A Family's Trek From Little to Nothing: Flooding in Guatemala Has Heavy Impact on Those Already Marginalized.

Added: Nov. 14, 2011

Congressional anti trafficking leader Rosi Orozco eulogizes Interior Department leaders in the war against modern slavery

Mexico

Comunicado

Con profunda tristeza me uno al dolor que embarga a las familias de cada uno de los pasajeros que viajaban junto con el Srio. de Gobernación José Francisco Blake Mora, en el trágico accidente sucedido el día de ayer; Felipe de Jesús Zamora Castro, subsecretario de Asuntos Jurídicos y Derechos Humanos [y otros]…, quienes sirviendo a su Nación, perdieron su vida.

Siempre estaremos agredecidos por el apoyo del Srio. José Francisco Blake quien en funciones subió el tema del delito de Trata de Personas al Consejo de Seguridad Nacional equiparando así este delito con el de secuestro. En todo momento fue un hombre dispuesto y determinado a luchar por tener un mejor país, una mejor Nación, un mejor México para nacionales y extranjeros.

Felipe de Jesús Zamora, gran aliado en la lucha contra la Trata de Personas, comprometido con la campaña de la ONU en contra de este crimen, portando todos los días en la solapa de su traje el símbolo del Corazón Azul, su pérdida para mí es irreparable.

Press Release

It is with deep sadness that I join with the pain felt by the families of each of the passengers who were traveling with Mexico’s Secretary of the Interior José Francisco Blake Mora during the tragic [helicopter] accident that happened yesterday..., including Felipe de Jesús Zamora Castro, Secretary of Legal Affairs and Human Rights at the Interior Department.

We will always be thankful for the support of Secretary Blake Mora, who raised the issue of human trafficking before the National Security Council, where he equated trafficking with crime of kidnapping [which is penalized much more severely under Mexican law]. The Secretary was at all times a man willing and determined to fight for a better country, a better nation, a better Mexico for nationals and foreigners.

[Another victim of the crash, Undersecretary of the Interior for Judicial Affairs and Human Rights] Felipe de Jesus Zamora was a great ally in the fight against trafficking in persons. He was committed to [Mexico’s collaboration with] the United Nations Blue Heart campaign against trafficking, wearing therir blue heart pin on his lapel each and every day. His loss is irreparable.

I join the pain of all Mexicans, who have lost brave servants of our nation. They defended the values which make Mexico great through their day-to-day hard work and determination. I sympathize with their beloved families, peers and colleagues.

 Attentively

Atentamente

Diputada Federal Rosi Orozco

Nov. 11, 2011

Added: Nov. 14, 2011

Mexico

La CIDH admite el caso de 11 mujeres mexicanas que acusan tortura sexual

La Comisión Interamericana investigará una denuncia de violación de un grupo mujeres en un operativo policial en San Salvador Atenco en 2006

Según la documentación de organizaciones civiles, al menos 26 mujeres fueron violadas, de las cuales, 11 acudieron ante la CIDH (Cuartoscuro Archivo).

La Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos (CIDH) admitió investigar el caso de 11 mujeres mexicanas que aseguran que fueron víctimas de tortura sexual durante una represión policial en 2006 en San Salvador Atenco, en el Estado de México.

Durante el 143° periodo ordinario de sesiones, la CIDH emitió un informe para comenzar a investigar la petición 512-08 Mariana Selvas Gómez y otros vs. México, interpuesta en abril de 2008 bajo el cargo de dilación de justicia por la nula investigación en el caso.

“Ni la Fiscalía Especial de Delitos Violentos Contra las Mujeres y Trata de Personas (Fevimtra) ni la Procuraduría General de Justicia del Estado de México (PGJEM) han realizado una adecuada investigación y ningún policía, de los más de 2,500 agentes que intervinieron, ha sido sancionado”, acusa el Centro de Derechos Humanos Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez (Centro Prodh), que lleva el caso legal de las denunciantes.

La Comisión investigará ahora si el Estado mexicano cometió violaciones de derechos humanos y dará a conocer sus conclusiones en cuanto la parte acusadora y el gobierno mexicano sean notificados sobre las mismas.

La población de San Salvador de Atenco se movilizó en febrero y mayo de 2006 contra la expropiación de tierras en San Salvador Atenco para la construcción de un nuevo aeropuerto internacional en el centro del país. La protesta derivó en un enfrentamiento en el que participaron 2,500 policías de los tres órdenes de gobierno. Dos personas murieron y 207 fueron detenidas.

