Report Accuses Mexico of Not Protecting Women from Increased Violence and Discrimination

By Mark O’Brien
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

MEXICO CITY, Mexico — A new report released Wednesday said Mexico is not doing enough to protect women despite increasing levels of violence and discrimination.

A protester holds a sign calling for an end to violence against women during an Amnesty International rally on Nov. 24, 2005, in Mexico City. (Photo Courtesy of GlobalPost)

Human rights group Amnesty International issued the report to a United Nations committee, highlighting the rising number of crimes against women and the low success rate of Mexican authorities to convict offenders.

“The state of women’s rights in Mexico is alarming,” said Rupert Knox, a researcher at AI.  “In the past years, Mexico has approved a number of laws and institutions designed to protect women from discrimination and violence.  Much of the problem, however, lies in the lack of effective implementation of these laws and the weaknesses of the institutions.”

The report said Mexican police solve about one of every 21 rapes.  It also accused the police of having flawed procedures for documenting murders of women, including the failure of carrying out proper autopsies in many cases.

According to the report, U.N. figures show there were more than 34,000 women murdered in Mexico between 1985 and 2009.  In 2010 alone, 2,418 women were murdered, the report said.  That averaged to nearly seven murders per day.

One area that has seen a sharp increase in murders of women is the state of Chihuahua, the report said.  In 2010, one of every 11 victims was a woman, compared to one of every 14 in 2008.  Through June, there were more than 130 killings of women in Chihuahua alone.

Mexican prosecutors received nearly 15,000 complaints of rape in 2009, although AI estimates the number actually reached 74,000 since a small percentage of rapes are reported.  Of the cases prosecuted, AI said only 2,795 ended with a conviction.

“The poor quality investigations by Mexico state prosecutors also undermined the outcome of judicial proceedings, ensuring acquittals and decisions not to prosecute,” the report alleged.

To prove that point, AI referenced a 2006 case when Mexican police allegedly sexually abused 26 women arrested during protests in the town of San Salvador.  Several police officers were charged in the incident, but all were acquitted for a lack of evidence.  Nine of the women have now taken their cases to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

AI is calling on both outgoing President Felipe Calderón and President-elect Enrique Peña Nieto to do more to stem the violence against women.

“The Mexican authorities, led by both the actual and new government to take office in December, must move to implement commitments to protect women’s rights to end abuses and impunity,” Knox said.

For further information, please see:

GlobalPost — Amnesty International: Mexico Failing to Protect Women from Violence, Discrimination — 12 July 2012

Latin American Herald Tribune — AI Criticizes Impunity for Violence Against Women in Mexico — 12 July 2012

Amnesty International — Mexico Fails to Tackle Increased Levels of Violence Against Women — 11 July 2012

Chicago Tribune — Report Chides Female Violence in State of Mexico’s President-Elect — 11 July 2012

Ratko Mladic’s War Crimes Trial Underway

By Pearl Rimon
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

THE HAGUE, Netherlands – The U.N. war crimes trial of Ratko Mladic had its first witness take the stand this week. Mladic, 70, the former Bosnian Serb army chief is charged with 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, if convicted he could face the maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

Mladic is alleged to be the mastermind behind the Serb atrocities in the Bosnian war that took place between 1992-1995, that left 100,000 people dead. Mladic faces charges relating to the 1995 Srebrenicia massacre, where nearly 8,000 Muslim men and boys were killed. This is worst single atrocity committed in Europe since World War II.

Elvedin Pasic took the stand and broke into tears as he described fleeing his village in 1992 as it was under fire by Mladic’s troops. Pasic and his father were captured and put in a makeshift prison in a school with the other villagers, The women and children were separated and taken away.

“Your honors, after being there that night, there is no doubt in my mind they were all killed,” Pasic told the three-judge panel.

Mladic is believed to be the mastermind behind the plan to rid Bosnia of Croats and Muslims. He allegedly ordered troops to drive  them and other non-Serb residents from Bosnian towns. He is also alleged to have used 200 U.N. peacekeepers as human shields.

Mladic’s lawyers filed a motion on Monday to adjourn the war crimes case for six months. The motion demanded for more time due to the trial judges changing the rules governing documentary evidence that prosecutors can file. The trial was already halted in May due to irregularities by the prosecution in the transfer of documents to the defense.

The defense motion said the change “is unprecedented in the history of the tribunal and threatens to be a significant blight to the integrity of these proceedings. Urgent action by the Chamber is required to avoid a very (great) potential miscarriage of justice.”

The U.N. indicted 161 people for their involvement in the Bosnian war. The Bosnian war led to the deaths of 100,000 people and left another 2.2 homeless.

Mladic spent 16 years on the run before being found and indicted in May 2011. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

For further information, please see:

BBC News — Ratko Mladic Trial: Witness Recalls Bosnia Killings – 09 July 2012

Huffington Post– Ratko Mladic Trial: Elvedin Pasic, First Witness, To Testify At War Criminal’s Trial – 09 July 2012

Washington Post — First Witness Weeps As He Testifies in Mladic Trial About Being Separated From Father – 09 July 2012

ICTJ In Focus July 2012 Issue 22

ICTJ In Focus July 2012 Issue 22

Russian Parliament Defames Magnitsky Posthumously to Fight Magnitsky Act in Washington

Press Release
Hermitage Capital

11 July 2012 – In an effort by Russian Federation Council members visiting Washington to fight against Magnitsky sanctions, the group handed a dossier to US Senators defaming Sergei Magnitsky posthumously and fully contradicting the conclusions of the Russian President’s Human Rights Council report on the Magnitsky case.

In their report, members of the Federation Council claimed that Magnitsky never discovered the theft of $230 million of taxes from the government. This is contradicted by four of his testimonies before and after his arrest (http://russian-untouchables.com/eng/testimonies) as well as President Medvedev’s own Human Rights Council report which referred to a state-sanctioned cover up of the theft (http://russian-untouchables.com/eng/civil-right-council).

The Russian Federation Council’s report also claimed that the wounds on Magnitsky’s body which were inflicted on the night he died, had nothing to do with his death on November 16th, 2009. This was contradicted by the President’s Human Rights Council and the Moscow Public Oversight Commission also which conducted an independent investigation into Magnitsky’s detention.

They further claimed that Magnitsky’s arrest was “legal” in spite of the fact that he was arrested by the very same officers who he had testified against on 5 June 2008 and 7 October 2008 (http://russian-untouchables.com/rus/docs/D423.pdf).

Finally, and most cynically, they claim that Magnitsky was a “drunk” and “out of shape.” They say these conditions led to his death. This was not true and contradicted by his widely known reputation as one of the most respected professionals in Moscow.

“In addition to prosecuting Magnitsky posthumously, these representatives of the Putin regime now want to defame him posthumously. Their moral compass is completely backward if they think this is going to sway the people who want justice for Sergei Magnitsky,” said a Hermitage Capital representative.

 

For further information please contact:

Hermitage Capital

Phone:             +44 207 440 17 77
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Website:          http://lawandorderinrussia.org
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