Mexican State Compelled to Release Information over 2010 Tamaulipas Massacre

 

6:34:30 a.m. 

On August 24, the bodies of a group of 72 migrants trying to cross the Mexican – U.S. border were found in Tamaulipas, the worst massacre that has occurred since former President Felipe Calderon launched the "war on drugs" in 2006. (Photo: Luis Fredy Lala Pomavilla, the only survivor). 

The migrants had been caught by members of the criminal organization Los Zetas, well known for its cruelty. As the migrants could not give them money in exchange for their safe release, and as they refused Los Zetas’ offer to be hired in the group as assassins, they were shot one by one in the back in an abandoned ranch. Ecuadorean migrant Luis Fredy Lala Pomavilla, allegedly the only survivor, told the story to Mexican Marines after a 22 kilometer walk. 

Mexican and Central American migrants who attempt to cross the border to the United States are frequently the victims of organized crime groups and official security forces. San Fernando municipality, where Tamaulipas is located, has seen particularly high levels of violence because of a constant confrontation between Los Zetas and the Gulf Cartel, which prompted current President Peña Nieto to further militarize the zone last May. 

Soon after the national and international media reported the massacre, the Mexican federal state announced the arrest of eight suspects, condemned in October 2010 for the 72 homicides. 

However, in four years, the families of the victims have struggled for their right to the truth, as the government would not release the details of the investigation about the massacre, nor reveal whether any official from the state has been found responsible for the events or not. 

Moreover, they have still not received any indemnification, and about a dozen bodies are waiting to be identified at the morgue – some of the corpses were even returned to the wrong families. 

One of the legal procedures families have launched may finally bring them justice, as the Federal Institute of Access to Information (IFAI) released a statement on Friday that compels the Attorney General of Justice (PGR) to publish the documents about the detention of 16 municipal police of San Fernando, detained in relation to the death of 72 migrants. 

The PGR had previously refused to release the documents to one family, stating that there was a 12 year delay for being part of a previous, and yet not closed investigation. The IFAI added that the concealment of such information consisted in “serious violations of human rights”, and was “surpassed by the interest of society to know all the procedures that have been executed during the investigation, detention, trial and sanction of the culprits.” 

Last December, responding positively to the request of six victims’ families, the National Commission of Human Rights also made the same recommendation to the Tamaulipas governor and the attorney Jesus Murillo Karam. 

The profiles of each of the 72 migrants assassinated can be seen here. They have been written by various journalists and writers, as part of an initiative to humanize them. The initiative was proposed by reporter Alma Guillermoprieto in August 2011. 

(Fuente: TeleSur)