Organizaciones civiles como el Centro Prodh denuncian que durante el operativo del 3 y 4 de mayo de 2006, al menos 26 mujeres fueron víctimas de tortura sexual; de las cuáles, 11 presentaron una querella ante la CIDH.

Estas mujeres denunciaron que los agentes las detuvieron por participar en los disturbios y que en los vehículos donde eran trasladadas a un penal sufrieron violencia sexual, física y verbal.

Una de las denunciantes, Italia Méndez, escribió una carta en el quinto aniversario del operativo en Atenco: "La tortura sexual ejercida contra nosotras las mujeres en los operativos fue un hecho difícil de afrontar y denunciar, dimensionar tal violencia contra nuestros cuerpos nos resultaba desbordante, sin embargo, el mantenernos juntas y enfrentar al Estado de forma colectiva nos permitió afrontar y desmontar el discurso del poder en el cual nosotras debíamos sentir vergüenza y no podíamos hacer nada con lo ocurrido”.

En julio de 2010, la Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación (SCJN) ordenó la liberación de 12 integrantes del Frente de Pueblos en Defensa de la Tierra (FPDT), que estaban sentenciados a penas de entre 31 y 112 años de cárcel por el delito de secuestro equiparado tras haber participado en la protesta.

Un año antes, la Corte dictaminó que los policías que fueron parte del operativo cometieron graves violaciones a las garantías individuales. Hasta ahora, sólo uno ha sido consignado por actos libidinosos, pero no fue encarcelado.

La SCJN también deslindó responsabilidad al expresidente Vicente Fox y al exgobernador del Estado de México, Enrique Peña Nieto.

El exmandatario estatal dijo en 2008 que volvería a ordenar un operativo similar en caso de que fuera necesario restablecer el orden y la paz social. Sin embargo, un año después, reconoció que en el caso existe un “alto grado de impunidad” en cuanto a violaciones y abusos cometidos por los 2,500 policías que participaron, pero dijo que era “prácticamente imposible saber quién las cometió”.

Cinco años después de haber avalado el operativo, Enrique Peña Nieto es el político mexicano mejor posicionado en las encuestas para los comicios presidenciales de 2012.

International Commission will investigate the case of 11 Mexican women who charge sexual torture [at the hands of police]

The Inter-American Commission for Human Rights (IACHR)  has decided to investigate rape complaints filed by a group of women in regard to a police operation that occurred in the city of San Salvador de Atenco in 2006.

According to documentation assembled by nongovernmental organizations, at least 26 women were raped at the time of the incident. Eleven of those victims have pursued the case that will be considered by the IACHR.

During its 143rd regular session, the Commission issued a report to begin investigating  petition 512-08 -  Mariana Selvas Gómez et al., Mexico, filed in April 2008 on allegations that justice was not served because officials failed to investigate the case.

"Neither the [federal] Special Prosecutor for Violent Crimes Against Women and Trafficking in Persons (FEVIMTRA) nor the Attorney General of the State of Mexico (PGJEM) conducted an adequate investigation, and none of the more than 2,500 police officers involved [in the operation] has been penalized,” declared a spokesperson for the Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez Human Rights Center (PRODH Center), which provides legal representation for the complainants.

The Commission will now investigate whether the Mexican government committed human rights violations and will publish its conclusions after the complainants and the Mexican government are notified about them.

The population of San Salvador Atenco had mobilized in February, and then in May of 2006 in protest against the expropriation of land within the city that was to be used for the construction of a new international airport. The protest led to a confrontation and a response by more than 2,500 federal, state and local police officers. Two people died and 207 were arrested.

Civil society organizations such as the PRODH Center reported that during the operation, which took place between May 3^rd and 4^th of 2006, at least 26 women were subjected to sexual torture. Eleven of those victims joined to bring the IACHR complaint.

The women reported that officers had arrested them for participating in the disturbances, and that they were sexually, physically and verbally assaulted on the buses that transported them to jail.

One of the complainants, Italia Méndez, wrote a letter on the fifth anniversary of the operation in Atenco and stated: "The sexual torture that was perpetrated against us as women was hard to face and denounce - such violence [against] our bodies was overwhelming. Nonetheless, by staying together and by confronting the state collectively, we were able to dismantle the discourse that was [publicized] by those in power, a discourse that said that we should feel ashamed and that we could not do anything about what had happened."

