Note: The same government that has made it almost impossible for the
women of Mexico to defend themselves. U.S. aid money needs to be
made contingent on restoration of firearms and self defense rights
for the people of Mexico. Mexican women are not afraid of firearms
nor defending themselves. (personal observations and about 80%
response in various polls)
Mexico apologizes for not protecting women
By Ricardo Chavez \ Associated Press
Posted: 11/08/2011 12:00:00 AM MST
http://www.elpasotimes.com/communities/ci_19286198
JUAREZ -- Mexico's government publicly apologized on Monday for
failing to prevent the killings of three women in Juárez and for the
negligence of officials in investigating the crimes.
The apology is a response to a 2009 ruling by the Interamerican Court
of Human Rights that besides seeking an apology, also asked Mexico to
reopen investigations into the cases and to erect a memorial site in
the empty lot where the bodies were found in 2001.
The state of Chihuahua has been plagued by the unsolved slayings of
hundreds of women since 1993. After failing to receive justice in
Mexico, the families of three of the dead women asked the
international court to take up their cases. The court only ruled on
those three cases.
"We apologize. It is our obligation to investigate these crimes,"
said Interior Deputy Secretary Felipe Zamora at an event in the half-
finished memorial.
The Mexican government recognizes "the inconsistencies, errors and
negligent acts of public officials in charge of the probes," he added.
Relatives of slain women nearby shouted demands for justice.
Memorial for murdered, missing women unveiled in Juárez
By Alejandro Martínez-Cabrera / EL PASO TIMES
Posted: 11/07/2011 09:37:45 PM MST
http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_19284152?source=rss
A $1.2 million monument in Juarez was dedicated to three of the eight
young women who were found dead in 2001 in an empty land lot just in
front of the city's association of maquiladoras building. (Jesus
Alcazar / El Paso Times)
›› Photos: Juárez memorial
JUAREZ -- The family members of murdered and missing young women on
Monday interrupted with calls for justice the ceremony to inaugurate
a memorial for the victims of the Campo Algodonero case, one of the
most devastating instances of gender crimes in the city.
The relatives called the construction of the monument a waste of
money, which cost around $1.2 million to construct and was dedicated
to three of the eight young women who were found dead in 2001 in an
empty land lot just in front of the city's association of
maquiladoras building.
In the ceremony, Felipe de Jesús Zamora, a ranking legal and human
rights representative with Mexico's Department of the Interior, said
the Mexican government recognized they had failed in its duty to
investigate the disappearance and deaths of Claudia Ivette González,
Laura Berenice Ramos and Esmeralda Herrera, as well as having
violated their relatives' right to justice.
The relatives of several murdered and missing women, who refused to
sit down during the event in protest, interrupted, criticized and
responded to Zamora's comments as he spoke, pointing out that the
deaths and disappearances continued and the crimes were still
unpunished.
"After 10 years you come to inaugurate a mausoleum that will become
a tourist center for the rest of the world's morbid fascination,"
said José Luis Castillo, the father of 14-year-old Esmeralda
Castillo, who has been missing since 2009. "We don¹t want a
mausoleum, we don't want you to find our daughters dead, we want you
to open lines for an investigation and find our daughters alive." In
2009, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights ordered the Mexican
government to meet a list of several reparations -- the construction
of the memorial being one of them -- as part of its sentence in the
case of González and others v. México, better known as the Campo
Algodonero (cotton field, in Spanish) case. The Mexican government
was found to have failed to protect the slain women, investigate
their cases and help relatives find justice.
Vicki Caraveo, legal representative of the group Mothers in Search
for Justice, said the monument was low on the list of priorities,
pointing out that it was urgent to restructure the victims'
assistance program, improve the training of investigative authorities
and respond more rapidly to new notices of missing women.
Alejandro Martínez-Cabrera can be reached at
a.martinez@elpasotimes.com; 546-6129.
Note: don't forget this infamous case either.
