This week ninety-six members of the U.S. House of Representatives have urged the governor of the State of Mexico and the country’s Attorney General to investigate and prosecute officers of the Federal Preventive Police accused of physically, sexually and psychologically abusing 26 detained women in San Salvador Atenco. In a letter dated Tuesday, the bipartisan group of members of Congress expressed concern regarding police operations during civil unrest on May 3-4, 2006 in which 47 women were arrested. Read more…
Press Release
WASHINGTON OFFICE ON LATIN AMERICA
Promoting Human Rights, Democracy, and Social and Economic Justice in Latin America
Washington, D.C.
May 14, 2008
Ninety-six members of the U.S. House of Representatives have urged the governor of the State of Mexico and the country’s Attorney General to investigate and prosecute officers of the Federal Preventive Police accused of physically, sexually and psychologically abusing 26 detained women in San Salvador Atenco.
In a letter dated Tuesday, the bipartisan group of members of Congress expressed concern regarding police operations during civil unrest on May 3-4, 2006 in which 47 women were arrested. Twenty-six of the women arrested subsequently filed complaints with the authorities of having endured physical, psychological and sexual abuse during their arrest and detention. Due to the widespread charges of abuse committed by police during the operation, the Mexican National Human Rights Commission called for criminal investigations on both the state and local levels. In February 2007, the Mexican Supreme Court instructed a special judicial commission to investigate the abuses. Last week marked the second anniversary of the arrests, and to date no advances have been made in the case.
Many of the victims have filed complaints with the Special Federal Prosecutor for Violence against Women in an effort to hold the perpetrators accountable. Nonetheless, the Attorney General has not claimed jurisdiction to prosecute the cases directly, and no visible progress has been made in the state investigation.
The letter urges the state governor, Enrique Peña Neto, and Attorney General Eduardo Medina-Mora Icaza to transfer jurisdiction into the crimes committed against these 26 women to the Attorney General’s office. It was circulated by Representatives Hilda Solis, Democrat of California, and Jim McGovern, Democrat of Massachusetts.
For the full text of the letter click here
Contact:
Kristina DeMain, Washington Office on Latin America, (202) 797 2171