In July 2010, the Supreme Court of Justice (SCJN) ordered the release of 12 members of the Peoples' Front in Defense of the Land (FPDT), who had been sentenced to between 31 and 112 years in prison for the crime of kidnapping after participating in the protest.

A year earlier, the Court ruled that the police officers who were part of the operation committed serious violations of individual rights. So far, only one officer has been prosecuted for lewd acts. He was not jailed.

The supreme court also exonerated [former] president Vicente Fox and the former governor of Mexico state, Enrique Peña Nieto in regard to the case.

Peña Nieto said in 2008 that he would have ordered a similar operation again in the event that it become necessary to restore order and social peace. A year later, Peña Nieto acknowledged that there was a "high degree of impunity" in regard to the violations and abuses committed by the 2,500 police officers involved, but said it was "practically impossible to know who committed those acts".

Five years after having [ordered and] supported the operation, Enrique Peña Nieto holds the top position in polls leading up to the 2012 presidential race.

Tania L. Montalvo

CNNMéxico

Nov. 09, 2011

See also:

Added: Nov. 14, 2011

Mexico

Raped, Beaten, Never Forgotten

When the women left their homes that May morning in 2006, they never imagined the horrific experience that lay ahead of them.

During a police operation in response to protests by a local peasant organization in San Salvador Atenco, more than 45 women were arrested without explanation. Dozens of them were subjected to physical, psychological and sexual violence by the police officers who arrested them.

In the case of one of the women, police officers pulled her hair, beat her, and forced her into a state police vehicle with her shirt pulled over her head. She was made to lie on top of other detainees, and during the journey to the prison, police officers sexually assaulted her repeatedly.

Once at the "Santiaguito" prison near Toluca in Mexico State, the prison doctors who examined many of the women failed to document all their physical injuries or to gather evidence of the sexual abuse they had suffered.

More than four years later, these brave survivors are still waiting for justice.

None of the officials responsible for their abuse have been held accountable. Federal authorities had conducted an investigation that resulted in a list of 34 names of police officers who were suspected of being responsible for the abuses, but the federal authorities concluded that these individuals should be prosecuted at the state level.

Almost no progress has been made in over a year. Now is the time to push for real justice and remind the federal government of Mexico that it has the ultimate responsibility to protect the human rights of its citizens, and not to let this impunity continue...

Amnesty International

2011

See Also:

LibertadLatina

Special Section

Atenco

Added: Nov. 14, 2011

Mexico

Detectan 17 casos de trata en la Riviera Maya

Ante los hechos de explotación sexual se realizará una marcha pacífica el próximo 12 de noviembre en la zona turística de Cancún

El Centro Integral de Atención a la Mujer Maltratada (CIAM-Cancún) documenta los casos de al menos 17 menores de edad, víctimas de una red de tratantes de personas en la Riviera Maya, quienes vivían originalmente en situación de calle y fueron captadas por tratantes que las "engancharon" en el turismo sexual, comerciándolas sexualmente para el consumo de turistas canadienses, italianos y norteamericanos, principalmente.

La organización, que brinda asesoría psicológica, emocional, jurídica y alberga a mujeres víctimas de violencia, conocieron de los casos como parte de la campaña "Yo no estoy en venta" que iniciaron en mayo pasado para prevenir y combatir el delito de la Trata de Personas en sus diversas modalidades, enfocada a adolescentes y jóvenes a quienes se dota de herramientas para detectar el fenómeno, reconocer los signos de alerta y, en su caso, denunciarlos a personas de su confianza.

Como parte de dicha campaña se realizará una marcha pacífica el próximo 12 de noviembre en la zona turística de Cancún para lanzar como mensaje al turismo y a la industria de que Cancún es paraíso, pero no para el turismo sexual y que la niñez en Quintana Roo, no está en venta, anunció este martes la presidenta del CIAM-Cancún, Lydia Cacho Ribeiro.

 La activista reveló datos preliminares sobre los casos detectados y el estudio que han conformado para dibujar el perfil de los tratantes de personas que operan en Cancún y en Playa del Carmen -municipios de Benito Juárez y Solidaridad- en donde estas mafias que explotan comercialmente a menores de edad son protegidas por cárteles de la droga, específicamente por Los Zetas y los "Pelones".

