Article written by Liz Ford, Lejla Medanhodzic and Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah for The Guardian. Published on Sunday, November 29, 2015
Nine female activists who died in 2015
Nadia Vera, Mexico: died July 31, 2015
Nadia Vera was found dead in her flat in Mexico City. She had been raped, tortured and shot in the head alongside four other people, including three women and a male journalist, Rubén Espinosa. She was the 36th female human rights defender to be killed in Mexico since 2010. Vera campaigned against attacks on journalists and the selling of oil reserves. Her activism led to death threats, prompting her move from Xalapa, the capital of Veracruz, to Mexico City last year.
“Nadia’s death shows that there is no safe place for the defenders of human rights who face threats or violence. That’s how serious the human rights crisis has become”, says Atziri Ávila, coordinator of the National Network of Human Rights Defenders of Mexico.
Francela Méndez, El Salvador: died May 31, 2015
Francela Méndez defended the rights of the transgender community in El Salvador. She was part of the board of Colectivo Alejandría (Alejandría Collective), which promotes the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in the country. She was also involved in implementing a programme to address HIV, tuberculosis and malaria, and a member of the Salvadoran Human Rights Defenders Network as well. Méndez was killed in a friend’s house in Sonsonate, outside San Salvador. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights condemned the killing.
Intisar al-Hasairi, Libya: died February 24, 2015
Intisar al-Hasairi and her aunt were found dead in the boot of a car in Tripoli. Both of them were shot.
Al-Hasairi was the co-founder of the Tanweer Movement, a group that promotes peace and culture in Libya. She was involved in pro-democracy protests in the country.
Joan Kagezi, Uganda: died March 30, 2015
Joan Kagezi, a Ugandan lawyer and prosecutor, was shot dead on her way home from work. She headed the directorate of public prosecutions in the international crimes and anti-terrorism division. At the time of her death, Kagezi was the lead prosecutor in a trial involving 13 men accused of being involved in an al-Shabaab terrorist attack. She also helped prosecute Thomas Kwoyelo, a former commander of the Lord’s Resistance Army, for murder and kidnapping. “Her death ended what some lawyers described as one of the most brilliant and fearless top-notch criminal prosecuting careers”, wrote the Observer newspaper in Kampala at the time of her death.
Sabeen Mahmud, Pakistan: died April 24, 2015
Sabeen Mahmud was shot dead in her car after leaving an event in Karachi with her mother. She was one of Pakistan’s most prominent human rights activists, and the director of a pioneering cafe and community arts space called T2F (originally The Second Floor). On the evening she was killed, T2F hosted an event highlighting the cases of those in Balochistan who were considered to have “disappeared”, allegedly at the hands of the Pakistani government. Mahmud had received death threats – she was not afraid of rocking the boat or taking on religious fundamentalists. “This was a woman who glued wires at home, discussed Urdu poetry, played cricket, attended every progressive political demonstration in Karachi, sang all of Pink Floyd’s songs, and together with me, she was part of the geek-squad for life,” her friend, the novelist Kamila Shamsie, wrote after her death.
Norma Angélica Bruno Román, Mexico: died February 13, 2015
Norma Angélica Bruno Román was killed in front of her children on her way to the funeral of another young activist.
She was a member of a group in Iguala that helped families whose relatives disappeared.
Catherine Han Montoya, US: died April 13, 2015
Catherine Han Montoya, who campaigned for civil and human rights, was killed in her home in Atlanta. She championed the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, as well as immigrants and female Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders. She co-founded the Southeast Immigrant Rights Network. Montoya worked for the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, which paid tribute to her as “an extraordinarily talented leader and skilled organizer who devoted her life to empowering people, including immigrants, communities of color, and LGBTQ individuals and their families. Her legacy consists of unity and opportunity bridges built between inter-ethnic communities”.
Losana McGowan, Fiji: died April 4, 2015
Losana McGowan, a journalist and women’s rights activist, was killed at home. Her partner was charged with her murder. McGowan combined her work as a journalist, reporting for the Fiji Times and the Fiji Broadcasting Corporation, with her activism for the Fiji Women’s Crisis Center and Fiji Women’s Rights Movement, which aimed at changing the laws that discriminated against women. She was recently named the media and communications coordinator for the Secretariat of the Pacific Community. Her death has prompted calls for greater action to tackle violence against women.
Angiza Shinwari, Afghanistan: died February 16, 2015
Angiza Shinwari had recently started her second term as an active provincial council member in Nangarhar when she was killed as the result of a bomb that was placed in her car. Before being elected in the council, Shinwari was an firm activist in the field of women’s rights and the right to education. Her killing highlights the dangers women face when taking up political positions in Afghanistan. Reuters reported that, despite keeping a low profile, Shinwari had asked Afghan and foreign officials for protection, fearing her life could be in danger.
“All women working in the government are in great danger. And the situation is especially bad for provincial council members”, she said.
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