Kenia Inés Hernández Montalván. Credit: @CDHVitoria

• by Clare Quirk (johannesburg, south africa)
• Thursday, October 15, 2026
• Inter Press Service

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, October 15 (IPS) - Kenia Hernández is an Indigenous Mexican lawyer and human rights defender dedicated to advancing women’s rights and social justice.

Arrested in October 2020, she has faced multiple criminal proceedings that human rights organisations, including CIVICUS, have denounced as politically motivated and linked to the criminalisation of her activism. This piece is the second in our series on the campaign that advocates for the immediate release of unjustly imprisoned or persecuted human rights defenders globally.

Additional reference: Five years of resistance: The case of Kenia Hernández and the battle against the fabrication of crimes

Additional research and reporting: Cecilia Russell

Note: This feature is published with the support of CIVICUS: Stand As My Witness Campaign.
IPS is solely responsible for the editorial content, and it does not necessarily reflect the views of CIVICUS.

IPS UN Bureau Report

© Inter Press Service (20261015104237) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service