HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES COMMITTED BY MILITARY PERSONNEL AGAINST INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES IN THE STATE OF GUERRERO
URGENT NEED FOR THE ALLEGED PERPETRATORS TO BE TRIED IN THE CIVILIAN COURT SYSTEM

The following report on human rights abuses committed by the Mexican army personnel in the Montaña region of the state of Guerrero was sent to us by the Tlachinollan Human Rights Centre of the Montaña. The urgent action was sent out in April, although it refers to events that took place in February and March. However, the basic situation (of which the deplorable incidents described below are symptoms) remains unchanged by the three–month time lapse.

1. On February 16h 2002, Valentina Rosendo Cantú of the Tlapaneca community of Barranca Bejuco in the Municipality of Acatepec, was raped by two soldiers from the 41st battalion of the Mexican Army – after stating that she did not know any of the persons named on an army list of alleged guerrillas. At 3pm, Valentina Rosendo, the seventeen–year–old mother of a three-month–old baby, was washing clothes in the stream near her house when she was approached by a group of soldiers. The soldiers had with them a bound prisoner whom they had been unable to identify. They showed Valentina a list containing the names of eleven alleged guerrillas. In order to protect the eleven men from possible injury at the hands of the army, Valentina said that she did not know any of the names on the list. She was hit in the stomach with the butt of a weapon. She fell and hit her head, momentarily losing consciousness. As she regained consciousness and started to get up, one of the soldiers, lifting her by the hair, threatened to kill all of the people named on the list. After Valentina replied that she lived in Caxitepec and was not from Barranca Bejuco, she was beaten, thrown to the ground, and raped by two of the soldiers while the others looked on.
   
   Valentina Rosendo and her husband reported what had happened to the local authorities. They also went to the health clinic in the nearby community of Caxitepec. Out of fear of the soldiers, the clinic physician refused to give her a medical certificate or even a prescription. The couple then went to the Ayutla General Hospital where she was diagnosed as having a traumatism as a result of the blows to her stomach.
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3. On March 22nd 2002, eleven soldiers from the 41st batallion approached the house of twenty–eight–year old Inés Hernández Ortega in the Tlapaneca community of Barranca Tecuani in the Municipality of Ayutla. After questioning Sra. Hernández regarding the source of the meat that she had hanging to dry, three of the soldiers raped her while the other eight stole her meat.
   
   At about 4pm, Inés Hernández looked out of her house to see why her dogs were barking. Three soldiers came to the door of her kitchen, aimed their weapons at her chest, and asked for her husband. Inés understands but cannot speak Spanish. She was therefore unable to answer the soldiers' questions. The first soldier came into the kitchen, leaned his gun against the wall, threw Inés to the ground and, observed by the other two soldiers, raped her. This action was repeated by the other two soldiers. Inés was too terrified even to try to call for help. While Inés was being raped by the three soldiers, the other eight soldiers stole all of the meat that she had hung in the sun to dry.
   
   Both of the above cases were reported to the local offices of the Public Ministry.
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5. On March 23rd 2002, in the community of Barranca Tecuani in the Municipality of Ayutla, a group of about twenty soldiers passed close to the house of José García Soto. After taking water from his water tank without asking permission to do so, the group stole the 15–litre back–sprayer that Sr. García uses for his corn field. Sr. García made no protest – out of fear of retaliation on the part of the soldiers, all of whom had heavy weapons and wore the insignia of the 41st battalion. After stealing the sprayer, the soldiers crossed his brother's cornfield, trampling and pulling up the young corn .

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FROM OTHER SOURCES:

1. According to Amnesty International, on March 2nd Mexican army personnel again came to Barranca Bejuco. In an apparent attempt to intimidate the residents, they fired shots into the air.
2. According to a report in the March 8th edition of the newspaper La Jornada, the Ministry of Defence issued an official statement denying that military personnel were guilty of raping Valentina Rosendo and alleging that there had not been any military operations in the Barranca Bejuco area on or around the date of February 16th. The Ministry of Defence suggested that it was possible that criminal elements negatively affected by the army's war on drugs were deliberately slandering the Mexican army.
   
   According to the above report, the director of the Independent Organization of Mixteco–Tlapaneco Peoples stated that there had indeed been military operations in the area at least one day before the alleged attack on Valentina Rosendo. The Organization stated its belief that personnel from the military camp near the village of Mecaltepec were responsible for the attack.
3. According to a report in the April 11th edition of La Jornada, a representative of the Organization of Mixteco–Tlapaneco Peoples had told that newspaper that the authorities of Barranca Tecuani had reported the setting up of a military camp near Barranca Tecuani – in opposition to the wishes of community residents. The soldiers had justified their actions with the statement "We can have our house or our barracks here. Nobody can tell us what we should do, because it is we who have the authority."
4. On April 9th, La Jornada reported that the Directory of the Ayutla General Hospital had refused to give either Valentina Rosendo or Inés Hernández the results of their respective medical examinations and had stated that these could only be given to a lawyer. However, when interviewed by La Jornada, the Director said that there had been a misunderstanding and proceeded to release the records (that were incomplete in the case of Inés Hernández).
   
   The article also stated that on April 5th the head of the Public Ministry office in Ayutla went to Barranca Tecuani to inspect the scene of the crime. Not only did he fail to notify Inés Hernández in advance, but he carried out the visit in the company of army personnel in civilian dress. Subsequently, he tried to get Inés to sign his report on the visit (made in her absence). When she refused to sign the document without knowing its contents, she was told that there was no time to read it to her and that she was not cooperating with the investigation.
   
