The head of the National Commission on Human Rights in
Mexico (Comisión Nacional de los Derechos
Humanos, or CNDH), Raul
Plascencia, has indicated that the violent
confrontation between students and police that occurred on a highway
outside Chilpancingo, Guerrero, on December 12, 2011, showed strong indications
of human rights violations on the part of the police.
During the confrontation, in which demonstrating students
shut down the Acapulco to Mexico City highway to protest administrative and
educational issues, two normal school (teacher’s college) students from Ayotzinapa
were shot dead. A gas station attendant who attempted to put out a
conflagration at the scene, and who has now become something of a folk hero,
died later after having suffered severe burns.
Raul has more work to do
During the presentation of the preliminary report on the
case Ayotzinapa, the human rights ombudsman presented something akin to a statement
of facts.
The findings
At approximately 11:30 am on December 12, the CNDH reports that students
began to exit buses with placards demanding that the governor of Guerrero
improve the operating conditions of their school, and that he promise not to
close it. A half an hour later, federal police arrived, followed by state police,
who began to fire tear gas.
It was the federal police who fired the first shots in the
air to disperse the students. This resulted in approximately 300 students scattering
in all directions. Some students reported that federal police, carrying rifles,
fired into the air around 12:10. Video
evidence indicates that at that time plain-clothes, armed elements of the state
police arrived.
The
firing then began directly at protesters and stopped at 12:35. This means that for 25 minutes the police were firing
indiscriminately.
When it was over,
lying shot on the asphalt were Jorge Alexis Herrera Pino and Gabriel Echeverría
de Jesús, 19 and 20 years old, respectively, both sons of peasants and students
of the normal school. The two young men succumbed to their injuries. Three
others were wounded.
The CNDH did not
offer ballistics evidence, but did say that the shots came from the front, where
witnesses, as well as video evidence, indicate the police were shooting from.
24 people were arbitrarily arrested. Among these, one student was tortured and at least 15 others suffered “inhuman, cruel, and degrading
treatment.” Several videos show the police violently attacking some
students. Of the 24 detainees – 23 men and one woman – only nine were members
of the normal school. The rest were bystanders. The next day at noon 23 of the
24 detainees were released.
It
was the last detained student, Gerardo Torres Pérez, who was tortured by the
police. He was stripped, beaten in his ribs, and forced to say that he was
carrying an AK-47 during the demonstration. Police then took him to a vacant
lot in Zumpango
where they forced him to shoot a gun. He was given provisional release on the
afternoon of the 13th.
Now, if only the Associated Press would retract their story. Want to see how much damage false reporting can do? Just Google "Mexican police: Weapons found at protest site".
Now, if only the Associated Press would retract their story. Want to see how much damage false reporting can do? Just Google "Mexican police: Weapons found at protest site".
The CNDH is promising further investigation in order to push
for the prosecution and punishment of those involved. While they are at it,
they should find
out who set fire to the gas station by the highway, as by some accounts it
was this event that provided a pretext for opening fire on the students.
Plascencia noted that some statements made by the governor,
as well as by the student demonstrators, were contradicted by video evidence.
Twitter: @TimothyEWilson
Email: lapoliticaeslapolitica [at] gmail [dot] com
No comments:
Post a Comment