The head of the Baja California Bar Association says state police investigators have failed to solve any of the 15 violent deaths of lawyers that have occurred during the last two years.
“In none of these cases have they told us why they were murdered,” said David Jesús Rincón Rey, president of the state’s Bar Association. “Instead of possible motives behind the various murders, only justifications exist.”
He also condemned the fact that many cases are labeled as being crime-related and simply dismissed.
“Rumors circulate, or are simply tossed around, suggesting they were likely involved in drug trafficking, laundering money, or that they had four wives,” he said. “There is always a pretext, lawyers are not saints, nor do they aspire to be.”
Citing his own figures, Rincón Rey indicated that there has been a clear increase in the number of lawyers murdered in the state in recent years.
He said during Baja Gov. Francisco Vega’s six-year term from 2013–2019, 12 lawyers were killed, compared to more than 15 during the last four years when Marina del Pilar Ávila Olmeda has been governor. During Gov. Jaime Bonilla’s term from 2019–2021, five attorneys were killed, he added.
“Nowadays, we are exposed even for handling a divorce, serving as a business owner’s attorney, or filing for alimony.”
According to Rincón Rey, lawyers continue to push for the creation of a guidelines ensuring such violent deaths are treated as serious incidents and that the threatened lawyers are entitled to police protection.
“We are requesting measures such as the use of bulletproof vests, because some of these threats have actually materialized,” he said. “We have grown accustomed to violence in our daily routines, we consider it normal — however, we realize that this is not normal,”
