State violence against detained women in Mexico: The San Salvador Atenco case (part 5 of 5)

STATE VIOLENCE AGAINST DETAINED WOMEN IN MEXICO - THE SAN SALVADOR ATENCO CASE (PART 5 of 5)

Alternative Report to CEDAW 36th period of sessions

The complete report in pdf:

spanish: http://www.centroprodh.org.mx/
english: http://www.centroprodh.org.mx/english/index_english.htm


V. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

V.1. Conclusions

1) The women detained during the police operation in San Salvador Atenco on 3 and 4 May 2006, were victims of physical and psychological violence, contradicting the relevant national and international legislation and the principles of absolute need, reasonableness and proportionality.

2) The women were victims of violations of due process, arbitrary detentions, sexual abuse and rape, the latter two used as a method of torture. This violence, according to CEDAW's General Comment 19, is a form of discrimination against women. As a result, the Mexican State did not comply with its international human rights obligations.

3) The legal framework for public security policies at the municipal, state and federal levels allow for arbitrariness by police officers in charge of the law enforcement, contrary to the State's human rights obligations with respect to actions that mainly affect women, who are placed in a situation of real vulnerability during this kind of police operation.

4) The existing political conditions and legal options available are not enough to punish State agents who commit these sort of abuses, whether actively or passively, as it has been proven in this report.

5) The lack of accountability by Mexican authorities for these sort of actions is a constant, allowing human rights violations such as those described in this report to go unpunished. Violence against women during police operations is systematic, as demonstrated by other examples of State violence and the IACHR's reports.

V. 2. Recommendations to Mexican State

1) Implement the measures necessary to guarantee reparations for harm caused to the detained women, using the highest standards of protection obligated by the Mexican State to make full reparation to the women. These reparations must include not only financial payments but also the implementation of those measures needed to correct the individual and collection
emotional harm that people, especially women, suffered in San Salvador Atenco suffered.

6) Carry out a prompt, quick and impartial investigation of systematic human rights violations committed during the police operations in San Salvador Atenco on 3 and 4 May 2006, and then to order the immediate liberation of those seven women still imprisoned and to absolve the 36 women subjected to criminal processes.

7) Modify the legislative framework and the practices of law enforcement forces, and when it is proven that the police operations were indeed crimes committed against the life and physical and psychological integrity of women, ensure the investigation and punishment of those high ranking officers in charge of the police operations

8) That the Special Prosecutor's Office for the Attention of Violent Crimes Committed against Women, part of the Federal General's Attorney Office, assumes responsibility for the complete investigation into the abuses committed against women during the police operations carried out in San Salvador Atenco.

9) Report on the crime rates of police and military forces, both at the state and federal level, of crimes against life and physical and psychological integrity of women. In addition, the Mexican State must report on the programs and preventive measures adopted to end these practices.