Mexico, D.F.- On 21st August, by a majority vote of eight, the Plenary of the National Supreme Court Justice (SCJN) decided in the amparo under review 133/2012, - promoted by the family of Bonfilio Rubio Villegas, indigenous naua from the Montaña of Guerrero state, Mexico, who was extrajudicial executed by members of the Mexican Armed Forces in June 2009 - ordered the criminal case initiated by this homicide to be remitted to federal ordinary jurisdiction.
It is important to recall that on 20 June 2009 in Huamuxtitlán, Guerrero, Bonfilio Rubio Villegas was arbitrarily deprived from his life by elements of the 93 Infantry Battalion of the Mexican Army, who opened fire indiscriminately against a passenger bus in which the young man was travelling along with around 40 more passengers. After the events, the Military attracted the investigations even when relatives of Bonfilio Rubio expressly opposed it. Therefore, Secundino Rubio Peralta and Jose Rubio Villegas, father and brother of the victim, challenged this decision initiating an amparo trial, accompanied by Tlachinollan and Civil Monitor of the Security Forces on the Montaña (Mocipol), which in December 2011 was resolved in favour of Bonfilio Rubio Villegas’ relatives. Subsequently, the Secretariat of National Defense (SEDENA), on behalf of President Felipe Calderón, challenged this decision.
Today, Mexico's Highest Tribunal confirmed that the investigation should be remitted to civilian jurisdiction. With this decision, a majority of the Ministers of the SCJN have taken a decisive step on recognising the rights of the victims and on the restriction of military jurisdiction, given that, the amparo filed by the father and brother of Bonfilio Rubio Villegas is the first contentious case motivated by a victim's relatives against the unconstitutional extension of military jurisdiction in which the Supreme Court protects civilians from military institutions. The decision differs from the earlier two cases resolved within the framework of the discussion on military jurisdiction at the SCJN, beginning on 2 August this year, which were judicial disputes raised as jurisdictional conflicts, between State judicial institutions.
Furthermore, the decision of the SCJN can be described as historic, as it has not only lead to the restriction of the military jurisdiction, moreover, in this specific case, it has made of the amparo an effective remedy for the protection of the rights of the victims before acts arising from an incompetent court, as ordered by the IACtHR in the cases Inés Fernández Ortega and Valentina Rosendo Cantú.
In its decision, the SCJN partially reproduced the analysis by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) in the cases of Rosendo Radilla, Inés Fernández Ortega, Valentina Rosendo Cantú and Rodolfo Montiel Flores and Teodoro Cabrera García (Ecologist Peasants), all against Mexico, in the sense that the military jurisdiction should be exceptional and restrictive, limited to the investigation and prosecution of offenses against military discipline.
It is noteworthy that the draft for the decision project prepared by Minister Sánchez Cordero, who during the debate held a position of strong commitment to the victims, incorporates the highest international standards on this matter and that several of the Ministers focused their arguments on the binding feature of the IACtHR’s judgments, despite some Ministers showed concerning reluctance to recognising it.
For the relatives of Bonfilio Rubio Villegas, who attended several of the public sessions of the SCJN’s plenary, this decision confirms the relevance of their more than three years struggle, which amidst innumerable risks and adversities. Furthermore, the decision opens them the door to effective justice, as remitting the case to civilian courts will allow them to contribute with the procedures, before judicial institutions with higher margin of independence and impartiality. In consequence, the military judge who now hears the criminal case must promptly submit the case to a federal judge in Guerrero who now shall hear the process. Thus, from now on, the Bonfilio’s relatives will exercise their rights before a civilian judge and will pursue that those responsible for the extrajudicial execution are punished in compliance with the law. Being aware of the common shortcomings of the civilian justice, they will keep a close and constant monitoring of the actions taken before court in charge of the file, for which, it is indispensable the support of public opinion to continue monitoring the developments.
Tlachinollan and Mocipol celebrate the ruling of the SCJN, especially as we considered this a paradigmatic case of excessive and irrational use of force against the civilian population, which has become recurrent in the current administration. Therefore, we appeal to the SCJN to confirm this approach in subsequent cases, in order to generate fully binding jurisprudence on the limits of military jurisdiction for all judicial organs of the Mexican State. This takes special relevance as SEDENA continues to refuse to be submitted to civilian controls, with the indulgence of civilian authorities, despite the binding jurisprudence from the IACtHR.
The legal victory of the Rubio family is a success, which it would have been impossible to achieve without all the struggles against military abuses and impunity which precede them for more than a decade, lead by victims, families and national and international civil society organisations, in a context of increasing human rights violations by members of the armed forces.
Finally, we reiterate that the discussion on the scope of military jurisdiction must necessarily involve a comprehensive analysis of the currently role played by the Armed Forces within the Mexican legal system, which, as noted by several Ministers in the current debate, exceeds the constitutional mandate of the Armed Forces. Only by restoring civilian control over the Army and Navy and adjusting their duties to the Constitution, it will be ensured that dreadful events as the extrajudicial execution of Rubio Villegas Bonfilio are not repeated.
PBI accompanies Human Rights Center "Tlachinollan" since 2003.
More information
Human Rights Center "Tlachinollan" website.