Mexico
14.09.06
Urgent Interventions
Mexico: Death in police custody of Mr. José Gabriel Velázquez Pérez, Chiapas.
Case MEX 140906
Allegations of ill-treatment and/or acts of torture / Death in detention
Geneva, September 14, 2006
The International Secretariat of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Mexico.
According to the information received from the Human Rights Centre Fray Bartolomé de las Casas (Centro de Derechos Humanos “Fray Bartolomé de las Casas”), at around 4:00 pm on August 27, 2006, Mr. José Gabriel Velázquez Pérez, a 34 year-old carpenter, was detained by two members of the municipal police at the residence of his mother, Ms. Francisca María Pérez Alonso, on Miguel Hidalgo street in Chiapa de Corzo.
It is reported that the detention was characterised by an excessive use of force, as one of the two policemen threw tear gas into Mr. Velázquez Pérez’s face while the other prevented him from moving, beating and holding him with a foot on his chest.
According to the information received, Mr. Velásquez Pérez was seen alive for the last time that t same day between 5:30 and 6:00 pmwhen he was visited in jail by Ms. Francisca María Pérez Alonso and Ms. Laraine Juárez Esteban, respectively his mother and wife, and his daughter Lupita. There, they found him leaning against the wall, his head on the side. Apparently, the carpenter managed to say, among other things: “...take me out because I need oxygen (...), take me out of here because I’m dying, the policemen are beating me...”. Later, Ms. Laraine Juárez Esteban told the municipal judge that she “(...) felt that the policemen had been beating her husband, ... that he was asking for help because he didn’t have enough oxygen... (...)”. The municipal agent answered that he was not going to intervene as the detainee “was talking this way because he was drunk (...)”.
Subsequently, at around midnight on the same day, Mr. José Gabriel Velázquez Pérez’s mother and wife were informed by penitentiary authorities of his death.
The report of the autopsy conducted on Mr. José Gabriel Velázquez Pérez, which was signed by Dr. Elena Concepción López, a medical examiner on rounds, claims that the body had: “…a liver with a burst and bruised right lobe, …bruises on both kidneys, a burst pancreas...”. According to reports, the autopsy concluded that the cause of death was“… massive internal haemorrhage and deep traumatism following the bursting of internal organs in the abdominal cavity …”, without referring to or presupposing the cause of these injuries. For these reasons, an enquiry (N° 000700/CAJC9/2006) was launched at the Attorney General’s office of the Zona Centro, in Chiapa de Corzo.
According to reports, because the conclusion of the autopsy was very similar to other cases where the victims died after being beaten, it is feared that Mr. José Gabriel Velázquez Pérez’s death was the result of ill-treatment and/or acts of torture perpetrated inside the prison.
The OMCT recalls the fact that it has already reported on the aggressive climate existing inside the prisons of Chiapas following accounts from many prisoners that they had been verbally and physically assaulted by other inmates with the consent of penitentiary authorities. Therefore, the International Secretariat of OMCT urges the Mexican Government to take the necessary measures to guarantee an independent, exhaustive and impartial investigation into the events mentioned above, with the goal of identifying those responsible, bringing them to justice, and applying the penal and/or administrative sanctions stipulated by law.
More generally, the OMCT calls upon the Mexican authorities to take the necessary measures to implement minimum conditions of security and of respect for the physical and psychological integrity of all people who are deprived of liberty, in accordance with its national laws and with its commitments acquired through international human rights instruments, in particular the Convention against Torture, which Mexico ratified.
i. Guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of all the members of Mr. José Gabriel Velázquez Pérez’s family ;
ii. Order a thorough and impartial investigation into these events in order to identify all those responsible, bring them to trial and apply the civil, penal and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;
iii. Guarantee that adequate compensation is awarded to Mr. José Gabriel Velázquez Pérez’s family;
iv. Guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards, in particular the Convention against Torture.
Please also write to Mexican embassies in your respective countries.
Geneva, September 14, 2006
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code number of this appeal in your reply.
Allegations of ill-treatment and/or acts of torture / Death in detention
Geneva, September 14, 2006
The International Secretariat of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Mexico.
Description of the situation
The International Secretariat of OMCT has received with concern information about the arbitrary detention and death in detention of Mr. José Gabriel Velázquez Pérez, and allegations of ill-treatment and/or acts of torture inflicted against him, in the district jail of the city of Chiapa de Corzo, in the state of Chiapas.According to the information received from the Human Rights Centre Fray Bartolomé de las Casas (Centro de Derechos Humanos “Fray Bartolomé de las Casas”), at around 4:00 pm on August 27, 2006, Mr. José Gabriel Velázquez Pérez, a 34 year-old carpenter, was detained by two members of the municipal police at the residence of his mother, Ms. Francisca María Pérez Alonso, on Miguel Hidalgo street in Chiapa de Corzo.
It is reported that the detention was characterised by an excessive use of force, as one of the two policemen threw tear gas into Mr. Velázquez Pérez’s face while the other prevented him from moving, beating and holding him with a foot on his chest.
According to the information received, Mr. Velásquez Pérez was seen alive for the last time that t same day between 5:30 and 6:00 pmwhen he was visited in jail by Ms. Francisca María Pérez Alonso and Ms. Laraine Juárez Esteban, respectively his mother and wife, and his daughter Lupita. There, they found him leaning against the wall, his head on the side. Apparently, the carpenter managed to say, among other things: “...take me out because I need oxygen (...), take me out of here because I’m dying, the policemen are beating me...”. Later, Ms. Laraine Juárez Esteban told the municipal judge that she “(...) felt that the policemen had been beating her husband, ... that he was asking for help because he didn’t have enough oxygen... (...)”. The municipal agent answered that he was not going to intervene as the detainee “was talking this way because he was drunk (...)”.
