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| Caribbean-Latin America |
| Mexican human rights cases move to federal courts. |
| 2011-08-18 |
| By Chris Covert A legal procedure placing two high profile rape cases in Mexican federal legal system marks the beginning of a new era for human rights cases involving the Mexican military. The Procuradur"a General de Justicia Militar (PGJM) Tuesday declared its lack of competence in two criminal cases potentially involving Mexican military personnel, placing human rights cases current under military jurisdiction into federal civil courts, according to a Mexican news release. The lack of competence declaration means that a case can no longer be properly processed at the level it was and it being "kicked upstairs" to a high level, in the case the federal level. The case will now receive the resources of the Mexican national government. While the referral of rape cases of Ines Fernandez Ortega and Valertina Rosendo Cantu will likely receive accolades from human rights organizations both nationally and in Mexico, both cases face several obstacles before they can realize any legal resolution. A July 12th decision of the Mexican Supreme Court said that criminal cases potentially involving Mexican military personnel would no longer be referred to a local military authority, but instead would require local civil authorities to investigate and prosecute. The decision at the time was framed as a requirement of all legal authorities from the local level up to the federal level. To read Rantburg reports on the Mexican Supreme Court decision of July 12th, click here, here and here. In criminal cases which potentially involve military personnel, referring those cases to a local military legal service has been de riguer since at least 1994 at the start of the Chiapas Conflict. Local and state prosecutors upon hearing Mexican military personnel were suspected in criminal cases would refer those case to the military or at least self declare lack of competence to get the case to a level where the case would be referred to military investigators. In the rape case of Rosendo Cantu in Guerrero state, despite repeated jucios de amparos, or procedural appeals, the case was referred to a local military investigator service, where the case was investigated. Eventually the military dismissed and closed the case in 2004, while the Mexican Human Rights Commission closed their file on the ground of lack of evidence. The Mexican Supreme Court decision left many questions unanswered, such as what procedures would be in place in the event of criminal cases potentially involving military personnel, but with the latest move by the PGR, a starting place for human rights cases that have made it to the Inter American Court of Human Rights has been found. The Supreme Court decision has been heatedly criticized by top Mexican military officials, who claim that 98 percent of human rights cases they receive referrals on are unfounded. One unnamed field general called most of the cases "jokes". The military fears that the new decision will spark an avalanche of spurious charges that could conceivable clog the Mexican courts system at all levels, and could tie up military personnel answering to unfounded charges. Human rights groups and activists have long maintained that the military is in most cases unmotivated to properly conduct an impartial criminal investigation, which is a charge that is unfounded, and is meant to denigrate the professionalism of Mexican military justice. Since 2005, the Secretaria Defensa Nacional (SEDENA),for example,has maintained a human rights department which investigates human rights claims and makes recommendations for prosecution. In cases in which evidence of criminal activity has been found SEDENA has vigorously prosecuted,convicted and sentenced individuals responsible for criminal acts while in uniform. An very good example of that would be the case of Captain Nunez in 2010, who along with four men in his rifle squad, was convicted of murder of two members of a family in Nuevo Leon. To read the Rantbrug report on the September 5th shooting of civilians in Nuevo Leon, click here The case of Rosendo Cantu is a study in local Mexican courts sheer ineptness in pursuing a criminal case. It was not until the military prosecutor with the Mexican 35th Military Zone went to work that the victim was presented with a line up at as many as 50 potential suspects. The statements of 108 soldiers in the nearest camp including the camp commander were taken. No identification of a suspect was made by Rosendo Cantu, and because of local medical service foul ups, no tissue samples or vaginal swabs were taken either from the victim or her clothing. Despite procedural delays brought by Rosendo Cantu in fighting the referral to the military, the investigation was complete within months, even though the procedural resolutions were complete more than a year after the rape. Even with the full force of federal resources it is unlikely the rape of Rosendo Cantu, even with an identified suspect will ever see a resolution because of the lack of evidence and witnesses. A potential procedural pitfall for the rape case is a statement made of chief justice Juan Silva who attempted to walk back the decision the following day by saying federal judges would have complete discretion as to disposal of a criminal case involving the military. It is entirely possible a federal judge could throw the case right back into the face of federal prosecutors due to a lack of evidence and to the presence of exculpatory evidence. Despite the glaring deficiencies created by the civilian legal system human rights groups and activists such as Kerry Kennedy continue to insist on justice, albeit without specifying what form that could take. |
| Posted by:badanov |