Research Notes

Here is my attempt at capturing some of the information I have read in Spanish on the apparent forced disappearance of Aleph Jiménez, a scientist at CICESE (one of the leading research centers in Mexico) and the spokesperson for the local branch of the #YoSoy132 activist movement. His disappearance is generating a lot of discussion on Mexican social media. For example, his name is currently one of Mexico’s trending topics on Twitter. A couple of things are particularly troublesome about the case:

1. Jiménez was arrested and released for being part of a protest on September 15. Two days later he and his fellow activists held a press conference denouncing police repression.
2. Subsequently, Jiménez reported being followed and fearing for his safety.
3. Apparently, the bodies of two of his colleagues at CICESE were found in the past few weeks, something that he interpreted as a warning. I was only able to find this news article about the apparent homicide of one of his colleagues on September 14.
4. In an interview, Aleph’s father mentioned that he feared the authorities are behind.

The CICESE research center has released a statement asking for the prompt resolution of the case.

The last time he was seen was on September 20. The family seems to have set up a Facebook Page and a Twitter account to help spread the news and find more information.

This is one of the images circulating:

This entry was posted on Monday, September 24th, 2012 at 7:21 pm and is filed under civic computing.