A Mexican civil rights lawyer who has received death threats in her own country visited the UK last week to persuade law firms and the Law Society to form an international support network for lawyers.

Alba Cruz (pictured), from Oaxaca state, is representing 104 political dissidents, farmers and trade unionists who claim to have been unlawfully detained or tortured by the Mexican military during civil unrest in 2006. The country’s supreme court identified the state governor and 11 cabinet members as ultimately responsible for the human rights violations, but they have not been charged.

Cruz says a campaign of intimidation has subsequently begun against her. She has received death threats and had gas pumped into her family home. She is currently being protected by unarmed volunteers from international human rights group Peace Brigades International (PBI).

A delegation of lawyers from the UK and other European countries visited Oaxaca state and neighbouring Guerrero last year, but Cruz said more needed to be done. ‘We are appealing to lawyers and law firms to create an international network to support us in defending our clients in safety. We also call upon individuals and representative organisations to lobby the Mexican authorities to improve our security and carry out impartial investigations into the threats and violence that we have suffered,’ she said.