Judicial Independence Initiative
Collected and Organized by Sarah Plato
Peruvian Judge Assassinated by Drug Dealers:
On Wednesday July 19, 2006, 60 year old Hernan Abelardo Saturno Vergara was shot dead while dining in a crowded restaurant in Lima. Judge Saturno was a member of the First “Penal Court for Jailed Criminals” and presided over an investigation of Peruvian drug traffickers linked to the Tijuana Cartel. In 2002, 25 traffickers were arrested on charges of working with the Mexican drug gang. By last year the number of defendants in the case had increased to 34. Saturno was one of three judges working on the case.
Investigations into the murder have centered on reviewing video tapes of the Lurigancho and Canto Grande prisons where the defendants are being held. Authorities have begun the long process of verifying all visits registered for the drug dealers since the beginning of their imprisonment. Frequent visits by drug trafficking ringleader Miguel Morales have been noted in the last few months. Morales had been released on July 6, 2005 from prison when he was granted a writ of habeas corpus. The ruling, however, was quickly revoked. According to police reports in 2005, Morales swore retaliation against Peru’s justice system.
Although it is suspected that the assassins are connected with the imprisoned drug traffickers, the identities of the killers have not yet been confirmed. Officials in charge of the search cited that the crime was well planned out, suggesting that a larger, more organized network was involved. According to both US and Peruvian officials, Mexican cartels are becoming increasingly powerful in Peru. Peru is now the world’s second largest producer of cocaine with output increasing 40% last year. The US Drug Enforcement Administration has also labeled the Tijuana Cartel one of the most powerful and violent drug trafficking organizations in the world.
The assassination has caused concern among Peruvian judges involved in similar cases. Supreme Court Justice Walter Vasquez Vejarano stated that, “the incident has generated instability in the courts.” Peruvian citizens have also been affected by recurring violence against judges. According to the International Narcotics Control Strategy Report for 2006, a public opinion poll conducted in Lima and five surrounding areas shows that the public is concerned about the extent of control drug traffickers have over public institutions and authorities. Unfortunately, Judge Saturno’s assassination only proves that these concerns are well founded.
Sources:
Justice Official Assassinated in Limean Restaurant, Living in Peru-Law and Justice News, July 20, 2006, http://www.livinginperu.com/news/2153
Trial Videotapes Play Major Role in Investigating Judge Saturno‘s Assassination, Living in Peru-Law and Justice News, July 22, 2006, http://www.livinginperu.com/news/2153.
Peruvian Judge Shot Dead, Latin American News on Yahoo, July 20, 2006, http://news.yahoo.com/i/734
Peruvian Judges Worried By Murder, Prensa Latina: Latin American News Agency, July 20, 2006, http://www.plenglish.com/article.asp
Ruxandra, Adam. A Judge in Peru is Slain, Softpedia World News, July 20, 2006, http://news.softpedia.com/news/Drug-Cartels-Strike-Again-30488.shtml
International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs-South America, March 2006, http://www.state.gov/p/inl/rls/nrcrpt/2006/vol1/html/62106.htm
Pedro Toledo Attempts to Bribe Witness into Altering Testimony:
Brother of Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo, Pedro Toledo, was accused of bribery on July 2, 2006. An ex-employee of CORPAC (Peruvian Corporation of Airports and Commercial Aviation), William Menacho, announced his accusation against Toledo at a press conference. Menacho stated that Toledo offered him $30,000 to change his testimony. Menacho is a witness in the case investigating signature forgeries for the National Jury of Elections by Toledo’s party “Peru Possible”. Menacho claims that Toledo sought to bribe him so that he would change his testimony regarding the airplane flight of another key witness, Carmen Burga.
A video presented by Menacho at the press conference shows that the meeting with Toledo took place in May 2006 in Lima. Menacho stated that he refused to accept the bribe in order to show that, “shady areas of the present government have tried hindering the progress of judicial investigations.”
Sources:
Brother of Peruvian President Implicated in Bribery, Living in Peru-Law and Justice News, July 2, 2006, http://www.livinginperu.com/news/2153
Prosecutors Focusing On Peru’s Political Party: Peru Possible, Transparancy International, July 15, 2006, http://ww1.transparency.org/index
Luis Echeverria: Charges of Genocide Dropped, for the Second Time:
On July 8, 2006, former president of Mexico Luis Echeverria was found not guilty of genocide. Echeverria was issued an arrest warrant on June 30, 2006, after a special prosecutor filed charges against him for his alleged responsibility of the Tlatelolco Massacre in 1968. The judge, however, reversed the filing after finding that both the statute of limitations had expired and that the massacre did not constitute genocide. Although most human rights agencies report that 300-400 student demonstrators and civilians were killed by the military in the Plaza of Tlatelolco, Echeverria argued that the deaths were not premeditated and therefore not genocide.
