An Interview with an Extraordinary Activist: Mexico's Sister Consuelo Morales Human Rights Watch
go to original December 1, 2012

For 20 years, Consuelo Morales has been anything but silent amid the drug violence and threats of intimidation in her native Mexico. She tells Steve Paikin why she continues the fight against human rights violations in Mexico. (AgendaStevePaikin)

Sister Consuelo Morales works in Mexico to defend victims of human rights violations and hold their abusers accountable.

After years working with indigenous communities in Veracruz and street children in Mexico City, Morales returned to her native city of Monterrey in 1992 to find a community rife with abuses but without a human rights organization. She helped found Citizens in Support of Human Rights (Ciudadanos en Apoyo de Derechos Humanos, CADHAC) to fill that void and has led it ever since. Over nearly two decades, CADHAC has addressed a wide range of serious human rights problems in Nuevo León, from abuse in state-run orphanages to the forced displacement of people from their lands.

Since Mexican President Felipe Calderón deployed the military in 2007 to combat violent drug cartels, human rights violations in Nuevo León have skyrocketed. Security forces have committed widespread abuses against civilians including killings, torture, and “disappearances,” yet virtually none of the soldiers and police responsible have been held accountable. Under Morales’s leadership, CADHAC has taken the lead in documenting these violations, litigating key cases, and spearheading public campaigns to demand justice. The organization has also provided critical assistance for victims - both of the security forces and the cartels - such as psychological treatment and support groups. Morales has assumed her leadership role at considerable risk, persevering in her efforts despite constant harassment and threats.

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