Bernardo Ranferi Martínez Acevedo

On October 14th, 2017 the body of Bernardo Ranferi Hernández Acevedo was found in the burning wreck of his car near Nejapa, Chilapa de Álvarez in Guerrero state, half a kilometer away from a military checkpoint. The political leader was killed on the Chilapa-Ahuacoutzingo highway, in the downtown area of Guerrero, a region that is particularly troubled by the struggle between criminal groups that want to control the traffic and cultivation of the poppy.

Police were notified of a car on fire on the highway and on arrival found the car on fire with the bodies of Bernardo, his wife, his mother-in-law and his driver inside. 50-year old Ranferi was a respected HRD who had survived the so called Guerra Sucia (Dirty War) of the 1970s.

He was a trenchant critic of Rubén Figueroa, former governor of Guerrero,whom he had accused of being responsible of the killing of 17 farmers in Aguas Blancas in 1995. As a result more that 35 detention orders were issued against him and in 1997 he went into exile in France for 4 years. When he returned to Mexico in 2001 he dedicated himself to organising peasant and indigenous communities to demand their rights.


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Region:Americas

Country:Mexico

Department/Province/State:Guerrero

Sex1:Male

Age:50

Date of Killing:17/10/2017

Previous Threats:No information

Type of Work:Social leader

Organisation:Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD)

Sector or Type of Rights the HRD Worked On:Civil and Political Rights, ESC Rights

Sector Detail:Abuse of power/corruption, Citizens' rights, Indigenous Peoples' Rights

More information:Front Line Defenders

1This database records an individual's chosen gender identity. If they do not self-identify as male or female they can use the option of recording other/neither or use the term NBGI (non binary gender identity).