Translated by CIP intern Michael Kane
La Jornada: "Despite government claims, respect for individual rights is not a reality in this country; there has been no progress in fulfilling the decisions of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in the current presidential term, nor has there been an implementation of effective measures for the protection of activists, argue independent organizations.
In a press release, some 100 human rights watchdogs questioned the veracity of the announcement by the Ministry of the Interior this past February 7, in which it claimed that the defense and protection of citizens’ rights is the authorities’ “highest priority.”
Proof of a gap between official announcements and reality, say the human rights organizations, exist in the lack of both sufficient actions to fulfill the most important points made by the IACHR and reparations for victims, such as in the cases of the indigenous Inés Fernández and Valentina Rosendo. Nor have measures been put in place to defend journalists and human rights activists, despite the fact that the Ministry of the Interior has budgeted more than 28 million pesos for that exact effort.
Another example of the lack of committment by the government on human rights is the “repeated defense” of military courts, as was made clear from the challenge to the directive that ordered the army to send to civil court the case of Bonfilio Rubio Villegas, a Nahua Indian who was killed after being shot by soldiers during the search of a passenger bus in 2009.
Finally, the organizations mentioned that violations of civil rights committed in the context of the "war" against organized crime have not been investigated in a clear or sufficient manner, indicating that “while the government continues denying the existence of deficiencies and remaining challenges, the efforts undertaken are doomed to fail in reversing a situation that has become unsustainable.” Spanish original
No comments:
Post a Comment