Mexican journalist Laura Salas, International Iris Award from the Television Academy

With this award, the Spanish Academy recognizes her work in social denunciation of feminicide and impunity in Ciudad Juárez through the documentary 'The brightness of the sun was lost to us that day'.

The Academy of Television Sciences and Arts of Spain has awarded the International Iris Award to the Mexican journalist Laura Salas for her work of social denunciation of feminicide and impunity in the Mexican state of Chihuahua, and in its capital Ciudad Juárez, through the documentary The shine of the sun was lost to us that day.

This work shows the search for justice of a group of Chihuahuan mothers, who one day saw their daughters leave home and never saw them return. Some young women were found and others remain missing.

The story focuses on the case of Paloma Escobar Ledezma, a 16-year-old girl who worked and dreamed of studying. He left his computer classes on March 2, 2002 and never returned. His lifeless body was found 27 days later. The deficiencies in the investigation of Paloma's disappearance and murder are representative of the cases of feminicide in Chihuahua. His case is paradigmatic, characterized not only by extreme violence but also by impunity due to the negligence of the authorities and the message of permissibility that it transmits to society.

Social commitment

Laura Salas Sánchez has a degree in Journalism from the Carlos Septién García School of Journalism, studied Latin American Studies at UNAM and specialized in Human Rights at the UIA and the Inter-American Institute of Human Rights. He also has studies in documentary filmmaking at institutions such as Cinefilias and Witness-Concordia University (Canada). Currently, he is specializing in Human Rights and Democracy at FLACSO.

He has worked in various civil organizations, such as the Mexican Commission for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights (CMDPDH), the “Tlachinollan” Mountain Human Rights Center, the Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Project (ProDesc) and the World Association of Community Radio Stations (AMARC). He has taught courses for journalists and the media, and has several publications on human rights.

Professionally, he has directed more than a dozen short documentaries with social and human rights content that have been screened at film festivals in Mexico and other countries. She currently works as Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression of the Human Rights Commission of the Federal District. Coordinates the video project for the incidence in Mexico of Witness and HicAL. He is a member of AMARC, the Mexican Association for the Right to Information (AMEDI), the Digital Watermelon and Emergency Mx.

The award will be presented on July 4 at the Auditorium of the Madrid Amusement Park during the ceremony of the XIV Iris Awards of the Television Academy.