Justice for Juarez & Atenco - Mexico | Latin American Solidarity Network

Latin American Solidarity Network

STOP THE FEMICIDE(The murder of women)IN CIUDAD JUAREZ

The murders of women in City Juarez, Chihuahua, continue.
They are already more than 470 women that have been murdered and more than 600
disappeared women since 1993, thousand have been wounded.

Freedom for Atenco
"Launch International Campaign Freedom for the Political Prisoners in Atenco"

"Mexico Open Forum", Thursday May 14, 7:00 PM.
Uniting Church, 251 High Street, Northcote

Presenting the Documentary,"Femicide(The murder of women)in Juarez,"
&
Key note Speakers Colm McNaughton;
Award winning radio documentary producer will discuss his upcoming
project in and about the city of Juarez in Mexico

UPDATE: JUÁREZ, MEXICO FEMICIDES TRIAL IN CHILE May 2009

Mexico Has Until June To Comply With Court Orders

On April 29 the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights in Santiago ruled that the State of México is responsible for the hundreds of femicides that have taken place in Juárez, Mexico over the past 15 years. The court will next review the statements and documents provided by the state of México between June 1 and November 2009 and will make its final verdict in November. Three mothers testified in Chile against the state of Mexico for their daughters' murders.

Reparations to the families are expected but conviction of Mexican authorities responsible for the violation of human rights surrounding the cases of femicide has not yet been specified.

Between 1993 and 2008 there were 447 registered cases of femicides in and around Juárez that are marked by signs of rape and extreme torture. Apart from the 447 registered cases, there are an estimated 70 young women still missing.

The State of México is accused for failing to confront the femicide phenomenon and in so doing, violating the right to life of its victims. Although only three mothers of the victims came to testify in Santiago, the court signaled that the three cases represent all of the femicides that have taken place in México to date.

The three mothers of the murdered women who testified were Irma Monreal, mother of Esmeralda Herrera, 14, Josefina González, mother of Claudia Ivette Conzález Banda, 20, and Benita Monárrez, mother of Laura Berenice Remos Monárrez, 17. On Tuesday, April 28, the mother’s gave their stories.

Their daughters were found dead in October 2001 along with the bodies of five other women and girls in a zone known as “Campo Algondonero” in Juarez.

The women had been tortured, raped and mutilated.
“I have faith and trust in the judges of this court,” said Monárrez. “I have faith that we will find justice.”

In the two day process of the case titled “González and others: Campo Algondero vs. México,” the court cited the state of México for failure to provide means of protection to the victims of femicide; failure to identify and prevent the leader of the gender violence that left hundreds of girls and women murdered; authorities’ failure to respond to the disappearance of the victims; failure to conduct investigations of the assassinations of the victims; failure of adequate reparations to the
families; and failure to deliver justice.

The court has given México until June 1 to submit documents requested by the court and to submit its defense statement. The documents sought include the complete reports of the investigations.

Judge Margarette May Macaulay asked the state why the officers were instructed not to go to the victim’s families with information regarding their cases, and requested that the state submit complete copies of the training protocol of the officers who were assigned to the cases. Although the court asked the state of Mexico many questions, the State did not have to answer immediately, but may submit their statements later in writing.

The prosecution demanded the truth, justice, and reparation for failing to prevent the gender motivated assassinations. The Inter-American Commission also declared that the negligence and failure to investigate the cases stem from a discriminatory attitude towards women.

The mothers testifying in Santiago expressed fear of retaliation for their declarations. Monárrez sought asylum in the United States since 2006 to escape harassment by the authorities. “Myself and the other mothers have always said that (behind the assassinations) there is a powerful subject that nobody wants to investigate, or that it is the authorities themselves because they have not found the person responsible,” said Josefina González, mother of Claudia.

Patricia González, the general attorney of Justice of the State of Chihuahua, recognized that there were “irregularities” in the first phase of investigation (between 2001 and 2004), but insisted the current government administration has conducted thorough and objective investigations.

González assured that the case of “Campo Algodonero” will be resolved soon. She said the murderer of Esmeralda and Laura has been identified and that she is confident that the coming months of investigation will procure results. “The only thing we have left to do is to give the orders to apprehend and detain them (the murderers),” she said.

The families of the victims expressed doubt that Mexico’s state will detain the true murderer, noting that the state has “invented” numerous false suspects in the last eight years. Víctor García Uribe and Gustavo González Meza were arrested as suspects and both claim they were tortured to admit guilt to the killings. Meza died in prison, and the state claims he died from the flu. None of the suspects arrested have been proven guilty.

Claudia’s mother commented that the City of Juárez continues to violate human rights because more girls continued to disappear after 2001.

By Maria Grusauskas
from Santiago Times - http://www.santiagotimes.cl