Subsequently, at around midnight on the same day, Mr. José Gabriel Velázquez Pérez’s mother and wife were informed by penitentiary authorities of his death.
The report of the autopsy conducted on Mr. José Gabriel Velázquez Pérez, which was signed by Dr. Elena Concepción López, a medical examiner on rounds, claims that the body had: “…a liver with a burst and bruised right lobe, …bruises on both kidneys, a burst pancreas...”. According to reports, the autopsy concluded that the cause of death was“… massive internal haemorrhage and deep traumatism following the bursting of internal organs in the abdominal cavity …”, without referring to or presupposing the cause of these injuries. For these reasons, an enquiry (N° 000700/CAJC9/2006) was launched at the Attorney General’s office of the Zona Centro, in Chiapa de Corzo.
According to reports, because the conclusion of the autopsy was very similar to other cases where the victims died after being beaten, it is feared that Mr. José Gabriel Velázquez Pérez’s death was the result of ill-treatment and/or acts of torture perpetrated inside the prison.
The OMCT recalls the fact that it has already reported on the aggressive climate existing inside the prisons of Chiapas following accounts from many prisoners that they had been verbally and physically assaulted by other inmates with the consent of penitentiary authorities. Therefore, the International Secretariat of OMCT urges the Mexican Government to take the necessary measures to guarantee an independent, exhaustive and impartial investigation into the events mentioned above, with the goal of identifying those responsible, bringing them to justice, and applying the penal and/or administrative sanctions stipulated by law.
More generally, the OMCT calls upon the Mexican authorities to take the necessary measures to implement minimum conditions of security and of respect for the physical and psychological integrity of all people who are deprived of liberty, in accordance with its national laws and with its commitments acquired through international human rights instruments, in particular the Convention against Torture, which Mexico ratified.
Action requested:
Please write to the authorities in Mexico urging them to:i. Guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of all the members of Mr. José Gabriel Velázquez Pérez’s family ;
ii. Order a thorough and impartial investigation into these events in order to identify all those responsible, bring them to trial and apply the civil, penal and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;
iii. Guarantee that adequate compensation is awarded to Mr. José Gabriel Velázquez Pérez’s family;
iv. Guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards, in particular the Convention against Torture.
Addresses:
- Misión Permanente de México ante las Naciones Unidas en Ginebra, 16 Avenue du Budé, 1202 Ginebra, Suiza. Fax :+41.22.748.07.08 TEL.: +41.22.748.07.07 ; E-mail: mission.mexico@ties.itu.int
- Doctor Vicente Fox Quezada, Presidente de la República Mexicana, Colonia San Miguel Chapultepec, México D.F. FAX: +52.55.516.58.37, +5255.55.22.34.26, +52.55.50.93.34.14
+52.55.52.77.23.76, +52.55.55.15.57.29 E-mail: radio@presidencia.gob.mx ; E-mail :sprivada@presidencia.gob.mx ; vicente.fox.quesada@presidencia.gob.mx - Sr. Daniel Cabeza de Vaca Hernández, Procurador General de la República, México, D.F., Tel: + 52.55.534.601.08 ; Fax: + 52.55.534.609.08 E-mail: ofproc@pgr.gob.mx
- Licenciado Miguel Ángel Yunez Linares, Subsecretario de Prevención y Protección Ciudadana. Tel: +52.55.52.42.81.00 Ext. 18989 FAX: +52.55.52.42.81.00 Ext. 18901
- Diputada Rebeca Godínez y Bravo, Presidente de la Comisión de Justicia y Derechos Humanos de la Cámara de Diputados. México CP:15969, Tel: + 52.55.542.250.10
- Diputado Heliodoro Díaz Escárraga, Presidente de la Mesa Directiva de la Cámara de Diputados, México DF, Tel: + 52.55.562.813.00
Addresses in Chiapas:
- Sr. Pablo Salazar Mendiguchía, Gobernador del Estado de Chiapas, Palacio de gobierno, 1er Piso, Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas, Conmutador:+52.961.61.290.47, + 52.961.61.290.48 +52.961.61.210.93,+ 52.961.61.233.52 y + 52.961.61.205.28 ; E-mail: secpart@prodigy.net.mx
- Sr. Mariano Herrán Salvatti, Fiscal General del Estado de Chiapas, C.P 30064 Tuxtla Gutiérrez,Chiapas,Conmutador:+52.961.61.653.59;+52.961.61.653.65;+52.961.61.653.74;+52961.61.653.73, Ext 300 – 303
- Diputado Roberto Domínguez Castellanos, Presidente de la Junta de Coordinación Política del Congreso del Estado de Chiapas, Tuxtla Gutiérrez. C.P. 29000, FAX: +52.961.613.55.64
- Diputado Enoch Araujo Sánchez, Presidente de la Mesa Directiva del Congreso de Chiapas, Tuxtla Gutiérrez. C.P. 29000 FAX: +52.961.613.59.33
- Magistrado Milton Escobar Castillejos, Presidente del Supremo Tribunal de Justicia del Estado de Chiapas, Palacio de Justicia Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Conmutador: +52.961.617.87.00 FAX: +52.961.616.53.50 E-mail: presidencia@stj-chiapas.gob.mx
Please also write to Mexican embassies in your respective countries.
Geneva, September 14, 2006
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code number of this appeal in your reply.