This was not the first time the ex-president has been charged with genocide and then released. On July 24, 2004, a judge refused to issue an arrest warrant for Echeverria after a special prosecutor requested his arrest for his involvement in the Corpus Christi Massacre. The evidence against Echeverria was based on documents which showed that he ordered the formation of Los Halcones (The Falcons), a special military unit which attacked and killed civilian demonstrators on the holiday of Corpus Christi. Although the attacks on the protestors were well documented by the media and by police records, no one in the government was charged in the case. Charges were finally filed against Echeverria in 2004.
In both cases Echeverria was found not guilty because of problems with the statute of limitations. In 2004, the prosecution argued that special circumstances existed based on the rules of a UN convention. The international agreement was ratified by Mexico in 2001 and stated that no statute of limitation would be applied to genocide charges. Although the rules of the convention effectively became part of Mexican law when they were accepted by Congress, the Supreme Court found that article 14 of the Mexican Constitution precludes applying laws retroactively. The court then ruled that the law stating that genocide has no statute of limitations could not be applied to Echeverria’s case.
The issue of applying international human rights laws in Mexico is not a new concern. The International Commission of Jurists released a report on Mexico in 2000 which stated that, “the provisions of human rights instruments ratified by Mexico are not reflected in judicial decisions in general, and in particular at the state level, despite Article 133 of the Constitution. Article 133 provides that, “the state judges shall conform to the Constitution, laws and treaties notwithstanding contrary provisions in state’s constitutions and laws.” The Commission asserts that the failure to enforce human rights laws is one of the factors “that limit’s the ability of the judiciary to impart effective justice and protect citizen’s rights.”
Sources:
Luis Echeverria: Charges of Genocide Dropped, Latin American News on Yahoo, July 10, 2006, http://news.yahoo.com/i/734
Former President Luis Echeverria Alvarez Escapes Genocide Charges, SourceMex Economic News & Analysis on Mexico: High Beam Research System, July 19, 2006, http://www.highbeam.com/
Ex-Student Leaders File Charges Against Former President Luis Echeverria and Other Officials For 1971 Massacre, SourceMex Economic News & Analysis on Mexico: High Beam Research System, June 19, 2002, http://www.highbeam.com/
Chief of Secret Police Also Cleared, Latin American Data Base/Latin American Institute: Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. July 7, 2006, http://www.highbeam.com/
Independence of Judges & Lawyers: Mexico, Attacks on Justice 2000, International Commission of Jurists, 2000, http://www.icj.org/news.php3?id_article=2581&lang=en&print=true
Families of Disappeared Women in Ciudad Juarez Seek Help from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights after Federal Prosecutors in Mexico Dropped Their Cases.
Victims families read in a local newspaper in April, 2006, that the federal prosecutors were giving up their cases because no real evidence had been found. The prosecutors were investigating 14 cases of young women who had been raped and strangled to death. Although murder is a state crime in Mexico, the group formed to investigate the killings was a federal agency. Since they did not find any evidence of a federal offense, (organ trafficking or organized crime), they could not pursue the cases further based on a lack of jurisdiction.
Most of the victims families have lost confidence in Mexican authorities to solve the cases. Municipal authorities and investigators have been accused of destroying evidence, torturing suspects, and official corruption. Although the families have sought to bring charges against these authorities, few have actually been prosecuted. In January, 2006, the federal special prosecutor’s office for the Juarez cases released a report outlining the problems that had plagued the investigations. Although 177 local officials were mentioned in the report for their incompetence in handling the cases, none were ever prosecuted. A local judge released all charges against them after finding that the statute of limitations had already run. The local media in Ciudad Juarez has also reported that judges have recently suspended arrest warrants for three local officials for no apparent reason.
The families of the victims are now turning to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in Washington which has agreed to investigate the local officials for their mishandling of the cases.
Sources:
Rodriguez, Olga, Mexico Drops Investigations of Border Killings, Without Resolution, El Universal-Associated Press, July 25, 2006, http://english.eluniversal.com/
Lloyd, Marion, Killings of Women, Houston Chronicle (Houston TX), May 4, 2006, http://www.chron.com/
Nieves, Evelyn, To Work and Die in Juarez, Mother Jones Magazine, June 2002,
http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2002/05/juarez
Mexico: Justice fails in Ciudad Juarez and the city of Chihuahua, Amnesty International-News Amnesty, February 28, 2005, http://news.amnesty.org/index/ENGAMR410072005
Demand Justice for the Women and Girls of Ciudad Juárez and Chihuahua, México, Amnesty International, May 5, 2006, http://www.amnestyusa.org/women/juarez/
|