Inter-American Court of Human Rights: Cotton Fields Sentence
As part of the Clinic's work, and with the help of Dr. Martha Chew-Sanchez, we were privileged enough to be able to speak with a variety of people in, and around Juarez.
Some, who had been directly impacted by the systematic killings. One of which is Juanita, the mother of a 6-year-old victim of the feminicide. Others, like Alfredo Limas and Ruben Garcia are activists fighting to spread awareness of the genocide. All of which are acting as active voices against the militarization of the border and Ciudad Juarez itself while spreading awareness about the lack of accountability being held to those responsible for the killings. Most importantly, people like Alfredo Limas work to dismantle the structures of violence that continue to perpetuate the injustices. Through Ruben Garcia's work with Annunciation House , he helped us and those in his local community in El Paso, to comprehend the growing disparate relationship between the Global North and South. While Mexico is not geographically located in the global "South", he explained that it is often grouped with the assumed "dependent, corrupt, and violent" nation states of Africa and South America.
One of the few critical stances against this feminicide and it's repercussions on an entire population, is the Cotton Fields case that was brought to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights . The commission put the Mexican government under investigation for the murders of three young women in Ciudad Juarez: Claudia Ivette González (20 years old), Esmeralda Herrera Monreal (15 years old) and Laura Berenice Ramos Monárrez (17 years old) .
These young women were found brutally murdered along with five other female victims in a cotton field, ironically, across the street from the headquarters of the Maquiladora Association. In the Inter-American Commission's historic decision, published on December 10th of last year, the Mexican government was found guilty of violations of the American Convention on Human Rights, the 1994 Inter- American Convention on the Prevention, and the Punishment and Eradication of Violence against Women. The government was found guilty, of neglecting to prevent the killings, along with improperly investigating the crimes.
The Sentence was released after a lengthy investigation. It laid out remedies that the Mexican government was ordered to follow in order to properly assure justice for the victims. The Sentence also sought to curb future acts of violence against women in cases of feminicide. The State was found guilty and is obligated to comply with the ruling, without the chance to appeal.
The Sentence ruled it mandatory for the State to conduct further investigation of those individuals responsible for obstructing the persecution of the case, including the fabrication of scapegoats. Along with conducting a serious investigation, the Mexican government is also required to hold a public ceremony in Juarez to explain it's lack of action in persecuting those responsible. They were also mandated to construct a monument to remember the three murdered women involved in the Cotton Fields case. It was demanded that the State publish the Sentence, improve efforts to find missing women, and create groups to help educate and train local police on human rights violations.
With these well-established patterns of gender violence being historically rooted, the international community must demand that the Mexican government be held responsible for these measures listed in the Sentence, most of which the Mexican state has yet to fulfill.
Below is one of the case studies we reviewed as a Clinic, in order to better comprehend the lack of justice being served to the victims and their families. Through various forms of cultural analysis, we were able to grasp the gravity of situation in Juarez, and we hope that by reading this case study, you may recognize the dire need for action. The interview was conducted by Dr. Martha Chew-Sanchez.
Case Study:
Juanita (Mother of Berenice, a six- year old victim of feminicide)
It was in 2003, she disappeared on the 10th and appeared on the 19th. It was at evening, around twenty to six. I asked her to go to the grocery store to bring us a soda, because we were having dinner.
After sometime, I said to my husband “the child is not coming…” I went to look for her following the path she used to take and I arrive to the grocery store and asked for her. They told me “no the girl has not come here.” I went back to my house running…And the search started. We went to the hills, to the vacant lots, and it got dark around 9 pm. I asked for help from a police officer...He asked me how old was she? I said she is going to be six years old. He told me to give him her characteristics and give him her picture. I gave them to him and the police said “okay, we are going to take care of it and he left.” We never saw him again…
Three, four, five, six days passed, and I said I cannot handle this anymore. We finally heard back from the police. They told me to be at the police station on the 19th at 9am.
The judicial police told me “I am very sorry, but we found a child with the same characteristics and the same clothing that you told us.” I entered to the forensic, and as soon as I saw her clothes, I lost consciousness right there...I wanted to hug her body, to touch her. I saw her clothes full of blood. Her little body was facing up and I could see that her clothes still had puncture marks where they stabbed her...
Before I was really angry… but later I came to my senses and I said, “No, God should give me the strength to fight in such a way that the killer of my daughter gets all the punishment within the law, and it all has to be within the law.” ---Juanita’s interview
Following is a link for further information via facebook, where important conversations and news is being spread in attempts to stop the killings and inform the rest of the world of the magnitude of violence.
Writen by: Lily Rougeot and Jake Dexter