Lawyer Says Her State Bodyguards Were Taken Away in Response to Canada Visit Marina Jimenez - Toronto Star
go to original July 14, 2016

Brenda Rangel Ortiz is comforted as she shares information about Mexico’s disappeared. (Brett Gundlock/Boreal Collectiv)  

A Mexican lawyer who denounced her country’s human rights record last month in advance of the Three Amigos summit in Ottawa says authorities have taken away her bodyguards in retaliation.

Brenda Rangel Ortiz visited Ottawa a week before the official visit of President Enrique Pena Nieto for the North America leaders’ summit to share the story of her brother’s disappearance, and of the pain and suffering of the families of Mexico’s 27,000 disappeared.

On July 6, less than two weeks after she returned to her home in Queretaro, two officials with the protection unit of the Attorney General’s Agency of Criminal Investigation came in person to say her bodyguards — in place since 2013 — were being withdrawn.

That same day, state officials told her they were closing the investigation into her brother’s case.

“I am very worried about my future safety,” said Rangel, crying at her desk in her cramped law office, above a clothing store. “This is an act of repression and an attempt to obstruct my search for the truth about my brother, and other cases of disappeared.”

Rangel, who is five months pregnant, has taken refuge in a hotel.

Amnesty International said in a statement released Wednesday that it is “deeply concerned” that Rangel’s protection has been “suddenly and inexplicably discontinued” and is calling on the Mexican government to reverse the decision.

“That this comes in the aftermath of the release from prison of two police officers held in connection with the disappearance of her brother is doubly troubling,” said Alex Neve, secretary general of Amnesty International Canada. “This leaves Brenda exposed to danger and has caused her considerable distress and anxiety.”

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