Reuters - A Mexican activist who led protests against the unsolved killings of hundreds of women in Ciudad Juarez has herself been murdered. Susana Chavez was found strangled and with one hand cut off in Ciudad Juarez last week, but has only now been identified.
Ms Chavez tried to draw attention to the killing of mainly poor women in the border town in the 1990s.
Officials say her murder was not related to her activism.
The Chihuahua State Attorney General's Office said she was killed by three teenagers high on drugs, who cut off her hand to make it look like the murder was connected to organised crime.
Wave of killings
Ms Chavez, 36, coined the slogan "Not One More Death", which became popular at protests against the Ciudad Juarez killings and the failure of the police to solve them.
More than 300 women were murdered in Ciudad Juarez in a wave of violence which started in 1993 and lasted for a decade.
There is no generally accepted motive for the murders.
They have been variously attributed to serial killers, drug cartels and domestic violence. Some of the killings are believed to have been sexually motivated.
Ms Chavez was active in an organisation called May Our Daughters Return Home, which represents the families and friends of the killed women.
But Attorney General for Chihuahua State Carlos Manuel Salas says her death was the result of an "unfortunate encounter" with the teenagers, who got involved in an argument with Ms Chavez and strangled her.
Human rights group Amnesty International said that although her murder did not seem to be related to her activisim, Ms Chavez's killing was another sign that violence against women was again on the rise in Ciudad Juarez.
Ciudad Juarez is the most violent city in Mexico, with 3,100 people killed in 2010 out of a population of more than a million.
I heard this 2 days back. actually what was surprising to me, as reported, she was actually partying with the teens when a conflict developed and led to her death. The fact that the teens dismembered her hand to appear the murder was organized crime involvement, is what I read also. The story I read had pics of three male teens supposedly responsible for her death..
ReplyDeleteHer death only proves that Juarez remains the same, controlled by nasty people and supported by the government.
ReplyDeletethere is a great award winning documentary about these murders called senorita extraviada. it shows the victim's parents and gives explicit accounts on these murders.
ReplyDeleteone story tells of a young girl who was kidnapped on her way home from a maquiladora. she was kidnapped on the dark streets of juarez by local policias, blindfolded and taken to a safehouse where she was drugged and raped inside a room continuously for about 5 days by many different men. once she looked beat up they killed her and disposed her nude body in a desert on the outskirts of juarez.
another story, a mom went to a police station to get information on her missing daughter but was told to leave by the police but she was persistent and kept returning so a crooked policia took her into a room and showed her a photo album full of pictures of naked young girls being raped while a group of men stood above them laughing. then he showed her a picture of a girl getting burned and told her that if she talked, this would happen to her too. an excerpt of this video is on you tube(senorita extraviada).
people say that many of these girls were kidnapped by the policias who were paid by rich business men from juarez and tijuana who did this as some sick game of pleasure. these men would use their power and money to infiltrate inside the maquiladoras and they would hire other young girls to become friends with new pretty naive workers inside the maquiladoras. then they would invite them to a house party just to be set up, raped, tortured and murdered.
kind of reminds me of the chapter miss sinaloa from the charles bowden book, murder city
"mexico lindo"
that makes my stomach turn Ajulio... I don't know if i could sit through that documentary, however these are very important stories to tell, because if the world doesn't know about, its as if it never happened.
ReplyDeleteThe headline should rather read, 3 teenagers, tortured and forced to confess the murder of the beloved Ms. Chavez. I'm more than sure that is what happen or at least wouldn't surprise me if it did.
ReplyDelete@ Ajulio
ReplyDeletejeeze I remember that chapter very well Miss Sinaloa...beautiful Miss Sinaloa and the nut house.
this link is in line with the first article I read about the case.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/laplaza/2011/01/activist-death-ciudad-juarez-susana-chavez-marisela-escobedo.html
I suspect many of the female homicides in Juarez are linked to organized crimes that commit these acts as initiations for new cartel members. Once initiated in this manner, new recruits can’t turn back. They become enforcers capable of performing unspeakable violence and cruelty. I also suspect corrupt police go through the same initiation.
