Eduardo Catarino Dircio’s wife (Photo @Radio Alborada de Tixtla)

On June 4th, a chase and fighting between groups of armed civilians and state police in Tixtla left a toll of two dead civilians, lawyer Eduardo Catarino Dircio and a suspected member of organized crime, as well as two seriously injured state police officers.

According to his relatives, the 45-year-old lawyer and leader of MORENA in the city, was executed extrajudicially by policemen inside his home and then “they planted a weapon”. They also denounced that “he did not die immediately and agonized for several minutes, even when the police prevented him from being helped, without calling an ambulance to attend to him. After dying, and according to the testimony of Hilda Vazquez [his wife], a firearm of exclusive use of the army was placed on the body of Lic. Eduardo Catarino, in full view of two minors, a daughter and nephew and the impotence of Hilda who were threatened so as not to help.”

In a bulletin, the Jose Maria Morelos y Pavón Regional Center for the Defense of Human Rights and the Collective against Torture and Impunity (CCTI in its Spanish acronym) stated that “the government of the State has not arrested anybody responsible for the extrajudicial killing of Eduardo Catarino Dircio; the State Human Rights Commission has not asked the State Government for precautionary measures for the Catarino Cipriano family, who, by publicly denouncing the extrajudicial and summary execution of Eduardo Catarino Dircio, as well as threats and verbal aggression against relatives and witnesses are in a high risk situation. The situation is aggravated because the spokesman of the state in an effort to hide the facts, in his statements pointing to Lic. Eduardo Catarino Dircio criminalizes him by identifying him as a “hitman”. Such criminalization is an additional grievance for the family, their Tixtla compañeros and lawyers from Guerrero.”

In their bulletin, the two civil organizations indicated that their concern “goes beyond what has happened to this extrajudicial killing that should not go unpunished: we are concerned about the lack of sensitivity of those who are in charge of safeguarding the safety of all citizens of Guerrero; (…) we are concerned that despite the militarization in several violent points of the state such as Chilpancingo, Tixtla and Chilapa, executions and murders continue to occur every day; that the police and army elements continue to give motives to generate distrust among the citizens, for that reason once again we reject the Law of Internal Security.”

For more information in Spanish:

Denuncian ejecución extrajudicial de abogado de Morena en Guerrero (Proceso, 4 de junio de 2017)

Balacera en Tixtla; acusan a policías estatales de matar a líder de MORENA (El Sur, 5 de junio de 2017)

El abogado asesinado no era un sicario sino un hombre intachable, dice el alcalde de Tixtla (6 de junio de 2017)

La probable ejecución extrajudicial y sumaria del Lic. Eduardo Catarino Dircio debe ser investigada y sus perpetradores llevados ante la justicia. (Boletín del Centro Regional de Defensa de Derechos Humanos “José Ma. Morelos y Pavón” A. C., y del Colectivo Contra la Tortura y la Impunidad A. C., 6 de junio de 2017)

El abogado asesinado por policías en Tixtla no era sicario, se retracta el gobierno (El Sur, 6 de junio de 2017)

Asesinan a militante de Morena en Guerrero; partido acusa ejecución policial, gobierno lo niega

(Animal Político, 6 de junio de 2017)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Guerrero: Levantan en Tixtla a integrante de la CRAC-PC (25 de noviembre de 2016)