Throughout 2019, the situation of defenders in Mexico has remained particularly critical. ProtectDefenders.eu partners have regularly monitored and denounced the pattern of systematic attacks against HRDs in the country — one of the most dangerous places for the defense of human rights in the world. On 20 November 2019, the body of human rights defender Arnulfo Cerón Soriano was found buried under several tons of soil in the "El Aguaje" colony in Tlapa, Guerrero. Arnulfo Cerón Soriano was a lawyer and human rights defender belonging to the Naua people of the region of La Montaña, Guerrero. In recent months, Casa del Migrante de Saltillo (CMS) has reported a series of increasingly worrying threats and attacks, with a spike in intensity and frequency starting at the end of November. The judicial persecution and criminalization of the defense of rights continues to be reported in the country.
Also, the monthly issue of the ProtectDefenders.eu digest reports the sentencing of human rights defender Emir-usein Kuku to twelve years in a strict-regime correctional colony in Crimea, and the arbitrary detention of woman human rights defender Mahfouda Bamba Lefkire.
In 2019, ProtectDefenders.eu has documented more than 350 attacks against defenders. Since the launch of the index in 2016, more than 3,000 attacks have been reported. Real figures are likely much higher, as many alerts still go unreported.