ReplyDelete@ buela
ReplyDeleteyeah, it's a great book. i love charles bowden. he's got some great interviews on you tube.
i actually found out about the book through you. you recommended it to a person in one of your comments. murder city and the last narco. i went to barnes and noble the next day and bought both books.
I read an interesting point on the Juarez murders a few months ago, basically saying the Juarez cartel, and Vicente Carrillo Fuentes are either directly responsible, or at he the very minimal know/knew what was going on. Kinda makes me think less of that group. Does anyone think if women were being murdered in Tijuana or Culican, the respective plaza leaders would not AT LEAST know who was responsible? They would have to be allowing it to happen.
ReplyDeleteVery true, the juarez cartel is known for being ruthless. But before the military and el chapo invaded, there was no war on the streets. Money was flowing through juarez. Life in juarez was normal(at least for mexico standards). Many women were being murdered though and no one was doing anything about it. But there were no massacres at family parties and rehabs or killings of americans.
ReplyDeleteI had met narcos who worked for the juarez cartel and they were laid back. They were just in it to make money and since la linea ruled back then, there wasn't much gang violence. Juarez people also respected americans. But now, things are crazy. No one is safe in juarez.
The ones who are really nasty are the aztecas. They are connected to many of the violent crimes in juarez. They are the ones who are very ruthless.
The point I was making wasn't about the massacres at the parties or rehabs, thats between Linea and GN. The hundreds of murdered women are what I was referring to, if that was happening in Tijuana, in the nineties, or even now, whoever was in charge of the plaza would know who it was. So, I am saying, Juarez cartel either knew of, and didn't stop, or sanctioned the murders. Why, or for what purpose, I have no idea. But, they knew what was going on, and who was doing it.
ReplyDelete@ j
ReplyDeletei got you j. they knew a lot of things but they did'nt know everything. they were involved themselves in some of these(or many of these) crimes. if money was involved, the juarez cartel had to of known somehow. but these crimes were also committed by abdul sharif(an accused rapist and violent offender), an egyptian-american chemist who fled to juarez and worked at a maquiladora. no one knows how many he killed but it was many young girls. he eventually tried to violate a woman(i believe a prostitute) in his car but she fought back and whooped his ass, escaped and they finally caught him. he eventually died in a juarez maximum security prison.
the city blamed many of the deaths on a street gang called los rebeldes but they claimed to have been set up and tortured in confessing to the crimes. other murders were believed to have been done by serial killers in both juarez and el paso and copy-cat killers. some of these girls were also prostitutes killed by their clients and policias. many said that the maquiladora bus drivers were also involved in some murders. many of these women had their nipples ripped off and were connected to one type of killer(or killers).
so the cartel knew some things but it was too sporadic and messy for la linea to have control of knowledge. before the war, juarez was declared the serial killers playground becuase of all of these pleasure killings.
people can get almost any info about these incidents by checking out this website:
http://www.lavc.edu/library/bib-women_of_c._juarez.htm
It's difficult to believe that the explanations offered even come close to accounting for half the deaths, there were hundreds. I mean, the most prolific serial killers in history don't have hundred plus victims, most don't even have 50. 50 is a lot of killing, for one man, or one group, so if you spread that by three, Los Rebeldos, and two separate serial killers, with 50 each, you get 150.
ReplyDeleteMaybe there is no darker, more sinister, expansive conspiracy, that explains everything, could be it's just about as documented. But, I don't really believe it. As far as the Juarez cartel's involvement, I may be going out on a limb here, but if something like this was happening in Tijuana, even with Inge's limited control, I don't think mass murder would happen for long, unless the cartel was behind it, or encouraging it, if they like most of us, are repulsed by sex murders and rapists, the perpetrators would be dealt with. Why did Juarez stand by, and let there city become a 'serial killers playground'?
I'm not saying I necessarily believe that it was some organ trafficking ring, or a 'thrill kill' 'Hostel' sort of thing, but there is more information out there. Powerful, or once powerful people in that city know the answers.
@ Ajulio
ReplyDeleteI have seen the Bowden interviews on you tube. He is an interesting guy.
That's great you bought the books, another is MEXICO Narco-Violence and A Failed State? by George Grayson. the best reference indepth researched book on Narco Violence I have read to date.
Just cracked opened "The Daughters of Juarez" will see how that goes..