Overview

• Armed assailants intercepted Hernández Tovar’s vehicle in Loma Real de Jarachina Sur on July 16 and shot him multiple times, causing his truck to crash into a sewage canal.
• A federal judge granted him permanent protection in April and his security detail was inexplicably withdrawn on July 10.
• Tamaulipas authorities have not commented on the removal of his protection or on developments in the homicide probe.
• Hernández Tovar documented disappearances and executions during his Gulf Cartel captivity in May 2021 and later led efforts with Colectivo 10 de Marzo to search for missing persons and defend kidnapping victims.
• Rights groups condemn his death as a systemic failure to protect defenders and call for automatic, legally mandated safeguards for activists in high-risk regions.