Human Right’s Commission prepares complaint against Genaro García Luna

Mexico's Human Rights Commission has its hands full

Mexico’s federal Human Rights Commission (Comisión Nacional de los Derechos Humanos, CNDH), is preparing a complaint to the federal attorney general’s office (PGR) against the country’s former secretary of public safety, Genaro García Luna, as well as others involved in the proceedings that led to the arrest and detention of Florence Cassez.

Raúl Plascencia Villanueva, president of the CNDH, said that he did “not want to give names”, but noted that the complaint is against “all those who directly participated, authorized, or tolerated” the Cassez fiasco. Ms. Cassez served seven years of a 60 year sentence for kidnapping, but her arrest and the ensuing investigation was marred by incompetence and deceit, leaving many of the victims feeling betrayed by the government.

Importantly, Plascencia Villanueva said that the bungling of the authorities, which resulted in a 3-2 decision in support of Cassez’s release, had “revictimized” the people held by the Los Zodiacos kidnap gang run by Cassez’s boyfriend, Israel Vallarta.

As soon as Cassez was released the CNDH asked for a certified copy of the court ruling in order to start an official investigation of the case’s implications. As well, one of the Los Zodiacos victims, Ezequiel Elizalde Flores, filed an official complaint with the CDNH.

(TE Wilson is the author of Mezcalero, a Detective Sánchez novel.)

Twitter: @TimothyEWilson

Email: lapoliticaeslapolitica [at] gmail [dot] com

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