Justice demanded as report on ‘dirty war’ is presented

The demand for justice resounded once again at the Tlatelolco University Cultural Center (CCU). It was the voice of the victims and survivors of the dirty war perpetrated by the Mexican State between 1965 and 1990, after the presentation of the final report on these serious human rights violations presented by Commissioners Abel Barrera, David Fernández Dávalos and Carlos Pérez Ricart, members of the Historical Clarification Mechanism (MEH) of the Truth Commission.

In front of dozens of victims and their relatives who filled the Alfonso García Robles auditorium, including Tita Radilla, Alicia de los Ríos and some members of the Cabañas family, Abel Barrera pointed out that the content of the collection It was the State (1965-1990)which consists of six volumes, are not mere words, They are stories, lives, blood, pain and hope.

The exhibition began with a minute of silence for those who suffered atrocities such as forced disappearance, torture and extrajudicial execution, as well as for those who died in their struggle for truth and justice.

Barrera, Pérez Ricart and Fernández Dávalos detailed the findings: documentation of 8,594 victims, as well as 11,743 serious human rights violations, 46 massacres and 123,034 forcibly displaced people.

They presented particular cases, such as the disappearance of the communities El Salto Chiquito and La Peineta, in Guerrero, that the Army bombed and that are no longer there. Likewise, the massacre in Monte Chila, in Jolapa, Puebla, in 1970, which left 50 victims, and the violence against Guatemalan refugees in the country.

On this point, Fernández Dávalos revealed that on the Puerto Rico farm, in Ococingo, Chiapas, There are around 300 people buried clandestinely or irregularly, of whom we have requested their exhumation.. He said that although some died of natural causes, others due to incursions by the Guatemalan Army into Mexican territory.

The commissioners also mentioned that their investigation contains lists of names of 4,482 victims of the dirty war and 591 perpetrators.

Fernández Dávalos assured that with the presentation of the report The investigation into truth and justice is by no means closed and must continue in the future.so that the past is clarified and those responsible are punished.

He warned that there are currently no sufficient guarantees to prevent what happened in that period from happening again, Because the structures of repression, of violence (and) of the administration of justice, are intact, they have not been dismantled..

He indicated that the investigation showed that the State It was he who implemented and operated this state violence in a systematic and generalized manner in different contexts.. The above, he added, confirms that It was not a coincidence, it was not a few bad apples, as is now said about the Army; but there was a real plan and the structuring of a State to commit these violations..

During the presentation, the group of experts also presented some of the more than one hundred recommendations they have left for the continuation of their mandate, which began in December 2021 and ends on September 30.

These include the President offering a public apology and acknowledging the State’s responsibility for the violence perpetrated between 1965 and 1990. They also include the creation of a mechanism to follow up on the recommendations and findings, and the creation of a national centre for human rights memories.

Likewise, the Executive Commission for Victim Assistance should disappear, to make way for a new assistance body, since In its current state it is useless, it does not work.

During the emotional presentation, some of the attendees chanted slogans such as: Because they were taken alive, we want them back alive! And for the love of Mexico, no repetition! Alicia de los Ríos, Tita Radilla and Denisse Valverde also read testimonies from victims of serious human rights violations committed at the time.

For his part, the deputy representative of the UN-DH office in Mexico, Jesús Peña, encouraged the next authorities to strengthen the commitment and alliance with the victims. Only an unbreakable will will ensure that the effort has not been in vain..

Commissioner Eugenia Allier, who is in charge of another part of the MEH investigation, which will be made public in the coming weeks, did not attend the presentation.