Federal Judge Orders Mireles torture investigation

A Federal judge instructed the Attorney General's Office to investigate probable acts of psychological torture against the leader of the AUC, José Manuel Mireles committed during and after  his arrest by federal forces.

At a press conference, attorney Salvador Navarro Molina said the Fifth District Judge in Michoacan, Jorge Armando Aceituno Wong, orders federal prosecutors to inquire into alleged abuses against his client.

"There are acts constituting the offense derived from torture".

 Their lawyer said the preliminary investigation of torture was filed with  the PGR in Uruapan, Michoacan.  Molina, along with Talia Vazquez Alatorre and Nestor Moon Ortiz, all attorneys of  Mireles, reported that their  client was the victim of an "conspiracy" and fabrication of evidence by the authorities to imprison him for possession of weapons , and  drug possession.

 
"We're Bringing the José Mireles Case to International Human Rights Organizations"

The attorneys stated that they will bring to international human rights organizations proof of the Public Ministry's [investigative police and prosecutors] willful misconduct in the cases of the citizen leader and his three bodyguards.

For example, Molina Serrano stated that the day Mireles and his bodyguards were arrested, ministerial authorities name different places where he was arrested, there is no flight log of the prisoner transfer, the weapons allegedly confiscated were tampered with (i.e., "not registered") and the supposed drugs thatthey were carrying were not weighed. Molina Navarro charged: "In this case, we have both illicit and illegal evidence, but the biggest or most flagrant violation is the Public Ministry's willful misconduct, that is, the intent to act with knowledge of purpose." 

Accompanied by colleagues Néstor Enrique Luna Ortiz and Talía Vázquez, the attorney declared that the weapons were tampered with and planted; there is no agreement on times; the actions have various inconsistencies, such as locations and times, nor was the scene of the events preserved.

 They explained that the case file contains two pages with the letterhead of the Michoacán Attorney General (PGJ), but indicating two different places where the arrest occurred: page 29 states the place of detention to be La Mira, [municipality of] Lázaro Cárdenas; page 30 specifies that the detention occurred in the town of San Antonio de Viña in [municipality of] Tacámbaro. 

The two locations are about 275 kilometers [170 miles] apart. Moreover, the case file records the recovery of "14 weapons, one 2014 Jeep Cherokee vehicle and four plastic bags with green grass, marijuana-like, and one with white powder resembling cocaine"; without, however, specifying the weight [of the alleged drugs], which constitutes another irregularity, the defense team points out. 

 Another irregularity, the lawyers stressed, relates to the transfer of the surgeon and his bodyguards after their arrest on June 27. The three were moved from Morelia to Lázaro Cárdenas in a Black Hawk helicopter. According to Mireles' defense team, traveling the 300 miles between one city and the others should have taken an hour and a half; the transfer, however, lasted  five hours. 

 The case file specifies that the arrest occurred at 6:00 p.m. on June 27, and Mireles and his bodyguards were handed over to the Attorney General's Office on the same day at 8:00 p.m. In his statement, Mireles said that his arrest was carried out between 4:30 and 5:00 p.m.; however, it is not possible to establish the departure time because the file does not include the flight log. 

 The aircraft landed at the Attorney General of Michoacán at about 9:10 p.m.; that is, the transfer of self-defense would have taken about six hours. In this regard, Molina Navarro said: "I am certain that this time was lost precisely in torture, which doesn't necessarily have to be reflected in blows or injuries. Torture can also be psychological." Mireles reported that during his transfer he was afraid of being thrown into the sea. 

Molina Navarro said that "it is clear that the armed people are not committing crime" because the weapons were registered with the Secretariat of National Defense (SEDENA), and they had the proper permits. The defense attorney argued that "an order to release for lack of evidence to proceed should have been issued [by the Judge]; on top of that, (now) the Public Prosecutor should be investigated for torture and violations of due process." In turn, Talía Vázquez, who is responsible for recording and publishing communiques from Mireles on the social media, accused Commissioner Alfredo Castillo of not having complied with agreements signed on April 14, 2014. 

The gist of those agreements was to: 

• Detain identified suspects, including Servando, La Tuta, Gómez; 
• Transfer self-defense forces [imprisoned outside Michoacán] to Apatzingán [Michoacán]
• Render non-accusatory conclusions [i.e., not-guilty verdicts] to secure their release; 
•  and Protect the leaders [of the self-defense groups].

 "None of these things happened," Velázquez charged,  drawing attention to the 384 self-defense members still in prison and the more than 5,000 applications to join the Rural Force [established to replace and legalize the self-defense groups] that have not been dealt with. 

The Mexican government, Vázquez elaborated, has turned Dr. Mireles into a "political prisoner" for not complying with the agreement considering that he did not "pay attention to the disarmament," but neither has the State done everything it promised on May 10. Therefore, she said, the defense team will file Mireles' case record before international human rights bodies ... in order to seek their support.

Sources: Reforma, Proceso, MexicoVoices translation by Jane Brundage