Mexico City, 11 March 2014. In a press conference held today at the Prodh Center, the Paso del Norte Human Rights Center, an organization from Ciudad Juárez which is accompanied by PBI, called on the Mexican State to fully compensate the five men who were victims of torture and arbitrary detention in the “coche bomba” (car bomb) case. The five men were released on Friday 7 March after three and a half years detained under charges of organized crime. The Paso del Norte HRC also calls for the punishment of the Federal agents responsible for the torture of the five detainees.

Diana Morales, Paso del Norte lawyer and representative of the victims, recalled the difficult process the families faced in seeking justice for the young men, who suffered torture at the time of their arrest and arraigo for 80 days. Dr. Javier Enríquez, from the Collective Against Torture and Impunity (CCTI), explained the torture the detained men suffered and how they were forced to confess to crimes. According to Enríquez, torture has caused post-traumatic stress in the victims, who still suffer from the consequences of their experience. He also highlighted that the three times that the Istanbul Protocol has been applied to the detainees, it has confirmed torture.

Diana Morales explained that, after a process of dialogue with the Attorney General´s Office (PGR), the Paso del Norte HRC secured a commitment from the Attorney Murillo Karam for the release of the detainees in case their torture could be confirmed through the process of the Istanbul Protocol. As a result of this, the five men were released last week.

The Paso del Norte HRC called on the PGR not to abandon the case and to fully implement the recommendations made by the National Human Rights Commission. It also called for the Mexican State to abolish the use of torture from its justice system and to ensure that judges do not accept statements obtained under torture. It called for the elimination of arraigo and for the non-recurrence of events such as these.

PBI congratulates the Paso del Norte Human Rights Center, the five detainees and their families for this important achievement and for the release of the victims. PBI calls on the Mexican State to accept the international recommendations regarding torture and arraigo in the country and to ensure reparations to victims. Additionally, PBI calls on the State to guarantee the security of the members of the Paso del Norte HRC at this sensitive time, and to ensure the safety of those released, Rogelio, Noé, Ricardo, Victor and Gustavo, and their families. PBI accompanied Paso del Norte during the press conference today and will continue to follow closely the security situation of the organization and the five young men.

Precedents

On 6 August 2010 the Federal Police (PFP) detained five young men - Noé Fuentes Chavira, Rogelio Amaya Martínez, Ricardo Fernández Lomelí, Víctor Manuel Rentería and Gustavo Martínez Rentería – and presented them to the media as the perpetrators of the explosion of a car bomb in the Exhipódromo neighbourhood in Ciudad Juárez. The attack killed three policemen and a civilian, also leaving a dozen injured. The federal Public Security Office interpreted the attack as an act of retaliation by the cartel “La Línea” after the arrest of one of its leaders, Jesús Armando Acosta Guerrero, “el 35”.

The detainees were tortured, held in arraigo and later sent to prisons in the states of Nayarit and Veracruz while the process developed in the state of Jalisco, far from the families of the detainees and their legal representatives. Furthermore, during the process, the charges with which the detained men were accused had changed, illustrating a clear inability to support the initial allegations.

In late 2011 the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) issued the recommendation 75/2011 which states “they were arrested (...) without having been shown a warrant issued by a competent authority”, it recognized the torture they were subjected to and mentioned that “more than 40 hours had elapsed between the time of arrest and their presentation to a ministerial authority”, and no one knew where they had been. Finally, the CNDH called for the SSP “to take the necessary measures required to compensate the victims for what they have suffered”.

After the Istanbul Protocol was applied for the third time the use of torture was confirmed, leading the PGR, by agreement with the Attorney General Murillo Karam, to drop the charges against the five men in January this year. In March the young men were reunited with their families, who themselves have also become victims throughout this process.