Human rights groups sound alarm over murders of Mexican journalists

MEXICO CITY (CN) — The United Nations Human Rights Office of Mexico called on authorities on Tuesday to begin an exhaustive investigation into the murders of a journalist and of an environmental activist.

“The UN Human Rights Office expresses its solidarity with the families, colleagues and the journalistic community. We call on the authorities to clarify the facts, considering the victims’ exercise of freedom of expression as a line of investigation, in order to guarantee access to justice and full reparation,” it said in a statement Tuesday regarding both murders.

Roxana Guzmán, a Veracruz journalist, was abducted from her home on June 2 and confirmed dead on July 3. Alex Serna, a content creator and environmental activist from Guerrero, went missing on June 20 and his body was found on July 4.

Amnesty International denounced the murder of Guzmán.

“The authorities have the obligation to conduct prompt, thorough, independent gender and human-rights-based investigations that allow the identification, prosecution and punishment of both those responsible and those who ordered, facilitated or covered up this crime. No attack on the press can go unpunished,” it said in a Tuesday statement.

During a press conference, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum urged journalists to come forward if they feel threatened.

“Unfortunately, this happened to journalist Roxana, and the current efforts are focused on apprehending those responsible. We also urge journalists who feel they are at risk to contact the Ministry of the Interior for support and protection while they carry out their work,” she said Tuesday.

Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection Omar García Harfuch stated during the press conference that eight people have been arrested and more arrests are to come.

The Guerrero State Human Rights Commission confirmed on July 4 that Serna’s body was found in the municipality of Zihuatanejo de Azueta on the Zihuatanejo-Acapulco federal highway.

The activist worked to denounce corruption and environmental crimes along the coast of Guerrero and had documented threats against him, including a video in which he accused local politicians of profiting from plundering water resources to profit from drought and a video dated June 15 accusing real estate companies of operating without required federal environmental permits.

In a separate event on July 3, the Veracruz Attorney General’s Office announced the murder of Guzmán, director of Pulso Informativo del Sureste, a local news outlet based in Nanchiteco, Veracruz. Her husband was also murdered in 2017.

The agency said eight people were arrested for the murder of Guzmán, including four Ixhuatlán del Sureste municipal police officers.

Suspicions had already been circulating after Veracruz Governor Rocío Nahle García said in a June 29 press conference that authorities located human remains on a ranch in Veracruz earlier in the week. She did not confirm at the time that they were the remains of the missing journalist.

On June 9, the Veracruz Attorney General’s Office announced search efforts underway for Guzmán in the municipalities of Nanchital, Moloacán and Cuichapa based on family interviews and the identification of a vehicle tied to the case.

Footage of Guzmán’s abduction promptly began circulating on social media the day after her abduction.

In the video, a masked man breaks down the door of her family’s home with an axe or large mallet while another masked man aims a rifle through the broken glass as her family member yells at the assailants through the door. In the video, the two managed to break in and point their weapons at the person recording, and the video then ends.

According to Article 19, an independent organization that promotes and defends the rights to freedom of expression and access to information, 178 journalists have been murdered in Mexico since 2000, possibly in connection with their work.

Three journalists have been killed so far this year, not including Serna — all in the state of Veracruz — and seven journalists were murdered in 2025.