Why is the Mexican Government Funding Surveillance of Feminist Activists?

By Anonymous ME (Read the original in Spanish below the English translation)

““Remember that a movement which forgets its prisoners is a movement destined to failure.””

Earlier in October, the hacktivist group “Guacamaya” gained access to reports of the Mexican Ministry of Defence (SEDENA). Among the information leaked there is evidence of current government resources (federal and state) being used to fund espionage and surveillance of feminist activists and other female human rights campaigners, both within Mexico City and other states. The hacktivists found exhaustive investigation files with personal data that could be used to identify individual women, with details such as full names and addresses, aliases, and photographs. These files are in stark contrast to the lack of efficiency shown when investigating offenders with formal complaints against them. SEDENA has made a statement denying any accusations relating to espionage and surveillance.

For this piece, we were able to secure an interview with one of the women whose name is included in the surveillance list.

Linda Neferthary has been a victim of torture in Chimalhuacán at the hands of the local authorities. She is a feminist activist who has been criminalised. Aged 33, she works as a baby-sitter and theatre production assistant. She also assists victims of violence against women and girls. She explains, “In my country, Mexico, many women suffer violence and need other women like me to support them in their processes, because in their journey to justice they are re-victimised by the authorities, who should be helping them instead. But the authorities do not support these women since Mexico is a macho country with macho institutions which condone offenders and give priority to incarcerating feminist activists over those men who commit femicide.”

Linda became an activist because of her empathy. She goes on, “Since I was born, I have been related to victims of homicide and femicide. Even though most of these crimes occurred long before I was born, there was a homicide of one of my male cousins when I was only 5 years old.” Except for two female relatives who were fortunately found after being abducted, none of the victims in her family got justice. She adds, “But a lot of people in Mexico are in similar situations because this is a country where people are forced to go missing, a country of femicide and homicide, a country where authorities are negligent and corrupt.”

She started doing cyber-activism, sharing missing persons’ records. Later on, there was an incident that shook her to her core. Whilst attending an appointment, she noticed there was a girl being kidnapped outside of the home of the person she was visiting. “When we heard the screams it was already too late, the kidnappers had started the engine of their escape vehicle. We notified the people who lived with the girl, but this caused me a deep emotional depression, which led me to attempt suicide. I believed it was my fault that I did not hear in time the screams outside so I could intervene and rescue the girl.”

Linda approached female psychiatrists and psychologists after trying to take her own life. With their support Linda was able to understand that the abduction she witnessed was not her responsibility, that she could go on with her life and help others in any way possible for her. She ponders, “There are things that are not [in our hands to solve] and we have to accept them, but there are those in which we can do our best to help, so I started to get out in the streets in demonstrations, to speak up, raise my voice, and to continue making visible those cases of forced disappearance and gender violence [against women and girls]. Also I started to support victims in their processes.”

Regarding her activism trajectory she comments:

“In this journey of my activism I felt accomplished by offering refuge for women and children whom nobody else took. Mexico is a country where there is a reduced number of shelters. Those few that do exist lack government funding and support. [There are] overcrowded shelters crawling with victims, where they can no longer receive more as they are way beyond their capacity and overwhelmed… and most of the women and children who had been rejected from those shelters we (the activists from the Okupa Cuba) received. And even though I was not there the whole time the Okupa lasted, this has been my experience. We who were black bloc [protestors who protect their identity with the intention to be ready to take charge in activities that would pose a risk for those whose identities were not concealed e.g. forming a human wall around vulnerable groups in case of direct confrontation with hostile groups] and those who were not, all are victims of gender violence [violence against women and girls].  We took refuge at the Okupa and offered shelter to other victims.”

We asked Linda what have been the difficulties she has faced in the process and she responds that, as a result of being an activist, she has to constantly fight for survival against the government’s siege of feminist activists like her, which puts her at risk of having fake crimes fabricated to incriminate her, the risk of being put in jail along with other feminist activists and the subsequent damage to her mental health.

“The political persecution directed at me and my fellow activists has caused me depression, anxiety, and stress. It is not easy to live with police patrolling outside of my home watching my every move. It is not easy to be on the list of the SEDENA as one of the many feminist activists under constant surveillance. When we know that the army can abduct us just like they took the 43, it is not easy to be a target of the government. For this reason I had to move; I cannot be in just one place when this government can fabricate more crimes any minute, or even worse, make me vanish into thin air.”

The way in which the media has portrayed feminist activists is not helping things to get better for Linda and her partners in this struggle. To this regard she says, “I am so upset that most of the media outlets, particularly the mainstream media of my country, distort reality of what feminist activism is. They present us to those who are unaware of our work like violent women, and delinquents.” We can see this through the coverage that has addressed feminist demonstrations of 8M, 25N, the occupation of the Human Rights Commission building, and the follow up to capturing activists from the Okupa Cuba. These are just a few examples of the bias shown against feminist activists. This is evident in the general narrative pushed by these media: one in which these women are criminals who spend their time doing vandalism and leaving chaos and destruction in their wake.

