Guerrero: Femicides Rocket Despite Gender Violence Alert

(@Revolucion 3.0)

At the beginning of June, Marina Reyna Aguilar, member of the Guerrero Association against Violence against Women and member of the Monitoring Commission on Gender Alert, warned that from January to May 30th of this year, 108 women have been murdered with the presumption of femicide in Guerrero, despite the fact that more than 11 months have passed since the declaration of the gender violence alert (GVA) in nine of the most violent municipalities in Guerrero. She stated that the problem of femicides is not being given enough importance and that a declaration of humanitarian disaster should be considered, as collectives of the disappeared have raised it before the federal government. She reported that despite the conditions of violence in the state, only two sessions of the GVA follow-up mechanism have been held in one year: one in December last year and the last two weeks ago. She denounced that “From the beginning, the government tried to prevent the declaration of the gender alert and once the civil organizations managed to get it implemented, the follow-up that has been given does not meet the needs of the state.” She argued that to date the authorities “have not been fulfilling their responsibilities, in the areas of prevention, care, punishment and eradication of violence against women, the state data bank is not working and neither are the search mechanisms”. Shee said that once the year of the GVA is completed, a balance will be made and the deficiencies will be indicated: “What we want is that what they report is a reality that is effective, we do not agree to the simulation and we are going to it point out, yes it is a problem and we believe that the state has other priorities and the life of women is not important for them.”

According to the report Incidence of State Crime, from the Executive Secretariat of the National System of Public Security (SESNSP in its Spanish acronym) of the Ministry of the Interior published in May, Nuevo Leon, Guerrero and Chihuahua are the states in which fecmicides have increased most compared to 2017 .

For more information in Spanish:

Se disparan feminicidios en Nuevo León, Guerrero y Chihuahua (Excelsior, 6 de junio de 2018)

Feminicidios aumentan en N.León, Guerreo y Chihuahua (Regeneración, 4 de junio de 2018)

Guerrero ya rebasa los 100 feminicidios en 5 meses (SDP Noticias, 4 de junio de 2018)

Incrementan muertes dolosas de mujeres (El Sol de Acapulco, 4 de junio de 2018)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Guerrero : asesinan a María Luisa Ortiz Arenas, integrante de la Red Estatal de Activistas Feministas (9 de marzo de 2018)

Guerrero: feminicidios a la alza en 2017 (11 de enero de 2018)

Guerrero : emiten Alerta de Género en 8 municipios del estado (24 de junio de 2017)

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Guerrero/National: Federal Court Orders Creation Truth Commission to Reopen Investigation of Ayotzinapa Case

(@Centro PRODH)

On June 4th, a federal court, based in Tamaulipas, ordered the Attorney General’s Office (PGR in its Spanish acronym) to reinstate the procedure in the Ayotzinapa case and create a Truth Commission to re-investigate the enforced disappearance of 43 students from the Rural Normal School of Ayotzinapa in Iguala, Guerrero, in September 2014. This occerrefd in the context of ruling that the investigation “was not prompt, effective, independent or impartial.” This ruling discredits the so-called “historical truth” that refers to the official versions presented by the federal government to date that the youths were murdered and incinerated in the dump of Cocula, Guerrero, and the ashes thrown into the river San Juan.

The court held that there is “sufficient evidence to presume that the confessions and accusations against co-defendants were obtained under torture” and “in the face of serious human rights violations, such as torture, forced disappearance of persons and extrajudicial executions, and that it was ordered to investigate the participation of authorities of the three levels of government, in addition to the fact that in Mexico there is no independent prosecutor’s office, it was determined to create a commission of investigation for truth and justice.” The court ruled that the commission “will be consist of the representatives of the victims, the National Commission of Human Rights and the Public Ministry of the Federation“, although it will be the relatives of the victims and the CNDH that will decide which lines of investigation will be followed and the tests to be used. They can also validate the incorporation of more national and international human rights organizations. The Court based its decision on the need to enforce “the fundamental right of access to justice for the victims, provided for in Article 17 of the Constitution, whose purpose is to arrive at the truth and to ensure that this type of crime serious violations of human rights is not repeated.”

In a statement on the same day of the publication of the sentence, the PGR said it does not share the criteria of the Court, considering that the resolution issued “ignores the division of powers and the powers of prosecution, investigation and the exercise of penal action that, according to Article 21 of the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States, corresponds to the Public Ministry of the Federation.” Before the accusations of torture, it indicated that, “through the Specialized Unit, it has opened several Investigation Cases in which the opinions are recorded of certified experts and with technical autonomy according to the Istanbul Protocol.” It finally stated that “different lines are being worked on, including those suggested by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), through the Follow-up Mechanism, and taking into account the observations of the National Human Rights Commission.”

