(@Ciudadanía Expres)

On November 16th and 17th, in the framework of a public hearing before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR Court), the eleven women survivors of sexual torture in the events of San Salvador Atenco, State of Mexico, in May 2006, shared their testimonies about what happened and the impunity that has prevailed.

It should be recalled that on May 3rd and 4th, 2006, police forces carried out an operation in San Salvador Atenco supposedly to “re-establish order.” More than 200 people were arrested during the raids. 50 of them were women, 31 of whom later reported sexual assaults by the police.

Human rights defenders requested that the I/A Court HR order the State to carry out a serious investigation to end impunity, as well as “adopt transparent policies and mechanisms to regulate the use of police force and eradicate sexual torture as an extended practice.”

Civil organizations that have accompanied the case stressed that “the eleven women of Atenco represent thousands of victims and account for the major structural problems of the State: the excessive use of police force, violence against women, torture as a mechanism of control and the impunity that allows its chronic repetition.”

The representation of the Mexican State asked the Inter-American Court of Human Rights to declare before the Court that the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) the IACHR committed a “serious error” in its report by not taking into account the reparation measures proposed by the State to the women who were victims of sexual violence in that operation, nor the advances that the State has implemented in terms of gender equity after the facts. However, it said that the State admits its responsibility for human rights violations committed, including sexual torture. However, although some people are still under trial, there is no public servant with a conviction for the case.

For more information in Spanish:

Mujeres de Atenco (Síntesis de medios del Centro ProDH, noviembre de 2017)

Las mujeres de Atenco, ante la CIDH: “Nos han hecho sentir, repetidamente, pequeñas” (El País, 17 de noviembre de 2017)

“Error grave” de CIDH sobre Atenco, alega el Estado mexicano, pero acepta tortura (Aristegui Noticias, 18 de noviembre de 2017)

Luchadoras de Atenco rompen el silencio (Animal Político, 24 de noviembre de 2017)

For more information from SIPAZ:

México: La CIDH exige una investigación sobre el caso de varias mujeres víctimas de abuso sexual en San Salvador Atenco en el 2006 (30 de septiembre de 2016)