"We were sleeping in the house, my husband and little children and I, when the police arrived. They beat on the door and demanded that we open it, shouting, 'Judicial Police, open the door.' Scared and confused, my husband, Faustino Jiménez Alvarez, decided to open the door. As soon as he opened it a little bit, the police pushed inside, without any search or arrest warrant, knocking my husband down. Kicking him and pulling his hair, the police dragged him half-naked along the rocky path that leads to our house, forced him into the truck and immediately left." --- Enedina Cervantes Salgado, wife of Faustino Jiménez Alvarez

This was the scene on the 17th of June, 2001, when the Guerrero State Judicial Police came to the home of Faustino Jiménez Alvarez in Tierra Colorada, Guerrero, Mexico. To date, Mr. Jiménez still has not been found, and there have been no arrests made in the case, despite identification of the police officers involved. Amnesty International has issued urgent actions on the case, which was recently brought before the Inter-American Human Rights Commission. The case was also featured in the BBC documentary "Paradise Exposed," which aired in August of 2002. Mr. Jiménez's wife, Enedina Cervantes, is currently receiving protection from Peace Brigades International, while the legal aspects of the case are being handled by the human rights centers Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez and José María Morelos and Pavón.

Background

As Mr. Jiménez was being taken away, Mrs. Cervantes went to the truck to beg the police not to take her husband away. She was told to "shut up" and go inside, or her husband would be shot. Mrs. Cervantes was able to identify the police as State Judicial Police because of the color of their uniforms and the insignia on their cars and uniforms. Immediately after they left, 2 more policemen arrived, demanding the keys to Mr. Jiménez's car.

Mrs. Cervantes and her sister went immediately to the local police station, where the police told them that officers from that station had not been involved in the detainment, but that the operation had been carried by out by the Judicial Police from Cuidad Renacamiento in Acapulco.

According to local press, police believed Mr. Jiménez to have been part of a group responsible for the kidnapping José Valle, Mr. Jiménez's employer, two days earlier. José Valle was later rescued by the State Police, and four people were arrested and charged with his kidnapping, but Mr. Jiménez was not one of them.

Legal Proceedings of the Case

June 26, 2001 -- A complaint is filed with the Guerrero State Human Rights Commission (Coddehum) by the petitioners of the case, who also make visits to the Secretary of Public Security, the State Attorney General's Office, and the District Attorney's Office. The authorities deny any involvement in the abduction and claim the policemen identified are no longer employed in the DA's office. The Coddehum does further investigation and takes testimonies from various witnesses.

July 11, 2001 -- The petitioners of the case solicit the National Human Rights Commission for protective measures for Faustino Jiménez (a political maneuver to force authorities to produce Mr. Jiménez or acknowledge his disappearance). They specifically ask that the Federal Government take immediate action to locate Mr. Jiménez and that the Federal Attorney General's Office investigate the crime, given the fact that the State Attorney General's Office could be involved in the crime.

August 27, 2001 -- The federal government sends a letter to the Coddehum in response to the request for protective measures, stating, "at no time has Mr. Faustino Jiménez been detained by said institutions" (the state police).

August 31, 2001 -- The Coddehum summons the State Attorney General to appear before the Committee for the Investigations of Forced Disappearance, but he does not show up. Instead, a representative of the State Attorney General's Office is sent, who does not have the power to make decisions, but promises that their office will make every effort to find out what happened.

September 3, 2001 -- Using photo albums at the State Attorney General's Office, Mrs. Cervantes identifies two of the police officers who took her husband.

November 8, 2001 -- The First Judge of First Instance issues arrest warrants for police chiefs Fidel Morales Vargas and Manuel de Jesus Noriga Moctezma for the kidnapping. The sub-Attorney General states that they are looking for the two men, in coordination with other state attorney general offices.

March 14, 2002 -- The Coddehum emits Recommendation No. 19/2002 for injunctions to be placed upon 21 members of the State Judicial Police for the arbitrary detentions and forced disappearances of Faustino Jiménez Alvarez and 8 other persons.

March 20, 2002 -- Under the classification of organized crime, the case is submitted to the Federal Attorney General's Office, implicating 25 police agents in the forced disappearance of Faustino Jiménez Alvarez.

March 25, 2002 -- Naming the same 25 defendants, the case of the forced disappearance of Faustino Jiménez Alvarez is submitted to the Inter-American Human Rights Commission (IAHC.)

April 4, 2001 -- The State Attorney General's Office partially accepts Recommendation No. 19/2002, citing the fact that forced disappearance is not specifically listed in the state penal code as one of the reasons for only partially accepting the recommendation.

July of 2002 -- After a new State Attorney General is named, and under pressure from the National Human Rights Commission, Recommendation No. 19/2002, for injunctions against 21 former Judicial Police agents, 4 commanders and 2 ex-directors of the Judicial Police for the forced disappearances of 9 citizens, is fully accepted by the State Attorney General's Office.

Conclusion

Despite the State Attorney General's Office acceptance of the recommendation, to date not one of the policemen named has been detained, and the two police agents for whom arrest warrants were issued remain at large. Faustino Jiménez is just one of nine people who has disappeared at the hands of the Guerrero Judicial Police, eight of whom disappeared in the year 2001. It should be noted that the crime of "disappearance" is only classified as a crime at the national level and two states, not including Guerrero (thus the former State Attorney General's refusal to accept part of the recommendation on the grounds that involuntary disappearance is not specifically classified as a crime in the state). A former Guerrero police chief has testified to the use of torture and "disappearance" by the state's police officers.

The lack of will to find the officers involved in these cases or to comply with the recommendation of the State Human Rights Commission on the part of the State Attorney General's Office is precisely what engenders the high level of impunity that exists in Guerrero. Until state and federal authorities demonstrate genuine desire to resolve these cases, grave human rights violations will persist in this forgotten state.