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Women murders: A first case is submitted to the Inter-American Court

By Sara Lovera

Mexico, December.– The Inter-American Human Rights Commission decided to file a claim against the Mexican State at the Inter-American Human Rights Court last November 4. The claim involves the cases of three women murdered in Juárez (Chihuahua), lawyer Karla Michel told WNS. She took up one of the cases five years ago.

"Victim relatives will have the opportunity to testify to human rights violations committed by the Mexican government in these cases", she added.

Official figures show that over 350 local women have been killed in the last 14 years. The Court will for the first time review a gender violence case, Michel indicated. She is currently working as an advisor to the Women’s Institute in the Federal District.

"The Commission resorts to the Court when a State ignores the recommendations previously established in a substantive report. Mexico agreed to the Court’s competence in 1998", she recalled.

Although the claim involves separate cases, they are all related because they have to do with the disappearance and killing of three women, including two minors, in the September-November 2001 period.

The cases are based on denegation of justice by the Mexican State, lack of gender-violence prevention policies, and the authorities’ knowledge of acts of violence against girls and women in Chihuahua.

The first reports were issued in 1993. The latest document indicates that no appropriate reparation has been provided to bereaved families.

On March 6, 2002, the Commission received three reports on a number of irregularities in investigations into Claudia Ivette González, Esmeralda Herrera Monreal and Laura Berenice Ramos Monarrez. They had gone missing in September/October 2001 and were found killed in early November, Michel indicated. "Esmeralda and Laura were 15 and 17 years old, respectively", she added.

The petitioners argue that the government has failed to clarify the events.

The local authorities, however, have repeatedly said that they have intensified their efforts to locate and prosecute the murderers.

Our investigations have been effective because several people are already serving sentences, they stressed. We have never tried to minimize women’s situation in Juárez, they remarked.

The cases submitted to the Court

The Court announced on February 2005 that it had accepted the "Cotton Plantation" cases because they seemed to involve violations of the American Convention on Human Rights (articles 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 11, 19, 24 and 25) and the Belém do Pará Convention (articles 7, 8 and 9).

The Court had certified inordinate delay in decision making by jurisdictional bodies and ineffective, untimely solutions to reported situations.

"The Mexican government submitted only one official report on these cases", Michel told WNS.

Irma Monreal (Esmeralda’s mother), Josefina González (Claudia’s mother) and Benita Monarrez (Laura’s mother) were represented in the criminal proceedings by the Citizen Network to Fight Violence and Promote Dignity, the Women’s Comprehensive Development Center, the National Association of Democratic Lawyers, and the Latin American and Caribbean Committee on Women’s Rights.

Both victim relatives and representatives are pleased with the opportunity to appear in court and testify to the Mexican authorities’ deficiencies, irregularities and negligence in these cases, as well as the abuse and mistreatment by the Attorney’s General Office in Chihuahua.

Organizations following up the events hope that appropriate investigations and sentences will be imposed on those found guilty of women's murders in Juárez, after the Inter-American Court got involved in these cases.

The events

Eight bodies were found on November 6-7, 2001 at the so-called Cotton Plantation in Juárez. The local Attorney’s General Office initiated an investigation into rape and homicide. Víctor J. García (The Taper) and Gustavo González (The Seal) were arrested and prosecuted on November 11, on the basis of self-incriminating and witness depositions.

The victims were identified after testimonies were heard and evidence collected. One of them was presented as Esmeralda Herrera Monreal, who had been reported missing on October 29, 2001.

Government experts conducted law-stipulated necropsy (general victim body description), but did not look for details on identity and causes of death.

Forensic reports were completed and added into the criminal proceedings five days after the local authorities had identified the victims on the basis of self-incriminating depositions by the detainees.

When the defendants appeared in court, they testified that they had been physically and psychologically tortured by police agents and officials at the Attorney's Office to make them sign confessions. Some pictures of the detainees clearly showed the injuries they had been inflicted.

The trial continued, however. On February 8, 2002, Gustavo González died in prison, shortly after having undergone inguinal hernia surgery, under conditions still to be clarified. His lawyer had been assassinated by police agents, who had “mistaken” him for a fugitive.

Victim relatives were not taken into account by the local authorities over investigations and criminal proceedings. Like other mothers, Esmeralda’s mother never had the chance to see the body of her daughter.

On October 13, 2004, Víctor J. García was condemned to 50 years in prison. Several national and international human-rights organizations documented many irregularities and violations throughout the process.

Attorneys and experts involved in the investigation publicly said that the Prosecutor had forced them to fabricate the file to minimize social pressure. The bodies found were given names of women who had just gone missing to match up missing dates with body condition.

On July 14, 2005, the court of appeals found Víctor J. García not guilty, because there was not enough evidence against him, and investigations re-opened.

Like other victim mothers, Esmeralda’s mother strongly believes that the murderers are still going unpunished, is in doubt about the identity of the bodies found, and is sure of the fact that the local authorities have acted in an intentional and deliberate manner.

RECUADRO

The Women's News Service from Latin America and the Caribbean, International News Agency, offers this weekly service. No reproduction without authorization. Any comment o suggestion please contact us: semlac@redsemlac.net