Mario Quintero
Mario Quintero is a human rights defender from Oaxaca, founding member of the Assembly of Indigenous Peoples of the Isthmus in Defence of Land and Territory (APIIDTT), and part of the Spaces for the Defence and Community Flourishing (ESPADAC), human rights organisation part of the Red TdT. From these spaces, Mario Quintero works in the defence of the environment and the claim of the territory by accompanying the indigenous peoples of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. The defender has faced threats and attacks attempting to restrict his human rights work.
Human rights defenders (HRDs) and journalists in Mexico are subject to intimidation, legal harassment, arbitrary detention, death threats, acts of physical aggression, enforced disappearances and killings as a result of their activities in defence of human rights and the exercise of freedom of expression and journalism.
Disappearances are endemic in Mexico, often happening with collusion from the state. HRDs working on the issue face serious risk, up to and including death. HRDs working in the defence of territory, particularly indigenous territory, face a similar level of risk. They are criminalised, imprisoned, defamed, and often killed. Journalists working on any of these issues, or issues related to the drugs trade and the government's complicity in this, also run the risk of losing their lives.
