He requested an investigation in the United States after the death of a soldier who was allegedly sexually harassed

A powerful Latino rights group in the United States on Friday called for an investigation into the death of a female Mexican-American soldier who was allegedly sexually harassed at a military base where a similar death previously occurred. Twenty-year-old Ana Basaldua Ruiz was found dead March 13 at Fort Hood Barracks, the major military base in Texas where she served, according to a news release from the base.

“We (…) are concerned about reports from her family that their daughter has been the target of repeated sexual harassment.”said AnaLuisa Tapia, local leader of the League of United Latin American Citizens (Lulac). the organization Demands an immediate, full and transparent investigation into these allegations. Investigations must begin immediately.”Tapia during a press conference in front of Fort Hood, near Austin. And this investigation must be done before “external authority” She insisted, not the army.

Found hanged

The young woman’s mother, Alejandra Ruiz, told Telemundo television that her daughter had told her this“A sergeant was harassing her.”. She added that her daughter had been officially informed of this “she hanged herself”But she didn’t believe it. Ana Basaldua Ruiz, a naturalized American, lived with her father in Long Beach, California, prior to the enlistment. In a second press release issued on Thursday, al-Qaeda’s press office said so“There was no apparent criminal act.”But investigators will seek to find out what “exactly happened” And Information regarding potential harassment will(He. She) The subject of a full investigation..

This death comes on the same military base where a 20-year-old soldier, also a Mexican American, was in April 2020. Vanessa Gillenafter being convicted of sexual harassment. His dismembered body was finally discovered two months later near the base. Dozens of officers were dismissed after his death, and demonstrations took place to demand an end to impunity for sexual crimes committed by the military.

US President Joe Biden signed a decree in January 2022 to reform military justice to make sexual violence in the military a crime and no longer just a crime, after years of failed attempts by the Pentagon to combat this scourge.