URGENT ACTION

WOMAN HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER DISAPPEARED
Mexican defender Sandra Domínguez and her husband Alexander Hernández are disappeared. Sandra’s relatives reported to the Office of the Attorney General of the state of Oaxaca that Sandra and Alexander were last seen in their home in María Lombardo de Caso, municipality of San Juan Cotzocón, located in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca, on 4 October, 2024. We call on Mexican authorities to take all necessary steps and resources to find defender Sandra Domínguez alive in coordination with their relatives and all the authorities responsible for the search, as well as bring those responsible for the disappearance to justice.

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

Governor Salomón Jara Cruz
State of Oaxaca
Postal Address: Valerio Trujano s/n, Centro Histórico
68000 Oaxaca de Juárez, Oaxaca, Mexico
Email: teresita.villalobos@oaxaca.gob.mx
  
X: @salomonj / @GobOax
Dear Governor,

I am writing to you about Sandra Domínguez, a Mexican indigenous woman, lawyer, and human rights defender, who disappeared on 4 October, 2024. She and her husband Alexander Hernández were last seen then in her home in the state of Oaxaca. According to local authorities, the victims' vehicle was found later in the state of Veracruz, where local authorities and security forces are also searching for Sandra and her husband.

Sandra litigates cases of violence against women. She denounced local authorities sharing sexual images of indigenous women in 2020.

Sandra Domínguez’s relatives reported the disappearance to the authorities on 8 October and are demanding effective and swift search from the authorities to find her alive, as well as guarantee their rights to search.

I therefore urge you to take all necessary steps use all necessary resources to find defender Sandra Domínguez alive, in coordination with their relatives and all the authorities responsible for the search and the investigation, as well as to bring those responsible for the disappearance to justice.

Yours sincerely,

Additional information

Sandra Domínguez is an Ayuuk indigenous defender from Oaxaca, a state located in southern Mexico. She is a lawyer and litigates cases of violence against women. In 2020, she publicly denounced a WhatsApp group where officials of the state of Oaxaca participated. In that chat, sexual images of indigenous women were circulating. Sandra, who was one of the victims whose images were shared, filed a criminal complaint against one of the officials involved in the chat. 
The number of missing and disappeared people remained high in Mexico. In 2024, the National Search Commission (CNB) registered at least 10,228 new denounces of missing and disappeared people. According to official figures, a total of 116,615 people were registered as missing and disappeared between 1952 and October 2024. 
Disappearance drives families, loved ones, and communities to search for their loved ones. Relatives searching for disappeared and missing people faced serious risks, including enforced disappearance, killing, repression and threats. In the report Searching Without Fear: International Standards for protecting women searchers in the Americas, Amnesty International draws on international human rights law to make the case that searching for forcibly disappeared persons is a right. Given that most searchers in the Americas are women, the report also details states’ international obligations to protect against the unique risks, threats, and attacks that, as women, they face.

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

PLEASE TAKE ACTION AS SOON AS POSSIBLE UNTIL: 11 February 2025
Please check with the Amnesty office in your country if you wish to send appeals after the deadline.

NAME AND PREFFERED PRONOUN: Sandra Estéfana Domínguez Martínez (she/her)

LINK TO PREVIOUS UA: n/a

Additional TARGETS

Her Excellency Ms Josefa  Gonzalez Blanco Ortiz Mena
Ambassador Extraordinary & Plenipotentiary
Embassy of Mexico
16 St. George Street, London, W1S 1FD
Switchboard:  020 7499 8586
E-Mail: mexuk@sre.gob.mx
Web Page: http://www.sre.gob.mx/reinounido
Monday-Friday 09.00-13.00 & 14.00-15.00
Salutation: Your Excellency

Sara Irene Herrerías Guerra
Head of the Specialized Human Rights Prosecutor's Office (Titular de la Fiscalía Especializada en materia de Derechos Humanos, FEMDH)
Office of the Attorney General of Mexico
E-mail: sara.herrerias@fgr.org.mx 
Address: Calle Doctor Lucio 135, Colonia Doctores, Cuauhtémoc, C.P. 6720, Mexico City, Mexico
X: @FGRMexico

Teresa Guadalupe Reyes Sahagún
Head of the National Search Commission (Comisión Nacional de Búsqueda, CNB)
E-mail: tgreyes@segob.gob.mx
Address: Camino a Santa Teresa 1679, Jardines del Pedregal, Álvaro Obregón, 01900, Mexico City, Mexico
X: @Busqueda_MX

Brenda Cerón Chagoya
Head of the State Search Commission Veracruz
E-mail: bceron@veracruz.gob.mx 
Address: Calle Revolución 11, interior 102, Zona Centro, Centro 91000 Xalapa-Enríquez, Veracruz
X: @cebver

Verónica Hernández Giadáns
Attorney General of Veracruz
E-mail: buzon@fiscaliaveracruz.gob.mx 
contacto@fiscaliaveracruz.gob.mx 
Address: Circuito Rafael Guízar y Valencia No. 707
Colonia Reserva Territorial C.P. 91096
Xalapa, Veracruz
X: @FGE_Veracruz