For its part, the ProDH Center, representative of the families of the 43 student teachers, indicated that the families “will initiate a process of analysis to review their extremes and position themselves publicly in the coming days.” It welcomed the Court’s ruling and considered that “it confirms that the truth in the Ayotzinapa case is not stated, that the whereabouts of the victims are not clear and that the current federal government committed multiple irregularities during the investigation. By virtue of the judgment, this assessment no longer comes only from international instances, but has been established by a national court.” It demanded “a public commitment that in the rest of the six-year term of office the ruling will be fulfilled and the case will not be manipulated to prevent its clarification.”

For more information in Spanish:

Comunicado de prensa “Histórica sentencia del poder judicial dela Federación en el caso Ayotzinapa: estabblece las graves irregularidades en que incurrió PGR y ordena crear un mecanismo extraordinario de justicia y verdad”  (Centro PRODH, 4 de junio de 2018)

Tribunal ordena crear Comisión para la Verdad en caso Ayotzinapa; no compartimos criterio de magistrados: PGR (Animal Político, 4 de junio de 2018)

Magistrados ordenan crear Comisión de la Verdad y piden a PGR reponer procedimiento en caso Ayotzinapa (Proceso, 4 de junio de 2018)

La PGR dice no compartir criterio de magistrados sobre Comisión de la Verdad para Ayotzinapa (Proceso, 4 de junio de 2018)

La investigación del caso Iguala no fue independiente ni imparcial (La Jornada, 5 de junio de 2018)

CNDH analiza la sentencia que ordena reponer el proceso del caso Ayotzinapa y crear la Comisión de la Verdad (Sin Embargo, 5 de junio de 2018)

For more informaton from SIPAZ:

Guerrero/Internacional: nueva audiencia del caso Ayotzinapa ante la CIDH ; riesgo de carpetazo denuncian familiares y sus representantes legales (10 de mayo de 2018)

Internacional/Guerrero: Exigen que la PGR agote todas las líneas de investigación que surgen de nueva información en caso Ayotzinapa (18 de abril de 2018)

Guerrero/Nacional/Internacional : Nuevos informes sobre caso Ayotzinapa (15 de marzo de 2018)

Guerrero: PGR buscará cerrar caso Ayotzinapa antes de diciembre (6 de marzo de 2018)

National: 37,435 Disappeared in Mexico According to Ministry of Interior

Disappeared (@ZetaTijuana)

According to figures from the Ministry of the Interior, 37,435 people are missing in Mexico, which represents an increase of about 40% compared to what was reported in 2014. Most cases are being investigated by regular jurisdiction through State instances. A little more than half of these cases are concentrated in five states: Tamaulipas, the State of Mexico, Jalisco, Sinaloa, and Nuevo Leon.

Breaking down the data, it appears that six out of ten missing are between 15 and 39 years old and most are men. Almost all are Mexicans, but there are 384 foreigners and two 2,056 whose origin is not specified.

All these data were compiled by the National Public Security System of the Ministry of the Interior, based on the information provided by the state prosecutors and the Attorney General’s Office.

At the federal level, with cases whose investigation is the responsibility of the Attorney General’s Office (PGR in its Spanish acronym), there is also an increase with 1,170 cases currently open. Three states concentrate almost 60% of the cases: Guerrero, Veracruz and Tamaulipas.

According to La Jornada, since January of this year, “just over 2,000 files have been added, despite the entry into force of the first General Law on Missing Persons, promulgated last November and in put into force 60 days later.”

For more information in Spanish:

Hay 37 mil 435 desaparecidos, informa la SG (La Jornada, 2 de junio de 2018)

En 4 años aumentó en México 40 por ciento el número de personas desaparecidas (7seg.mx, 2 de junio de 2018)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Nacional : madres de desparecidos marchan en el Día de la Madre (11 de mayo de 2018)

Nacional : familiares de personas desaparecidas se oponen a cambios a la Ley General de Desaparición forzada (3 de abril de 2018)

Nacional : ONU se pronuncia ante entrada en vigor de Ley sobre Desaparición forzada (19 de enero de 2018)

Nacional: Promulgan Ley contra la Desaparición forzada (25 de noviembre de 2017)

Guerrero: After 16 Years, Soldiers who Raped Valentina Rosendo Cantu May Be Sentenced

Valentina Rosendo Cantu (@Tlachinollan)

The Seventh District Court of Guerrero received the case of the indigenous me’phaa Valentina Rosendo Cantu, who 16 years ago was the victim of torture and rape by members of the Army. It is expected that in the near future it will issue a sentence that “could make Valentina’s long search for justice come true”, the Tlachinollan Mountain Center for Human Rights and the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL in its Spanish acronym) reported on May 22nd. They stressed that this resolution is relevant “because of the current context where the unconstitutionality and human rights violations that would be brought by the Internal Security Law are debated, which authorizes the participation of the elements of the army in public security activities.”

