CHAPTER 3
In addition to defamation and other obstacles, the families are subject to threats and extortion simply for asking about their relatives. Many times the same authorities tell them, “it’s better not to look anymore or things could go bad,” say several relatives of the disappeared. Not only are relatives the target of harassment or defamation, so are the human rights organizations that support their cases: “Some authorities tell the victim, when you go to give your statement, there are many organizations that might come up to you, but don’t believe them because they profit from the pain of the mothers, if you leave the Committee you will get your daughter back, but if you continue you will not find her alive,” says Norma Lagona from the Committee of Relatives of the Disappeared in Ciudad Juarez. Another example is Justice for Our Daughters. This organization received threatening phone calls for four months in 2011 and they believe that these calls are linked to their work reviewing the case files of disappeared women.”145
The duty to investigate Tita Radilla states that 38 years after the disappearance of her father, “the advances in the investigation are minimal. The majority of information has been provided by the victims’ relatives: the Public Prosecutor asks you who took the person and where did they take them. They ask us questions like: ‘If they killed him, where do you think they buried him?’ We don’t know, we didn’t do it. There is no real and effective investigation. All of the investigation is based on information from the relatives. They give the victims the duty of investigating. The excavations, for example, were based on the testimonies of relatives and witnesses, they did them based on rumors. We told them where to excavate, when they are the ones that should investigate and tell us where our relatives are.” Similarly, Raul Alanis (FUUNDEC), says that there are never advances in state investigations and the family members are the ones that do the investigating on their own: “We are the ones to give information, through investigations on our own; then the public officials have the documentation and they don’t do anything with the case file,” a member of the group of relatives says, “When I told them to investigate and look for fingerprints in the car [of the person who was disappeared], they told me that I was watching too many American TV shows, because that doesn’t happen here.” In Baja California, the Citizens Association against Impunity has a similar stance: “The best thing that could happen to us is political will [from the state] to investigate the cases that can be 145 Interview with Norma Ledezma and Juan Solis, Justice for Our Daughters, Chihuahua, May 15, 2012.
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A Panorama of the Defense of Human Rights in Mexico. Initiatives and Risks of Mexican Civil Society.
investigated. We are aware that it is not possible [to investigate some of the cases], but we know of cases in which they have received important information about the case, and this information only stayed on paper.”146 The Citizens Association is made up of relatives of the disappeared; its work is focused on achieving a swift investigation into the disappeared and making changes to public policy. The organizations say that another problem in the investigation process is the lack of real coordination and transparency with families, including access to the case files. The Reddh says that in the case of Dr. Velazquez, the family gave the authorities names of people who might be responsible for the crime and the authorities asked the relatives not to make any of this information public. However, the PGJ of Puebla then sent the information to the media as part of the results of their investigation, when it was actually information provided by the family. In this case, according to information from the organization, three people were held for the alleged robbery of Dr. Velazquez’ vehicle and homicide and then the formal documents came out to begin the trial (for the same accusations): “We do not understand why they included homicide if the body was never found. The PGJE announced the names of the people who were detained in the press and told the media that they kept the family informed about the case. That is not true, they did not even show us the case file, they let us see it after pressuring them for several months,” says Amanda Mendoza, daughter of the disappeared man.
“We are the ones that give the information, through investigations on our own.Then the public officials have the documentation, and they don’t do anything with the case file.” One hypothesis of the families and the organizations is around the question, “why or for what reason do they take so many people? For forced labor?” This is one of the things that families in FUUNDEC have discussed with authorities: “But they repeatedly refuse to take on the investigation.” Another fear of the families is the criminalization of the disappeared people once they are found. They believe their relatives could be incarcerated for involvement with criminal groups (even if they had been forced to work for these groups.) Some relatives of the disappeared say that officials from the SSP, SEDENA and the PGR told them that 146 Interview with Cristina Palacio, Delia Patricia Quintero López, Lourdes Dehesa and Teresa Ramos Florez, Citizens Association against Impunity, Baja California, July 17, 2012.