Digna Ochoa (born Digna Ochoa y Plácido; May 15, 1964 – October 19, 2001) was a
human rights
Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...
lawyer in
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
. During her career, Ochoa had represented some of Mexico's poorest constituents against government interests.
On October 19, 2001, Ochoa was shot dead by unknown assailants at her office in
Mexico City
Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...
. Mexican state authorities initially declared her death a suicide, however amongst objections from human rights activists the investigation into her death was reopened in 2005.
In 2021, Mexico admitted wrongdoing in the investigation of Ochoa's death.
Biography
Digna Ochoa was born in
Misantla
Misantla is a city in the Mexican state of Veracruz, the administrative seat of the municipality ''(municipio)'' of the same name. The municipality is bordered by Martínez de la Torre, Colipa and Papantla.
Misantla is located in the valley of ...
, in the state of
Veracruz
Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...
. Ochoa was a nun before she became a human rights lawyer.
Ochoa went to law school in the state capital,
Xalapa, Veracruz
Xalapa or Jalapa (, ), officially Xalapa-Enríquez (), is the capital city of the Mexican state of Veracruz and the name of the surrounding municipality. In the 2005 census the city reported a population of 387,879 and the municipality of which i ...
, in 1984 and began working part-time for the Veracruz Attorney General's Offices in 1986. On August 16, 1988, while politically active with opposition groups, and after advising her family that she had found a "black list" of union and political activists at the office of her employer, she was abducted in Jalapa, Veracruz. Ochoa claimed that her abductors were state police officers and that she was raped. There was no investigation of her allegations. In 1991 she entered the
Dominican convent of the Incarnate Word where she studied until 1999. She left without taking her vows.
In August 1999, Digna Ochoa was kidnapped and held in a car in
Mexico City
Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...
before being freed. In October 1999, Ochoa was kidnapped again in Mexico City and interrogated overnight. She was left next to an open cylinder of gas. Mexico City police investigated and the
Inter-American Human Rights Court recommended protection for her.
In August 2000, she went into exile in Washington, DC, USA. While in exile, she was presented with
Amnesty International's "Enduring Spirit" Award in Los Angeles by actor
Martin Sheen
Ramón Antonio Gerardo Estévez (born August 3, 1940), known professionally as Martin Sheen, is an American actor. He first became known for his roles in the films ''The Subject Was Roses'' (1968) and ''Badlands'' (1973), and later achieved wid ...
.
In March 2001, she returned to Mexico City and in August 2001 court-ordered protection for her was lifted. She began work in law offices at 31-A Zacatecas Street in Mexico City on October 16, 2001. Her career involved representation of various dissidents and in some cases raised allegations of human rights abuses including torture by government authorities, particularly the army.
Death
Ochoa was killed on October 19, 2001 at her office in the
Roma district of
Mexico City
Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...
. At the time of her death, she was involved in the defence of peasant ecologists in
Guerrero
Guerrero is one of the 32 states that comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 81 municipalities and its capital city is Chilpancingo and its largest city is Acapulcocopied from article, GuerreroAs of 2020, Guerrero the pop ...
. Her body was found in the law office where she worked. A note was found by her body, warning the members of the
human rights law centre where she had recently worked that the same thing could happen to them.
Several investigations followed her death. Although Mexico City officials initially ruled her death homicide, in March 2002 they ruled that it was suicide, a claim that was disputed by several senators. The autopsy report indicated that her body had two .22 caliber bullet wounds. Her death was caused by a gunshot to the head. The entry wound was on the left side. According to the coroner's report, the bullet passed through the skull from left to right on a slight angle from up to down and from back to front. The bullet remained embedded in her right
temporal bone
The temporal bones are situated at the sides and base of the skull, and lateral to the temporal lobes of the cerebral cortex.
The temporal bones are overlaid by the sides of the head known as the temples, and house the structures of the ears. ...
. Ochoa was right-handed. The other bullet entered Digna's thigh from front to back.
In 2002, Digna received
post mortem
An autopsy (post-mortem examination, obduction, necropsy, or autopsia cadaverum) is a surgical procedure that consists of a thorough Physical examination, examination of a Cadaver, corpse by dissection to determine the cause, mode, and manner o ...
the International Human Rights Award by
Global Exchange
Global Exchange was founded in 1988 and is an advocacy group, human rights organization, and a 501(c)(3) organization, based in San Francisco, California, United States. The group defines its mission as, "to promote human rights and social, econo ...
, an international NGO based in
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
.
In 2003, Digna Ochoa received
post mortem
An autopsy (post-mortem examination, obduction, necropsy, or autopsia cadaverum) is a surgical procedure that consists of a thorough Physical examination, examination of a Cadaver, corpse by dissection to determine the cause, mode, and manner o ...
The Ludovic-Trarieux International Human Rights Prize awarded by European Bars.
See also
*
Human rights in Mexico
Human Rights in Mexico refers to moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, December 13, 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rightsp, Retrieved August 14, 2014 that describe c ...
*
List of kidnappings
*
List of journalists killed in Mexico
*
List of unsolved murders
These lists of unsolved murders include notable cases where victims were murdered in unknown circumstances.
* List of unsolved murders (before 1900)
* List of unsolved murders (1900–1979)
* List of unsolved murders (1980–1999)
* List of u ...
Notes
References
*Diebel, Linda.
005
''005'' is a 1981 arcade game by Sega. They advertised it as the first of their RasterScan Convert-a-Game series, designed so that it could be changed into another game in minutes "at a substantial savings". It is one of the first examples of a ...
2006. ''Betrayed: The Assassination of Digna Ochoa.'' New York:
Carroll & Graf
Carroll & Graf Publishers was an American publishing company based in New York City, New York, known for publishing a wide range of fiction and non-fiction by both new and established authors, as well as issuing reprints of previously hard-t ...
Publishers,
*
Proceso (Mexican magazine) number 1398, published on August 17, 2003
External links
*''
Digna... hasta el último aliento,'' a documentary film about Ochoa's life and death
*
"About the Digna Ochoa Case"'' Lawyers Rights Watch Canada summary of Ochoa murder.
Amnesty USA reaction*
Dignificada a song by Lila Downs that features her.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ochoa, Digna
1964 births
1990s missing person cases
2000s missing person cases
2001 deaths
20th-century women lawyers
Deaths by firearm in Mexico
Female murder victims
Formerly missing people
Kidnapped people
Law enforcement in Mexico
Mexican human rights activists
20th-century Mexican lawyers
Mexican murder victims
Mexican women lawyers
Missing person cases in Mexico
People from Misantla
People murdered in Mexico
Unsolved murders in Mexico
Women human rights activists
Femicide in Mexico