Oaxaca rights defender denounces omissions in journalist's murder probe

OAXACA, The head of the Oaxaca People's Human Rights Defender's Office (DDHPO) has denounced a series of omissions by both federal and state prosecutors in the investigation into the July 22 murder of local journalist Francisco Alejandro Leyva Aguilar.

Elizabeth Lara Rodríguez, DDHPO chief, specifically pointed to the Attorney General's Office of the Republic (FGR) and the Oaxaca State Attorney General's Office, as well as the Federal Mechanism for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists. She stated that her office had not dismissed a complaint filed by Leyva prior to his death.

Leyva had first approached the DDHPO on July 14, 2025, to report threats he was receiving through social media accounts and from individuals. Based on Leyva's own information, he held Governor Salomón Jara Cruz, Secretary of Government Jesús Romero López, and state legal advisor Geovany Vásquez Sagrero responsible for these threats. The DDHPO opened a case file to support his process.

Among the alleged oversights, Leyva had filed a complaint with the FGR, but the DDHPO was informed it had been declined. The human rights office also requested protection measures for the journalist on five separate occasions. Meanwhile, in a separate incident, the motorcycle belonging to journalist Jesús Ovando Reyes was set on fire early Friday morning in Ixtacomitán, Chiapas.