Parlamento Europeo en Diciembre 2014 cuestiono al Gobierno Mexicano sobre la Investigación mal hecha de el Caso Ayotzinapa, las conclusiones absurdas y sin rigor científico aquí el vídeo de la sesión, sobre el tema.
Parlamento Europeo Ayotzinapa 9 Dic 2014 Parte 1 por alexvogager
Parlamento Europeo Ayotzinapa 9 Dic 2014 Parte 2 por alexvogager
Ayotzinapa and the Crossroads Kevin D. Reyes 2 Angel Aguirre resigned after demonstrations erupted and the Ayotzinapa movement emerged. The power couple of Iguala, went on the run, before being caught about a month and a half later by federal authorities. In fact, here is a picture of them together with Aguirre.
When the PGR (Mexico’s Dep
artment of Justice) held a press conference in November after their initial investigation, Attorney General Jesus Murillo Karam concluded, after giving the
“official version” of the case, that “Iguala is not the state.” This was in response to a question on
the crime of enforced disappearance, which under international and inter-American law, is a crime of the state The
PGR’s official version that the students were kidnapped by the police, handed over to the
a narcotrafficking gang known as the Guerreros Unidos (which Pineda was found to be a leader of), and then burned alive at a dump in the nearby town of Cocula has been largely inconsistent with scientific evidence and thus has not been accepted by the families of the Ayotzinapa students. In fact, the army has been shown to have known about the attacks on the night of, and also to have harassed the surviving students. Ever since that night in September, Mexico has not seen an improvement in its dire human rights situation. In fact, people continue to disappear, bodies continue to turn up decapitated and mutilated, and demonstrators continue to face severe police brutality. This crisis has not only led the Ayotzinapa movement to hold large demonstrations throughout Mexico and the world, but they have also sought to appeal to the international bodies in which Mexico has committed to. In February, some went to Geneva to ap
peal to the UN’s Committee
on Enforced Disappearance where Mexico was condemned. That same week, the CA Senate passed a resolution condemning Mexico, and members of the EU Parliament have also condemned Mexico for its failures of human rights commitments. In Late March, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) held hearings on the human rights situations (with an emphasis on enforced disappearance) in the state of Guerrero and Mexico as a whole. The parents have also resorted to building awareness and support at the grassroots level by organizing a three-way caravan throughout the U.S. and, most recently, throughout Europe. Here
is a picture I took when I attended the Caravan’s stop at Howard University in DC, where I was
able to talk to the family members present and express my support and recommendations. The IACHR also designated a five-person Group of Independent Interdisciplinary Experts to lead a 6-month investigation on the case. I want you to keep in mind the person at the far left, Claudia Paz y Paz. Now, I want to deviate from this discussion for a bit and consider some essential points on human rights, because anyone can just as easily ask
‘
why should we care about human rights?
Ayotzinapa and the Crossroads Kevin D. Reyes 3 In the political economy of human rights, lies its paradox. States, which are defined by their sovereignty, are almost constantly at odds with the concept of universal human rights, defined and articulated in 1948 by the UN UDHR, pictured on the right. This paradox is evident even in early writings of political economy. On the left, is the sovereign, the Leviathan which was written about by Thomas Hobbes in the 17th century. John Locke, on the right, wrote about the necessity of certain inalienable rights in a civil society based on the fact that without one, we would be free to do anything. Thus, there exists a social contract between the state and the individual where security must be a fundamental necessity in a society. Aside from the international human rights commitments that have followed the UDHR, there also exists commitments at the regional level in the Americas, Europe, Africa, Middle East, and Asia.
And in the argument on “why human rights matter,” the issue of “cultural relativism” is
also often brought up.
In 1993, for example, some Asian states published the “
Bangkok Declarati
on” calling for cultural relativism
in human rights. However, in the context of the Americas the Inter-American system has consistently passed similar human rights commitments as those of the UN. With these double-layered commitments
—
one regional and one international
—
the argument of cultural relativism is thrown out the window. Now, going back to the crossroads that Mexico faces, let us explore the American precedent. In regards to the CIA torture program under the War on Terror since the attacks of 9/11, the U.S. has consistently avoided its commitments against torture under the Geneva Conventions and the Convention against Torture; so much that former decision makers of the Bush Administration have denied that the U.S. committ
ed torture, or that it even the “obsolete” commitments “do not apply.”
This is the precedent of impunity and abandonment The other precedent is that of Guatemala 10 years after its 36-year-long civil war ended in 1996, Guatemala moved towards the road of accountability. Here is General Jose Efrain Rios Montt, the leader from 1982-83. This was the bloodiest time of the entire war. Under his leadership, the Ixil Mayan people in Guatemala fell victim to the crime of genocide. However, in 2013, Rios Montt was put on trial for genocide and other crimes humanity. He was sentenced to a total of 80 years in prison. And although, this trial was restarted this past January and even rescheduled possibly for 2017, Guatemala has been following accountability and has shown to be compliant to its human rights commitments. This trial was made possible by the presence of the unprecedented CICIG. This International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala was established by a UN mandate in 2006 after the State actually ceded some of its sovereignty to combat impunity.
Ayotzinapa and the Crossroads Kevin D. Reyes 4 And the Attorney General who worked in collaboration with CICIG and who brought forth the Rios Montt trial was Claudia Paz y Paz, one of the current experts in the IACHR group. Guatemala has ultimately shown that the human rights paradox can be overcome by transitional justice. Although it is not a perfect model, CICIG has brought impunity levels down by almost a third.
Let’s now go back to Ayotzinapa and Mexico
. This weekend marks 7 months since the disappearance of the 43 students. But this crisis is not
just
about the 43 students. No, Ayotzinapa represents the inflection point in which the people of Mexico have had enough. The 43 are only a fragment of the 5,000 people declared missing in 2014. Ever since the War on Drugs in 2006, there have been over 22,000 missing and over 100,000 casualties. The economic cost of this just last year was $233 billion;
over 17% of Mexico’s GDP.
It is undeniable that Mexico is in a crisis of enforced disappearance. The Mexico Moment becoming the Mexico Murders and the Crossroads of Accountability Precedents as a case study of the human rights paradox have made me, and even President Pena Nieto,
‘
reconsider where Mexico is headed.
’
After having committed to global leadership and abiding by existing international commitments, Mexico, the Latin-North American nation, must choose wisely on which identity to follow, which precedent of accountability to pursue. Finally, in my report, I make recommendations to Mexico, Mexican society, the Ayotzinapa movement and families, the mechanisms of the UN and IACHR, the US, EU, and even businesses invested in Mexico (which have called its failed rule of law as a disincentive) Ultimately, I argue that the biggest opportunity for combating impunity in Mexico is for a CICIG-like mandate being established. Again, Claudia Paz y Paz, who worked closely with CICIG, is one of the 5 IACHR experts that will make recommendations after their investigations. Finally, I want to end with two very relevant quotes that put this crisis in a global perspective.
Former assistant secretary general of the UN David Tolbert has recently stated that “the
international community appears to be backsliding on its human-
rights commitments.”
This may be so, but Luis Rubio in a recent Wilson Center publication argues that “the rule of law [in Mexico] is possible.” I believe so as well.
Thank you very much.
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