKE ACTION: WRITE AN APPEAL IN YOUR OWN WORDS OR USE THIS MODEL LETTER

Jorge Cáceres Olivera
Investigating Prosecutor N°4
Chaco Province Public Prosecutor’s Office 
Email: equipofiscal4.rcia@justiciachaco.gov.ar

Dear Jorge Cáceres Olivera,

I am writing to express my deep concern about Cecilia Strzyzowksi who has disappeared since 1 June, from the Province of Chaco and whose case has so far led to the arrest of her husband César Sena and his parents, members of a powerful local political family.

Cecilia’s disappearance is being investigated as a femicide after possible human bones, blood traces and pieces of clothing were found at two properties belonging to the family of César Sena and the crime is allegedly set to have occurred as a part of an episode involving gender-based violence. 

After a month of not knowing Cecilia’s whereabouts, it is of the utmost importance that the prosecution team ensures all available legal actions are taken to establish what happened to Cecilia, in an effective and timely manner.

In Argentina, as in the rest of the Americas, there is a pattern of systematic impunity in judicial prosecution and proceedings in cases of violence against women since most of these cases lack effective investigation, punishment and reparation. Given this reality, it is essential that the judiciary adopt all the resources at its disposal to advance the investigation as a matter of urgency, break the cycle of impunity, ensure that the lives of women and girls are protected and ensure that cases of gender-based violence are addressed in line with national, regional and international human rights standards. On the same line, there must be appropriate accessible protective mechanisms to prevent further and potential gender-based violence, and effective reparation must be available to victims.

I urge you  that the investigation for Cecilia’s disappearance and possible femicide is carried out in accordance with legal standards that seek to address all forms of violence against women; due diligence is ensured throughout the investigation; urgent, thorough, effective, truly independent and impartial, timely and gender-sensitive investigation is conducted to shed light on the facts and convicts those responsible; and the victim’s family members are meaningfully involved in the search and all phases of the criminal process. We urge you to send an unequivocal message that gender-based violence will not be tolerated and will not go unpunished.

Best regards, 

Additional information

Cecilia Strzyzowksi’s disappearance is being investigated as a femicide after possible human bones, blood traces and pieces of clothing were found at two properties belonging to the family of César Sena, Cecilia’s husband. On 27Th of June 2023, after a search in the Tragadero River, next to the farm of the couple Emerenciano Sena and Marcela Acuña, César’s parents, human skeletal remains were found, according to the report of the experts at the Forensic Medical Institute of the Judiciary of Chaco. In addition to this, tactical divers found a pendant inside of a bag that could be Cecilia's. 
César Sena and his parents, who are powerful local leaders and were pre-candidates for the recent provincial elections, have been detained and are being charged for the murder of Cecilia. César Sena has been charged with aggravated murder for his close relationship with Cecilia and for the crime being allegedly committed during a gender-based violence episode, which would make it a femicide. Meanwhile, his parents are facing accusations of aggravated murder for premeditation as co-conspirators. Four other people have been indicted under suspicion of being involved in the alleged murder or in hiding the body.
In Argentina one case of femicide was registered every 35 hours in 2022. 167 out of the 252 deaths occurred in contexts of violence in the domestic sphere. The province of Chaco is the province with the second highest femicide rate, according to information from the National Registry of Femicides of the Argentinean Justice.
Recognizing this as a concerning human rights situation, several States have made recommendations to Argentina to strengthen the fight against gender-based violence and allocate the necessary resources to bring perpetrators of femicide to justice in its latest United Nation’s Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review.

PREFERRED LANGUAGE TO ADDRESS TARGET: Spanish
You can also write in your own language.

PLEASE TAKE ACTION AS SOON AS POSSIBLE UNTIL: 28 August 2023
Please check with the Amnesty office in your country if you wish to send appeals after the deadline.

NAME AND PREFFERED PRONOUN: Cecilia Strzyzowksi (She, her)

LINK TO PREVIOUS UA: n/a

Additional TARGETS

Special Prosecutor team:

- Jorge Fernando Gómez (Chamber Criminal Prosecutor of Judicial Chamber of Resistencia, province of Chaco): fiscalia.camcrimen1.rcia@justiciachaco.gov.ar

- Nelia Velazquez (Prosecutor specializing in gender violence): equipofiscal5.rcia@justiciachaco.gov.ar 
- Ayelen Mazzina (Ministry of Women, Gender and Diversities) privada@mingeneros.gob.ar

Mr Javier Esteban Figueroa  
Embassy of the Argentine Republic   
65 Brook Street, London, W1K 4AH   
Fax: 020 7318 1301   
Emails: info@argentine-embassy-uk.org