Authorities implicated in 34 cases of torture against Ayotzinapa students

Translated by El Profe for Borderland Beat from Zeta Tijuana

Image: DIEGO SIMÓN SÁNCHEZ, Cuartosco.com

PGR, Semar, the Federal Police and even Tomás Zerón participated, says Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

In 34 cases of people prosecuted for the disappearance of the 43 students of the Normal Raúl Isidro Burgos de Ayotzinapa, there is solid evidence that reveals torture by elements of the Attorney General's Office (PGR), the Federal Police (PF) and the Secretariat of the Navy (Semar), according to a report by the Office in Mexico of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

According to the document, the 34 people - 33 men and one woman - were tortured with the aim of incriminating themselves and pointing out other possible perpetrators, in addition to being victims of other violations of their fundamental rights, during and after being arrested by agents of the Federal Government, among them, the then director of the Agency of Criminal Investigation (AIC), Tomás Zerón De Lucio.

The report entitled "Double Injustice: Report on human rights violations in the investigation of the Ayotzinapa case,” which documents the torture suffered by the detainees between September 2014 and January 2016, was presented this Thursday in Geneva, Switzerland, by the High Commissioner, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein; and in Mexico City, by the representative in the country of said Office, Jan Jarab.

The OHCHR documented that in the 34 cases there was "a consistent pattern of human rights violations and a practically uniform modus operandi" that included, among others, arbitrary detention of persons suspected by federal authorities, significant delays in the formal presentation of those arrested before agents of the Public Ministry of the PGR.

In addition to acts of torture, which occurred mainly in the first 48 hours after the arrest, with the intention of extracting information or a confession. In the 34 cases analyzed, the detainees presented numerous physical injuries, certified by medical examinations that are compatible with injuries resulting from being tortured.

The detainees were transferred to the Special Prosecutor's Office by the Investigation of Organized Crime (SEIDO) for the PGR, and there followed were the acts of torture in order to obtain a later statement before the public prosecutor. "Some of the self-incriminating statements would have been used as a basis for the acts presented against the detainees and for the accusations against other persons," said OHCHR.

The Office in Mexico of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights "found that all cases of documented human rights violations occurred after October 5, 2014, that is, after the PGR extracted the investigation from the Attorney General's Office of the State of Guerrero."

The report indicates that the violations of human rights committed in this stage of the investigation by the Ayotzinapa case have not been diligently addressed by the PGR. In addition, the OHCHR noted that it has not received any information so far of torture allegations during the subsequent detention of persons accused in federal prisons.

OHCHR also noted that during the first stage of the investigation, some cases of human rights violations continued to occur even after well-founded complaints had been filed by the detainees, and in at least one case, they were committed afterwards. Also, that the UN Office and human rights mechanisms transmitted information about these allegations to the authorities.

Some of the forms of torture identified by the OHCHR were beatings, kicking, electric shocks, blindfolding, attempted suffocation, sexual assault and psychological pressure. The federal authorities, to explain the injuries of the accused, blamed "self harm," "injuries prior to arrest," "drunkenness" or "falls," indicated the international body.

EXAMPLE OF TORTURE COMMITTED BY THE FEDERAL AUTHORITIES

One of the cases of torture illustrated by the OHCHR, is that of Agustín García Reyes, who was arbitrarily detained and tortured by elements of the AIC of the PGR, headed by Zerón De Lucio, carried out 28 October 2014 on the San Juan River, where the bags with the ashes of the 43 normalistas were allegedly found.

This story is one of the main foundations that the federal authorities have released as the so-called "historical truth," on January 27, 2015, in which it was argued that the 43 Ayotzinapa normalistas would have been killed and burned in the dumpster of Cocula, Guerrero, and their ashes thrown in plastic bags in said river.

The OHCHR claims to have strong conviction in García Reyes being arbitrarily detained and tortured. He also confirmed that he was taken to the San Juan River without proper registration, where he was interrogated without the presence of his lawyer by the then director of the AIC, Zerón De Lucio, even though that official did not have the legal mandate to do so.

The Office in Mexico of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights criticized the lack of documentation in the file that legally upholds the proceedings carried out that day, the inadequate registration and handling of the chain of custody of the evidence allegedly found in the San Juan river.

In addition, it condemned the "false" statement of the then director of the AIC of the PGR, in which he stated that members of the OHCHR team and the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team were present at the the forensics tests at the San Juan river.

In another case discussed in the OHCHR report, it was pointed out that there are accusations that one of the accused, Emmanuel Alejandro Blas Patiño -who allegedly was arrested, along with Eury Flores López and Francisco Javier Lozano Cuevas, on October 27 2014 in Cuernavaca, Morelos- and whose death was attributed to a roof fall from a height of 10 meters, died in reality as a result of the torture inflicted by elements of the Navy.

The Semar elements reported the arrest of Flores López and Lozano Cuevas at 5:00 am. However, OHCHR obtained information from the defendants, witnesses and files indicating that the arrest was actually made at 10 pm on October 26, one day before the marines said, and that the three detainees were placed at the disposal of the Public Prosecutor's Office at 11:30 am on the following day.

In the investigation folder SC01 / 7325/2014, a corporal reported that Blas Patiño fell from the roof. However, according to the PGR medical examinations when made available to the MP, Flores López had 30 injuries and Lozano Cuevas 17, although the marines said their capture "was peaceful." However, the first one declared on October 31, 2015, that the three were arrested inside a building, where they also tortured Blas Patiño.

"I heard 'it's not worth it, it's not worth it, he didn't make it, he choked', and I heard the others come and say what he had done and he told them that he had choked, that he didn't make it," said the MP, who determined that the cause of death was "acute brain hemorrhage, brain laceration and spinal cord section and vertebral fracture following severe trauma."

RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE OHCHR TO THE MEXICO FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

OCHCHR explained that its report "seeks to contribute to the search for truth and justice in the case and, more broadly, to the national agenda to fight against impunity, disappearances and torture in Mexico," in addition, that "a primary objective" of its document presented this Thursday is "to support the current transformative processes of law enforcement" in the country.

The findings of the report" show the need for renewed action on the part of the authorities, particularly those responsible for the enforcement of justice, to avoid an institutional practice of committing acts of torture, as well as their tolerance and concealment," indicated the OHCHR.

"To the extent that acts of torture and other human rights violations committed are not investigated and sanctioned, and evidence obtained under torture is not excluded, not only the rights of the persons prosecuted, but also the right to freedom of truth and justice of the victims of the events that took place on the night of September 26 and 27, 2014," said the international organization.

Based on the above, the Office of the High Commissioner launched a series of recommendations addressed to different authorities of the three branches of the Union and of the three levels of government in Mexico.

The PGR urged to carry out, "within a reasonable period of time," the corresponding investigations and identify those responsible for the arbitrary detentions, acts of torture and other human rights violations described, as well as incorporate the methodology of context analysis in the investigation for such violations to achieve the correct identification of patterns and responsibilities of the hierarchical superiors; among others.

To the holder of the Federal Executive branch, Enrique Peña Nieto, the OHCHR urged to implement the recommendation of the High Commissioner, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, on the creation of an Advisory Council to Combat Impunity, which "should propose strategies and reforms that boost research and sanctioning capacities, and pay for initiatives related to the reform of law enforcement."

The OHCHR urged the Legislative Branch to adopt both an institutional reform and an organic law "that effectively guarantees the independence, autonomy and professionalism of the Office of the Attorney General of the Republic, which includes internal control bodies or judicial processes. accountability."