Questions on the Murder of Women in Juarez, Mexico

From Justene, Salt Lake City, UT:

1. Since some of the victims are US citizens, is the American government putting any pressure on Mexican authorities?
2. What is the status of the identification of bodies as we begin the 16-day event against gender violence (Nov. - Dec. 2003)?
3. Any new cases in Ciudad Juarez? The press seems to have lost interest since February.

Sheila Dauer, Director of AIUSA's Women's Human Rights Program, responds:

Dear Angela,

Thank you for your questions.

1. There are no US citizens among the victims in Juarez. There is one Dutch citizen who was a victim.

2. As Amnesty International documents in its report, Intolerable Killings:Ten years of Abductions and Murders in Ciudad Juárez and Chihuahua, the Mexican authorities have failed to properly identify the bodies of victims, and sometimes families have received the wrong body identified as their missing loved one. Relatives of the murder victims who are active in organizations pressuring the authorities have been subject to harrassment, while senior officials in Juarez and Chihuahua continue to downplay the government’s responsibility for the failure to solve the murders. In many cases, local authorities continue to blame the victims for their fates. For all of these reasons, there has been little progress in either the identification of bodies or the investigation of the murders.

A US Congressional delegation that visited Juarez in October 2003 has recommended that the US establish a DNA bank that would examine remains and forensic evidence to help identify victims. However, the United States cannot participate further in theindividual case investigations without an invitation from the Mexicanauthorities. The FBI already provides training topolice in crime-scene investigation.

3. Recent developments (as of December 2003): Mexican President Vincent Fox appointed a commissioner -- human-rights lawyer Maria Guadalupe Morfin -- to coordinate the investigative efforts of federal, state and local agencies. Jose Luis Santiago Vasconcelos, head of the organized crime unit of Mexico's attorney general's office, stated that a new team of federal and state authorities is reviewing all 258 cases and will reopen 67 in which suspects were convicted and sentenced. Amnesty International maintains that over 370 cases remain unsolved.