Mexico: The murder of a prosecutor who caused an outcry

The European Union (EU) condemned the murder earlier this week of a Mexican prosecutor investigating mainly violent cases involving women, as Mexico saw a new rise in homicides to a two-decade high in October. wave of attacks on human rights defenders and journalists.

Yedi Guadalupe Torres Castellano, the state prosecutor of Veracruz, who was investigating particularly violent crimes against women and sexual crimes, was killed on Monday in her car in the city of Panuco, state authorities said.

"This killing demonstrates once again the alarming level of violence in Mexico, including violence against human rights defenders," the EU Mission to Mexico said in a joint statement with the Swiss and Norwegian embassies.

Earlier this month, unknown assailants assassinated Sylvester de la Tomba, the head of the Baha'i California Human Rights Commission. Following the escalation of the murder of journalists, a team of United Nations experts on freedom of expression visited Mexico to assess the safety of media workers. Torres' murder was also strongly condemned by the Veracruz government, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the US Embassy in Mexico.

According to the Mexican Federal Ministry of the Interior, October was the month in which most homicides (2.371) were committed after Mexican authorities began keeping relevant statistics two decades ago.

Moreover, the 2.735 murders of women recorded last year were the second highest number in any year other than 1990 and more than double those recorded a decade ago, according to the Mexican National Statistics Office.