In 2010, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) issued a judgment against the Mexican State for its lack of response to provide justice in this case. In 2011, it led to a public apology by the State to Valentina Rosendo.

Valentina’s case could “represent a watershed in the defense of women’s human rights nationally and internationally, as it set precedents for the development of the terms “sexual torture” and “institutional military violence,” Tlachinollan and CEJIL said.

For more information in Spanish:

Poder Judicial tiene “oportunidad histórica” para dar primer fallo por tortura sexual en caso Valetina Rosendo: ONG (Proceso, 22 de mayo de 2018)

Con 16 años de retraso, Guerrero sentenciará a militares que torturaron y violaron a una joven indígena (Sin Embargo, 22 de mayo de 2018)

Tras 16 años, sigue buscando justicia indígena violada por militares (Quadratin Guerrero, 22 de mayo de 2018)

PRONUNCIAMIENTO | Próxima sentencia en el caso Valentina Rosendo Cantú, oportunidad única de frenar la impunidad en casos de abusos militares: Observatorio Internacional sobre México (Observatorio de OSC Internacionales, 25 de mayo de 2018)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Guerrero : Caso de Valentina Rosendo Cantu esperando sentencia en el sistema de justicia mexicana (21 de mayo de 2018)

Guerrero: Inicio de los procesos penales en contra de militares, presuntos responsables en los casos de Inés Fernández y Valentina Rosendo (9 de enero de 2014)

Guerrero: ONGs exigen a Peña Nieto que se cumplan las sentencias de Inés Fernández y Valentina Rosendo (30 de enero de 2013)

Guerrero: Valentina Rosendo e Inés Fernández reciben reconocimiento por su lucha (14 de noviembre de 2012)

Guerrero: A dos años de sentencias de Corte Interamericana, siguen impunes los casos de Inés y Valentina (5 de octubre de 2012)

National: INAI Orders SENEDA to Submit Information on Generals Linked to “Dirty War”

Dirty War Victims (@Centro ProDH)

On May 23rd, the National Institute of Transparency, Access to Information and Personal Data Protection (INAI in its Spanish acronym) ordered the Secretariat of National Defense (SEDENA in its Spanish acronym) to hand over the public version of the files of officers Francisco Quiros Hermosillo and Mario Acosta Chaparro, allegedly responsible for various serious human rights violations during the so-called “Dirty War” (the period of military-police repression in the 60s and 70s). Both have been accused of committing murders, tortures and disappearance of corpses in the state of Guerrero during that period, in addition to providing protection to groups of drug traffickers. Although they were prosecuted on the same charges in 2002, they were only sentenced on the last count. However, three years later a Federal Court overturned the sentences and ordered the trials reinstated.

An individual had requested such files but the SEDENA refused to hand them over on the grounds that the information was private, confidential and could “compromise the security of the Mexican state.”

During the session of the IFAI commissioners, one of them stressed that “we must know the dark episodes of our history to avoid their repetition” and the project to give the information was approved unanimously.

For more information in Spanish:

Solicita INAI datos de militares vinculados a “guerra sucia” (La Jornada, 23 de mayo de 2018)

INAI pide a Sedena información de militares relacionados a la ‘guerra sucia’ (Excelsior, 23 de mayo de 2018)

Ordenan abrir expedientes de generales vinculados a guerra sucia (Bajo Palabra, 23 de mayo de 2018)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Internacional/Nacional: CIDH presenta informe sobre el Derecho a la Verdad que incluye el caso de la “Guerra sucia” en México (11 de diciembre de 2014)

Nacional/Internacional: organizaciones civiles y Estado mexicano ante la CIDH (5 de noviembre de 2014)

Tribunal Permanente de los Pueblos condena al Estado Mexicano por crímenes de lesa humanidad (30 de septiembre de 2014)

Guerrero: Atentado contra integrantes de la Comisión de la Verdad (Comverdad) (3 de febrero de 2014)

International: Case against for Illegal Sale of Firearms to Mexico by Heckler and Koch Begins

Photo @ Deutsche Welle

On May 15th, 2018, the trial against six former employees of the German arms manufacturer Heckler & Koch began in Stuttgart, Germany. The Stuttgart district court investigates the illegal sale of thousands of G-36 assault rifles to Mexico between 2006 and 2009. Executives are accused of knowing that those same weapons were destined for regions of the country that, according to Deutsche Welle, “did not have export permission from the German authorities, thus violating the German war arms control laws and the export law. They will also respond to accusations of corruption in relation to alleged bribes that were paid to Major General Humberto Alfonso Guillermo Aguilar, then director of the Armament and Munitions Marketing Department (DCAM) of the [Mexican] National Defense Secretariat (SEDENA).”