Demonstration to honor slain activist Wednesday in Juárez
By Diana Washington Valdez / El Paso Times
Posted: 12/20/2010 12:00:00 AM MST
http://www.elpasotimes.com/ci_16898169?IADID=Search-
www.elpasotimes.com-www.elpasotimes.com
Woman activist slain in Chihuahua: Quest to find daughter's killer
drove self-made investigator
›› Photo gallery: Activist Rubi's Mom
Activists calling for justice in the murder of Marisela Escobedo
Ortiz will conduct a march Wednesday in Juárez.
A coalition of advocacy organizations and relatives of victims is
organizing the protest demonstration, said Judith Galarza, a veteran
activist.
Escobedo's public murder in front of the governor's palace in
Chihuahua City made headlines around the world and elicited the
condemnation of Amnesty International and the United Nations.
She was protesting the release by Chihuahua state judges of a suspect
in her daughter's 2008 slaying when a man wielding a gun shot her at
close range on Thursday. Security cameras recorded her murder.
Other mothers and relatives of young women murdered in Juárez had
reported being threatened, harassed and assaulted, but Escobedo is
the first to be assassinated.
Two days after Escobedo's death, her common-law husband's business in
Juárez was burned intentionally and her brother-in-law was abducted.
Chihuahua state officials said Sunday that they are continuing to
investigate.
President Felipe Calderón issued a statement on Twitter saying "it is
lamentable that judges in Chihuahua freed Rubi Frayre's confessed
killer. This impunity caused Marisela Escobedo's murder."
Rubi Marisol Frayre, Escobedo's daughter, allegedly was killed in
Juárez by her boyfriend Sergio Barraza in 2008; her remains were
found at a hog ranch.
Barraza apologized publicly for the slaying, but three judges ordered
his release in May because they said there was no evidence to convict
him.
In an unusual move, Chihuahua Gov. Cesar Duarte requested the
suspension of the three state judges who set Barraza free.
Escobedo investigated her daughter's case and traveled to the state
of Zacatecas in
2009 to locate Barraza for the police; the suspect allegedly had
joined the Zetas.
Marisela Ortiz, co-founder of Nuestras Hijas de Regreso a Casa (May
Our Daughters Return Home), said Escobedo was "great defender of
human rights."
The nonprofit group that advocates an end to violence against girls
and women in Juárez also condemned Escobedo's murder. In a statement,
Nuestras Hijas said, "We vow to continue this human rights struggle."
In November, Paula Flores and the mother of another young woman
murdered in Juárez announced plans for her organization, Fundacion
Maria Sagrario, to leave the region because of ongoing threats and
intimidation against her family. Flores was featured in a new
documentary titled "La Carta" (the Letter).
Recently, the U.S. Embassy in Mexico and the Avon Foundation
announced a $50,000 grant for Justicia Para Nuestras Hijas (Justice
for Our Daughters), which advocates an end to violence against girls
and women.
The money for the grant comes from the Global Fund for Women and
Girls, a privately funded initiative managed by the State Department
and established by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
The Avon Foundation, in partnership with the State Department,
contributed $500,000 to the global fund to combat gender-based violence.
Justicia Para Nuestras Hijas "plans to hold workshops with women
working in (Juárez) maquiladoras to educate them about the types of
violence against women, their rights, and how they can gain access to
available resources for victims," according to the U.S. Embassy.
According to officials, more than 1,000 girls and women were murdered
in Juárez over the past 17 years, an unprecedented number for the city.
Last week, Mexican officials announced that a parcel at Ejercito
Nacional and Paseo de la Victoria, near the U.S. consulate, will
serve as the site for a monument to honor the memory of slain women
in Juárez.
The bodies of eight young women were discovered in a cotton field at
that site in November 2001.
The InterAmerican Court of Human Rights (Organization of American
States) had ordered the Mexican government to reinvestigate the 2001
"cotton field" murders, compensate families of the three victims who
petitioned the court, and erect a memorial for the victims.
Diana Washington Valdez may be reached at dvaldez@elpasotimes.com;
546-6140.
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