Meet Miriam Lopez: A Torture Survivor Fighting for Justice in Mexico Amnesty International
go to original December 16, 2013

Miriam López was kidnapped by men in balaclavas, tortured and detained for months. How could this happen? Amnesty International looks at the reality of torture in Mexico. (Amnesty International)

In February 2011, moments after dropping off her children at school, housewife Miriam Isaura López Vargas was grabbed by two men wearing balaclavas. She was tied up, blindfolded and driven to a military barracks in the city of Tijuana.

For the following week she was raped repeatedly by soldiers, who tortured her until she signed a statement falsely implicating herself in drug offences. She was sent to prison to await trial, but was released without charge seven months later.

Despite the fact that Miriam has identified some of the perpetrators and their accomplices, no one has been brought to justice for the torture she suffered, which included sexual violence.

Miriam López is not the only one. Reports of torture and other ill-treatment rose by 500% in Mexico between 2006 and 2012, according to the National Human Rights Commission. Convictions for these crimes are very rare, but your letter can help bring Miriam’s torturers to justice.

Read related Mexico: "Tortured at Random" at Amnesty International

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