Deutsche Welle adds that, “German and Mexican journalists, as well as activists, verified that H & K’s weapons were used in the armed attack against Mexican students on September 26th, 2014 in Iguala, Guerrero, which left dozens injured, six dead and 43 missing persons.” The German Cooperation for Human Rights in Mexico denounced that the business carried out by Heckler & Koch in Guerrero contributed to “serious human rights violations.” It further stated that, “the limitations on the export of the G36 automatic rifles to some especially conflictive Mexican federated states were, at that time, unsustainable from a human rights perspective. All this indicates the existence of an agreement that made these exports possible.” A total of 24 trial dates are scheduled and a sentence is expected for October 25th of this year.

For more information in Spanish:

Heckler & Koch: la historia detrás del fabricante de armas alemán (Deutsche Welle, 15 de mayo del 2018)

Inicia juicio por envío ilegal de armas alemanas a México (La Jornada, 14 de mayo del 2018)

Heckler & Koch en el banquillo de los acusados (Deutsche Welle, 14 de mayo del 2018)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Guerrero/Nacional/Internacional : Nuevos informes sobre caso Ayotzinapa (15 de marzo del 2018)

Internacional/Nacional: OSC alertan a Unión Europea sobre crisis de derechos humanos en México ante modernización del Acuerdo Global (8 de junio del 2017)

Nacional/Guerrero: “no más venta de armas a México” – Gobierno alemán (27 de febrero del 2015)

National/International: OSC Asks for Suspension of Agreement with US to Convert Mexico into “Migration Filter” in Return for Favors in Renegotiation of NAFTA

Migrants (@Redt)

In a joint statement issued on May 16th, various networks and organizations defending human rights of the migrant and refugee population expressed their “deep indignation, concern and estrangement in the face of information that has circulated in various media outlets, indicating an agreement in dialogue to turn Mexico into a filter for asylum seekers in the United States and as a center of immigration detention.”

They stated that it has been pointed out “that the governments of the United States and Mexico are in advanced negotiations to establish a mechanism in Mexican territory for the processing and selection of persons in need of international protection. In this context, Mexico would have the role of a “safe third country”, which implies that arrests will increase, not only of migrants, but above all, of asylum seekers fleeing the violence of their countries and who intend to request refuge in the USA. These measures would finally be an “exchange of favors”, and would be accepted by the Mexican government in exchange for economic benefits in the framework of the negotiation of NAFTA.”

They rejected this initiative and demanded that, “the dialogue with the United States be suspended until all the information is public, and until the new government that emerges from the ongoing Federal electoral process assumes its functions. Human rights cannot be negotiated as a bargaining chip in any commercial treaty.”

It is worth mentioning that just on May 16, the president of the United States, Donald Trump, reproached that, “Mexico does not do anything for us. It does not do anything for us. Mexico speaks, but it does not do anything for us. Especially on the border. They certainly do not help us much in trade, but especially on the border they do not do anything for us.” More controversy still was generated by the fact that Trump assures that criminals and gang members who enter his country “are not people, are animals”, and promised to do what is necessary to expel them quickly.

For more information in Spanish:

Organizaciones de DH exigen suspender negociaciones con EU para convertir a México en filtro migratorio (RedTdT, 18 de mayo de 2018)

Trump: Me refiero a los MS-13 como animales y siempre lo haré (CNN México, 18 de mayo de 2018)

EU pretende convertir a México en “filtro” para solicitantes de asilo y centro de detención migratorio (Proceso, 17 de mayo de 2018)

Quienes buscan entrar ilegalmente desde México “no son personas, son animales”: Trump (Proceso, 16 de mayo de 2018)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Nacional/Internacional: Caravana Viacrucis Migrante 2018 llega a EUA (10 de mayo de 2018)

Nacional : Rechazan 84 organizaciones y colectivos envío de agentes de la Gendarmería a la frontera sur (18 de abril de 2018)

Internacional/Nacional: Trump se opone a Viacrucis Migrante 2018 (4 de abril de 2018)