With the intention to warn women and girls and other fellow female activists who fight for their rights around the world, Linda sends this message for the international audience reading this:

“To my fellow women and girls from other nations I ask them to stay alert and aware of our situation. I am not the only one who has been framed with fabricated crimes, in Mexico there are tens of feminist activists like me, this is a political persecution against the feminist movement. Remain vigilant because we are at risk of being incarcerated or abducted, assassinated like Isabel Cabanillas who was a feminist activist.”

Finally, Linda has a request for us:

“I will finish by asking for your support for my fellow activists who were at the Okupa Cuba and are currently behind bars. They are victims of gender violence, including forced disappearance and femicide attempts. They were refugees at the Okupa who saved women and children and do not deserve the harsh sentence of 30+ years hanging over their heads at the will of the government They do not deserve to be treated worse than criminals guilty of femicide (feminicidas), because in our penitentiary system the feminist activists are treated worse than murderers. It is not fair that there are feminicidas who are roaming freely, whom the authorities are not putting in jail, nor even bothering to pursue them, while these same authorities used all the resources available to imprison feminist activists from the Okupa Cuba. So I leave you the links to support these women:

Ary resiste xq su manada existe (Spanish for “Ary resists because her pack exists”).

Libres Ya Comisión por Karla y Magda (Spanish for “Free Now Commission for Karla and Magda”).

You can help me by providing legal aid for the legal complaint regarding the torture I was subjected to in Chimalhuacán. You can get in touch with me through social media. My handle is FeministaCriminalizada (Spanish for “Criminalised Feminist”).

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El mes de octubre de este año, el grupo de hacktivistas Guacamaya obtuvo acceso a reportes de la Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional (SEDENA) [https://elpais.com/mexico/2022-10-10/el-hackeo-a-sedena-deja-al-descubierto-la-estructura-de-la-inteligencia-mexicana.html]. Entre la información obtenida hay evidencia  de que con recursos de gobiernos actuales (federal y estatales) se ha financiado el espionaje y vigilancia de activistas feministas y defensoras de derechos humanos, tanto en la Ciudad de México como en otros estados [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyNpRrhgHJQ]. Se descubrieron carpetas de investigación exhaustivas con datos personales como: nombre completo, alias, dirección, fotografías,  mismas que contrastan con la poca eficiencia demostrada al investigar a los agresores con denuncias formales. La SEDENA ha rechazado en un comunicado las acusaciones de espionaje a periodistas y activistas[https://elpais.com/mexico/2022-10-05/la-sedena-rompe-el-silencio-tras-la-filtracion-masiva-de-guacamaya-y-niega-las-acusaciones-de-espionaje-a-periodistas.html].

Para este artículo logramos obtener una entrevista con una de las mujeres cuyo nombre aparece en la lista de vigilancia.

Linda Neferthary  ha sido víctima de tortura en Chimalhuacán por parte de autoridades. Es una activista feminista criminalizada. A sus 33 años trabaja como niñera y asistente de producción en obras de teatro. También es acompañante de víctimas de violencia de género, y explica  “en mi país, México, muchas mujeres sufren violencia y necesitan que otras mujeres las acompañemos en sus procesos porque en su camino por lograr justicia son revictimizadas por autoridades que deberían apoyarles, pero no lo hacen porque México es un país machista con autoridades machistas que justifican a los agresores, que dan prioridad en encarcelar a activistas feministas que a feminicidas”.

Linda es activista porque siente empatía y nos cuenta “desde que nací soy familiar de víctimas de homicidio y feminicidio, y aunque la mayoría de hechos pasaron antes de que yo naciera también hubo un homicidio de un primo cuando yo tenía 5 años”.  Con excepción de dos familiares que estuvieron desaparecidas y afortunadamente localizaron, ninguna de las víctimas de su familia obtuvo justicia. Y agrega “pero muchas personas están en situaciones similares porque México es un país de desaparición forzada, feminicidio y homicidio, de negligencia y corrupción por parte de autoridades”.

 Ella comenzó con cyberactivismo, compartiendo fichas de desaparición. Más adelante sucedió algo que le afectó severamente. Un día estando de visita, se percató del secuestro de una niña afuera de la casa de la persona a la que visitaba; “cuando escuchamos los gritos fue demasiado tarde, los secuestradores ya habían arrancado el coche. Avisamos a las personas que vivían con la niña, pero para mí ese hecho me causó una profunda depresión que me llevó a un intento de suicidio por creer que tenía la culpa de no haber escuchado los gritos a tiempo y salir a rescatarla.”

Con el acompañamiento de psiquiatras y psicólogas que Linda buscó tras ese intento de suicidio, Linda comprendió que el secuestro que presenció  no fue culpa suya y que podía seguir viviendo y ayudar en lo que estuviera en sus manos. Y luego agrega:  “que hay hechos que no lo están y que hay que aceptarlos, pero en los que sí, hacer lo posible por apoyar, así que empecé a salir a las calles a protestar, a alzar la voz, a seguir visibilizando los casos de violencia de género y desaparición forzada. También empecé a acompañar a víctimas en sus procesos.”

