Mexico/Washington, D.C., October 22, 2026. – Ten months after the Inter-American Court of Human Rights notified the Mexican State and the victims of its judgment in the case of Ernestina Ascencio Rosario, her family and the organizations representing them express deep concern over the continued delays in implementing essential reparations. We urgently call on the Mexican government to take the necessary steps to ensure the judgment is fully and effectively implemented without further delay.

Nearly twenty years after the events that led to Ernestina’s death, her daughters and son are still waiting for meaningful redress for the harm they suffered. Although dialogue with the government institutions responsible for implementing the judgment has been maintained over the past six months, and some progress has been made in defining several of the measures ordered by the Court, unjustified delays persist in implementing those intended to directly address the victims’ needs and provide reparations. Particularly concerning is the failure to promptly address their serious health needs, despite the urgent medical care they require.

The Inter-American Court ordered the State to provide medical, psychological, and/or psychiatric care to members of Ernestina’s family who require it as a result of the violations they suffered. However, the deadline established for implementing this measure has long passed, and the bureaucratic obstacles preventing effective access to the necessary healthcare services remain unresolved. This situation demands an immediate response. Coordination challenges among government institutions cannot become new barriers to the victims’ rights, particularly when their health, well-being, and dignity are at stake.

Since the judgment was issued, the family has also repeatedly requested that the President of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, preside over the public ceremony acknowledging the State’s international responsibility, as ordered by the Court, and that the ceremony take place in their community of Tetlatzinga, in the municipality of Soledad Atzompa. This request  has been reiterated through various channels, including public statements, meetings to coordinate the implementation of the judgment, and direct communications with government authorities. To date, there has been no response. 

The President’s participation in this ceremony is particularly important to the victims. For nearly two decades, the family has faced not only a lack of justice for the violence inflicted on Ernestina, but also statements and actions by high-level government officials that discredited her account, denied the seriousness of what happened, and contributed to perpetuating impunity. In this context, the public acknowledgment of responsibility at the highest level of government is an essential component of reparations and an opportunity to publicly restore Ernestina’s dignity, honor her memory, and reaffirm the truth about what happened.

The State has also failed to provide the financial compensation the Court ordered. More than three months have passed since the deadline the State itself committed to meeting, yet the payments remain outstanding.

The Inter-American Court’s judgment marked a historic recognition of the serious human rights violations suffered by Ernestina and her family. In finding the Mexican State internationally responsible, the Court ordered a series of measures aimed at establishing the truth, ensuring accountability, providing full reparations to the victims, and preventing the recurrence of similar violations. Implementing these measures is therefore both an international legal obligation and an essential commitment to truth, justice, and the dignity of Indigenous women in Mexico.

We acknowledge the dialogue channels established over the past six months and the progress made with government institutions in defining certain measures to implement the judgment. However, dialogue and institutional coordination must lead to concrete results for the victims. Working groups and administrative processes cannot replace the effective and timely implementation of the reparations ordered by the Court, particularly those that directly impact the victims.

For Ernestina’s family, the continued delays, especially in measures intended to address their most immediate needs, raise serious doubts about the Mexican State’s genuine commitment to ending the harm and suffering they have endured.

For these reasons, Ernestina’s family and the organizations representing them urgently call on the Mexican State to:

1. Ensure immediate access to comprehensive healthcare for the victims by removing the administrative and bureaucratic obstacles that have prevented the implementation of this measure.
2. Respond to the family’s request for the President of Mexico to preside over the public ceremony acknowledging the State’s international responsibility, to be held in the victims’ community under conditions agreed upon with the family.
3. Provide, without further delay, the reparations owed to Ernestina’s daughters and son, including the financial compensation payments for which the State’s own deadline has already passed.
4. Translate the progress made through dialogue into concrete results by ensuring a diligent, coordinated implementation process centered on the victims’ needs and rights.

The Inter-American Court’s judgment represented a historic step for Ernestina’s family and for Indigenous women’s struggle for truth, justice, and equality in Mexico. But an international judgment cannot fully achieve its purpose while the reparations it orders remain unfulfilled.

Signatory Organizations

Abogadas y Abogados para la Justicia y los Derechos Humanos (AJDH)

Centro de Servicios Municipales Heriberto Jara A.C. (CESEM)

Kalli Luz Marina A.C.

Coordinadora Nacional de Mujeres Indígenas (CONAMI)

Robert & Ethel Kennedy Human Rights Center

International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights

Media Contacts

Arlet García López. Email: centrohj@gmail.com

Angelita Baeyens. Email: baeyens@kennedyhumanrights.org

Carmen Herrera García. Email: justiciayderechoshumanos@gmail.com

Elizabeth Guevara Mitzi. Email: contacto@kalliluzmarina.org

Norma Don Juan. Email: mujeresindigenasconami@gmail.com

Christina Fetterhoff: Email: fetterhoff@raceandequality.org