Del grupo de 17 víctimas halladas por CIAM, Cacho Ribeiro dijo que sus edades oscilan entre los 13 y 16 años, que provienen de diferentes entidades de la República Mexicana y que su común denominador estriba en que la violencia doméstica que sufrieron en el hogar las hizo huir y encontrar refugio en las calles…

"Esta modalidad de víctimas de Trata, que se encuentran en situación de calle está cobrando importancia en Cancún y Riviera Maya. Hemos sabido por testimonios de las propias víctimas que mantienen relaciones sexuales con policías, comerciantes, taxistas y chavos de calle a cambio de comida, protección, favores o drogas y no exclusivamente por dinero.

"Luego son captadas por sujetos a los que ubican como ‘valedores' que primero las protegen, con quienes entablan un vínculo emocional muy fuerte, y quienes terminan explotándolas sexualmente o entregándolas a tratantes profesionales", expresó.

Estos ‘valedores' operan particularmente en la famosa Quintana Avenida, localizada en Playa del Carmen y en playas aledañas a la zona. Y en Cancún, en el Parque de las Palapas y en la zona de bares de la avenida López Portillo.

 La agrupación ha dividido en tres al tipo de víctimas de Trata, detectados en Quintana Roo, durante la campaña "Yo no estoy en Venta":

Infantes y adolescentes que viven con sus familias y son explotadas en niveles socieconómicos altos, por amigos de la escuela y propietarios de bares; quienes se reportan como desaparecidos o que huyeron de sus casas y terminan dentro de una red local o internacional de Trata; y quienes son traídas al estado por tratantes que manejan las rutas de tráfico de migrantes indocumentados, principalmente de países como Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica y Paraguay.

Activists detect 17 cases of minor sex trafficking at Mexico’s Riviera Maya resort

Given the facts of sexual exploitation, a peaceful march is planned for November 12^th in the resort city of Cancun

The Comprehensive Care Centre for Abused Women (CIAM-Cancún) has announced that it has documented the cases of at least 17 underage victims of sex trafficking networks in the Riviera Maya resort area. The victims were homeless children who had been entrapped by a network of traffickers who prostituted them for the consumption of sex tourists who are principally from Canada, Italy and the United States.

CIAM, which provides emotional, psychological, legal and housing assistance for women victims of violence, raised awareness of the 17 victims as part of its "I am not for sale" campaign. The effort began last May to prevent and combat the crime of human trafficking in its diverse forms. The campaign is aimed at teenagers and young adults who will be educated to detect the phenomenon, to recognize the warning signs and, where appropriate, report them to people they trust.

CIAM is organizing a peaceful march for November 12th in the resort city of Cancun to launch its message to the tourism industry that Cancun is a paradise, but not for sex tourism, and to declare that the children of the state of Quintana Roo are not for sale, announced CIAM-Cancún’s president, [journalist and activist] Lydia Cacho Ribeiro.

Cacho Ribeiro discussed preliminary data in regard to the cases detected as well as deails about a study that CIAM has developed to determine the profile of the human traffickers that are operating in Cancun and Playa del Carmen - where the gangs who engage in the commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) are protected by the drug cartels, and specifically Los Zetas and the "Pelones."

According to Cacho Ribeiro, the ages of the 17 victims found by CIAM are between 13 and 16. They come from across Mexico. Their common denominator is that they all suffered domestic violence at home that drove them onto the streets.

"This type of victims of trafficking, who may be found to be living on the streets, is becoming increasingly important in Cancun and Riviera Maya. We have testimony from the victims who have declared that the have sex with policemen, shopkeepers, taxi drivers and street kids in exchange for food, protection, favors or drugs. It is not always an exchange of money that is involved.

"Later, they are captured by subjects who pose as benefactors, who protect them, and with whom they have a strong emotional bond, These subjects end up exploiting the victim sexually, or they hand  the girl over to professional traffickers,” said Cacho Ribeiro.

These 'protectors' are especially active in the famous Avenida Quintana in Playa del Carmen, and along the beaches surrounding the area. In Cancun, they operate in the Parque de las Palapas and in the bars along the Avenida Lopez Portillo.

CIAM has categorized three types of victims of who have been detected in Quintana Roo state during the I am not for Sale campaign: 1) children and adolescents who are living with their families, who are exploited by school friends and bar owners; 2) youth who are reported as missing or who fled their homes and end up in a local or international [sex] trafficking network; and 3) victims who are brought into the state by traffickers who operate human smuggling routes that transport undocumented migrants who are principally from the nations of Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Paraguay.

Adriana Varillas

El Universal

Nov. 08, 2011