Respecto a su trayectoria como activista nos comenta:

“En este camino de activismo para mí fue un logro dar refugio a mujeres e infancias que nadie más refugió. México es  un país donde hacen falta refugios, los que existen son pocos y mucho menos los que tienen apoyo de gobierno, [hay] refugios saturados de víctimas donde a veces no  pueden recibir a más víctimas porque les sobre pasa y a varias de esas mujeres e infancias que no recibieron, las recibimos nosotras  las mujeres de la Okupa Cuba y aunque no estuve todo el tiempo que duró la Okupa Cuba eso es lo que viví. Nosotras las que eran bloque negro y las que no lo eran, todas somos víctimas de violencia de género refugiadas en la okupa y refugiando a otras  víctimas.”

Le preguntamos qué dificultades ha encontrado en el proceso y Linda nos responde que a partir de su incursión en el activismo, batalla constantemente por sobrevivir a la persecución del gobierno de su país a activistas como ella, misma que la pone en riesgo de la fabricación delitos falsos,  que se intente encarcelarla a ella y a otras activistas feministas, y los consecuentes daños que ha sufrido su salud mental.

“La persecución política hacia mí y mis compañeras ha impactado causándome depresión, ansiedad y estrés. No es fácil vivir con patrullas afuera de mi casa vigilándome, no es fácil estar en la lista de la SEDENA como una de las activistas que espía… cuando sabemos que los militares pueden desaparecernos como a los 43, no es fácil ser blanco de un gobierno, por lo que  actualmente me tuve que desplazar, no puedo estar en un solo lugar cuando este gobierno puede fabricarme más delitos en cualquier momento y peor aún desaparecerme.”

La forma en la que los medios de comunicación se han involucrado tampoco ha ayudado a que las cosas mejoren para Linda y otras activistas feministas. Al respecto Linda nos dice: “Me molesta que la mayoría de los medios y sobre todo los grandes medios de mi país distorsionen la realidad de lo que es activismo feminista mostrándonos a las personas que desconocen lo que hacemos como mujeres violentas y delincuentes.” Esto lo podemos corroborar con la cobertura que se ha dado a las marchas feministas del 8M [https://www.adn40.mx/ciudad/encapuchadas-instalaciones-metro-hidalgo-sg], 25N [https://www.eluniversal.com.mx/cultura/patrimonio/danos-patrimonio-cultural-durante-marcha-feminista], a la toma de las instalaciones de la Comisión Nacional de Derechos Humanos [https://politica.expansion.mx/presidencia/2020/09/08/amlo-la-protesta-en-la-cndh-se-ha-magnificado-para-perjudicarnos?utm_source=internal&utm_medium=branded] y la subsiguiente aprehensión de las compañeras de la Okupa Cuba [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mb5-vezD70Y], por mencionar algunas en las que el sesgo contra las feministas es evidente en la narrativa que se hace de ellas como delincuentes que se dedican al vandalismo quienes generan caos y destrucción a su paso.

Con la intención de poner sobre aviso a las mujeres y niñas, y activistas que luchan por los derechos de ellas alrededor del mundo, Linda dirige el siguiente mensaje para la audiencia internacional que lee este escrito:

“A las compañeras de otras naciones les digo que estén alertas de nuestra situación, no soy la única con delitos fabricados en México somos decenas de activistas feministas, esta es una persecución política al movimiento feminista, estén atentas porque corremos el riesgo de ser encarceladas o desaparecidas, asesinadas como Isabel Cabanillas activista feminista.”

Finalmente, Linda solicita nuestra ayuda

“Termino pidiendo apoyo para mis compañeras que estuvieron en la Okupa Cuba y están encarceladas, ellas son víctimas de violencia de género desde desaparición forzada y tentativa de feminicidio, eran refugiadas en okupa que salvaron a mujeres e infancias y no merecen los más de 30 años de cárcel que quiere darles este gobierno, no merecen ser tratadas peor que feminicidas. porque en nuestro sistema carcelario se les trata peor que a asesinos, no es justo que haya muchos feminicidas libres que las autoridades ni persiguen ,ni se esfuerzan por encarcelarlos mientras que a ellas pusieron todos sus recursos para tenerlas presas, así que dejo las redes de mis compañeras para que las  apoyen:

Ary resiste xq su manada existe: [https://www.facebook.com/aryhermanaacaestatumanada]

Libres Ya Comisión por Karla y Magda: [https://www.facebook.com/libreslas3]

Y a mí me pueden apoyar brindándole acompañamiento legal para la denuncia formal contra la tortura que sufrí en Chimalhuacán. Me pueden contactar por redes me encuentran como Feminista Criminalizada [https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100083970165942].