   According to the April 9th article in La Jornada, Valentina Rosendo refused to accept an appointment with the 35 Military Zone authorities with regard to her case (File #35ZM/05/2002). Her written refusal to the Military Public Ministry, dated March 25th, states that, since the injured party and the witnesses are civilians and since the incidents that have given rise to the investigation do not constitute breaches of military discipline but rather serious common crimes, the incidents should be investigated and punished by the civilian authorities – as is stipulated in the Criminal Code of the state of Guerrero. The statement goes on to say that the crime of rape does not appear in the Military Justice Code, which deals rather with crimes related to infringements of military discipline. The statement concludes by requesting that the military authorities pass the case (and all the relevant documents so far assembled) to the branch of the Public Ministry dealing with common crime. Nevertheless, despite her written explanation of her refusal to appear before the military authorities, on April 6th the official in charge of Public Security in the Municipality of Acatepec tried unsuccessfully to escort Valentina to the military headquarters in order for her to make an official declaration.

STATEMENTS OF THE UNITED NATIONS SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON THE INDEPENDENCE OF JUDGES AND LAWYERS:

In his report to the United Nations Human Rights Commission, the Special Rapporteur Dato'Param Cumaraswamy made the following comments on military courts in Mexico, "The want of impartiality of the military courts and the reluctance or unwillingness of civilian witnesses to appear before military courts to give evidence against military personnel are matters of concern. The public have no confidence in the military courts. For this reason, many prosecutions of military personnel accused of human rights violations before these tribunals are not pursued."

The Special Rapporteur goes on to make the following recommendation, "Crimes alleged to be committed by the military against civilians should be investigated by civilian authorities to allay suspicions of bias. In any event current legislation should be amended to provide for the civil judiciary to try cases of specific crimes of a serious nature, such as torture and killings, alleged to have been committed by the military against civilians outside the line of duty. Urgent consideration should be given to removing the military from policing public law and order in society".

The above statements have obvious relevance to the case of the two rape victims in Guerrero. The abuses to which they were subjected can undoubtedly be considered a form of torture. Moreover, the supposed justification for the military presence in their region is that the Mexican army is engaged in Guerrero and elsewhere in combating drug trafficking – a task that more should properly to the civilian police forces. (Not only have a number of human rights experts from the United Nations and Inter-American human rights system expressed their concern over the employment of military personnel in civilian policing, but many Mexican human rights organizations also believe such a use of the army to be unconstitutional.)

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Please write to the Mexican government to express your dismay at learning of the human rights abuses that were recently committed by military personnel in indigenous communities in the municipalities of Acatepec and Ayutla in the Montaña region of Guerrero. Please stress the need for the two very serious cases of rape, as well as the robbery of a sprayer and the deliberate damage to a cornfield, to be judged in civilian courts. Please point out that the military justice system is unsuited to dealing with crimes such as the rape of civilian women. (With regard to the civilian court system, you may wish to remind the Mexican government that among the recommendations of the recently-published report of the Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers was the suggestion that "Consideration should be given to the setting up of special units to deal with crimes of violence against women.")

Please write to the Canadian government informing them of the above incidents. Please ask the Canadian government to emphasize to the Mexican government the need for military personnel who are allegedly guilty of human rights violations to be tried in civilian courts. Please ask the Canadian government if they envision future cooperation between Canada and Mexico in the area of special legal protection for women who are victims of violence.

ADDRESSES:

Lic. Vicente Fox Quesada
Presidente de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos
Residencia Oficial de Los Pinos
Col. San Miguel Chapultepec, Mexico D.F., C.P. 11850, MEXICO
FAX: 011 52 55 522 4117 or 516 9537 or 515 1794

vicente@fox2000.org.mx or radio@presidencia.gob.mx

or go to www.gob.mex and from there to interactivo@ to send a message.

If you have access to a fax machine and are able to get through, the fax method, being less impersonal, is probably more effective. If you live in Ottawa or in a city where there is a Mexican consulate, they will almost certainly be willing to forward a fax to President Fox's office on your behalf.

General Rafael Macial Macedo de la Concha
Procurador General de la República (federal attorney general)
Procuraduría General de la República
Reforma Norte Esq. Violeta #75
Col. Guerrero, Delegación Cuauhtémoc
México D.F., C.P. 06300, MEXICO
FAX: 011 52 55 346 0604
e–mail ofproc@pgr.gob.mx

Please send copies of your letters to the following government officials:
Dr. José Luis Soberanes Fernández
Presidente de la Comisión Nacional de Derechos Humanos
Periférico Sur 3469, Col. San Jerónimo Lidice
Mexico D.F., C.P. 10200, MEXICO
& FAX: 011 52 55 681 7199
e–mail correo@cndh.org.mx

Lic. René Juárez Cisneros
Gobernador del Estado de Guerrero
Palacio de Gobierno 2 piso
Plaza Central, Primer Congreso de Anahuac
Col. Centro, C.P. 39000,
Chilpancingo, Guerrero, MEXICO
FAX: 011 52 747 472 3072

Lic. Mariclaire Acosta, Subsecretaria de Derechos Humanos y Democracia
FAX: 011 52 55 117 4334 or 327 3195 afranco@sre.gob.mx or macosta@sre.gob.mx

Her Excellency Maria Teresa Garcia Segovia
Ambassador for Mexico
45 O'Connor St, suite 1500, Ottawa, Ont. K1P 1A4
FOX 613 235 9123 info@embamexcan.com

FOR CANADA:
Hon. Bill Graham
Minister of Foreign Affairs
FAX: 613 996 9607 Graham.b@parl.gc.ca