Human rights advocate gunned down in Mexico

A top Mexican human rights advocate and his son have been killed in an attack in northern Mexico.

Silvestre de la Toba was killed in the northern state of Baja California Sur on Monday night when attackers with assault rifles ambushed his car and opened fire on him and his family, the Mexican prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

Toba and one of his sons were killed while his wife and daughter sustained wounds in the attack.

The two are in serious condition in the hospital.

Toba was the president of the Human Rights Commission in Baja California Sur.

In a statement, Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission condemned the attack and demanded that the authorities investigate thoroughly to find the perpetrators of the attack and bring them to justice “so that this crime does not go unpunished.”

After a long career in the public service, Silvestre de la Toba was elected in February 2015 as president of the commission for human rights in Baja California Sur, an autonomous body. He had previously been a member of the Congress of the state.

Baja California Sur is a major tourist destination, now plagued by a wave of violence linked to organized crime.

Mexican military forces launched a campaign — including in Baja California Sur — against powerful drug cartels in 2006.