Source: CART COM
Author: David Bertet, Chairman of the Board of Directors ([email protected])
Assistance: María Gabriela Zurbarán Duque
January 30, 2017 (Original publication in Spanish on November 14, 2016)
Translation: Jorge B.
REF: ACDV/MX/CASO/WALLACE/14112016
SUBJECT: HARASSMENT OF HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS BY THE PGR – WALLACE CASE
REFERENCES: 20160726BEMD4I (PRESIDENCIA);
PGR/SEIDO/UEIDMS/TU/1229/2016 (SEIDO);
SDHPDSC/FEADLE/109-5/2014 (FEADLE)
MONTREAL, CANADA
NOVEMBER 14, 2016
LIC. RICARDO NÁJERA HERRERA
FISCAL ESPECIAL PARA LA ATENCIÓN
DE DELITOS COMETIDOS CONTRA LA LIBERTAD DE EXPRESIÓN (FEADLE)
LÓPEZ 12, PRIMER PISO,
COL. CENTRO, DEL. CUAUHTÉMOC, MÉXICO, D.F. 06050
MÉXICO
LIC. MIGUEL ÁNGEL CALZADA BRISEÑO
A.M.P.F. TITULAR DE LA MESA DOS INVESTIGADORA EN LA FEADLE
We write to express our profound indignation at the intrusion, illegal per se, by two state agents of the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) into the academic event “Diálogos para crear la Comisión Internacional de Justicia y Verdad en México” (Dialogues to create the International Commission on Justice and Truth in Mexico) organized by the journalist and Director of Los Ángeles Press, Guadalupe Lizárraga.
The event was addressed to the civilian population, took place in the auditorium of the Instituto de Investigaciones Culturales of the Universidad Autónoma of Baja California and hosted leaders of NGO’s and human rights organizations. Both agents were present from the beginning of the event up to the videoconference presentation by CART‘s chairman, David Bertet.
Following this presentation, the two agents approached the journalist Guadalupe Lizárraga, tried to give her a Notice to Appear and even attempted to take her to the PGR’s offices in the city of Mexicali to ask her some questions regarding “her published versions on the Wallace case.” The agents argued that those versions were “different from the judicial authority’s versions,” and that they did not coincide with the official version of the Wallace case, i.e., the version authorized by the Attorney General’s Office.
In this regard, we wish to remind you that the former head of the Special Prosecutor’s Office for Crimes Against the Freedom of Expression (FEADLE), Laura Angelina Borbolla Moreno, whom Mr. David Bertet personally met in 2014, assured us that we were not in danger by investigating the Wallace case, since she knew Isabel Miranda Torres. In addition, she had been responsible for the extradition of our client Brenda Quevedo from the United States to Mexico. However, following her deportation to Mexico, Brenda Quevedo was tortured two times under the orders of Isabel Miranda Torres to declare herself guilty of a crime that did not take place and to ask Ms. Wallace for her forgiveness.
Therefore we ask ourselves: What was the point of the complaint that Mr. Bertet himself filed with your unit, following which a preliminary investigation would have supposedly been opened to investigate the threats and intimidation of which we, human rights defenders, have been victims (see file: SDHPDSC/FEADLE/109-5/2014)? What was the point for Mr. Bertet to appear in person at your offices to make an addendum statement and to let you know once again of the beginning of the preliminary investigation PGR/SEIDO/UEIDMS/464/2014 by the Assistant Attorney General’s Office for Special Investigations on Organized Crime or SEIDO against journalists Guadalupe Lizárraga, Anabel Hernández and CART‘s Chairman?
On the other hand, while it is true that the FEADLE has not done absolutely anything to ensure the safety of the complainants, and while it is also true that the Investigation Board XII under the responsibility of Agustín Francisco Arguello Ñanco has not followed up the complaint 304/AP/DGDCSPI/2014 filed by relatives of the victims of the Wallace case (see appendix), officers from SEIDO have, nevertheless, continued acting in their own way, as they have done from the very beginning of the Wallace case in January 2006 (see the response from Aurelia Urzúa Domínguez, agent of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, attached to the UEIDMS).
In short, the performance of the PGR in the Wallace case has all the characteristics of a permanent harassment towards the real victims, towards their families, towards their advocates, and now towards journalists and representatives of civilian society organizations, which is unacceptable on the part of your institution.
We wish to remind you that we, as journalists and human rights activists, are the ones who have done the work of the PGR in this matter. We have investigated while the PGR has dedicated itself to cover up the initial lie of Hugo Alberto Wallace Miranda’s kidnapping, by manufacturing statements obtained under torture and harassment. The facts that we have been denouncing have generated numerous reactions of indignation, very similar to ours, in the social networks and the media.
The Mexican public opinion, for the most part, has used the information, now at its disposal, to form their own and objective opinion on the Wallace case, to the extent that we have revealed the details and inconsistencies of the case Wallace and of those who have manufactured it. At the same time, it is extremely worrying that the Attorney General’s Office itself, far from taking measures on this issue, and to act according to the law and its mission, continues complying with Ms. Wallace’s directives.
For all of the above, we request that the PGR:
• Follow due process.
• Respect the provisions of article 6 of the Constitution that states: “THE EXPRESSION OF IDEAS SHALL NOT BE SUBJECT TO ANY JUDICIAL OR ADMINISTRATIVE INVESTIGATION…”
• Stay impartial since so far it has shown its bias in favor of Isabel Miranda Torres, and it has become evident that it has a mission against the accused, which violates the principle of presumption of innocence.
• Show respect for university autonomy since by barging in an area of the Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, it showed its breach, one more time, of the rule of law.
We, at the Canadian Association for Rights and Truth, will be more than willing to work with the Mexican authorities, in general, and with the Attorney General’s Office, in particular, provided the PGR changes its attitude and reorients its priorities to fulfill its mission and its raison d’être: the search for truth and justice.
Yours sincerely,
DAVID BERTET
CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
MOISÉS CASTELLO
MEMBER OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
HEAD OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
On behalf of the victims of the Wallace case: Brenda Quevedo Cruz, Jacobo Tagle Dobin, César Freyre Morales, Juana Hilda Lomelí, Tony and Albert Castillo, Jael Malagón Uscanga; and the victims of related cases: Pablo Solórzano Castro, Cinthya Cantú Muñoz, Noé Robles Hernández.
CC: GUADALUPE LIZARRAGA
JOURNALIST, DIRECTOR OF THE LOS ÁNGELES PRESS
CC: LIC. RAÚL CERVANTES
TITULAR DE LA PROCURADURÍA GENERAL DE LA REPUBLICA
CC: LIC. SERGIO CORTÉS RÍOS
FEADLE
CC: LIC. AURELIA URZÚA DOMÍNGUEZ
AGENTE DEL MINISTERIO PÚBLICO DE LA FEDERACIÓN ADSCRITA A LA UEIDMS
AV. PASEO DE LA REFORMA 75, COL. GUERRERO, CUAUHTEMOC
C.P. 06300, MEXICO CITY, D.F.
CC: PRESIDENTE ENRIQUE PEÑA NIETO
PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS MEXICANOS
CC: SECRETARÍA PARTICULAR DEL PRESIDENTE
DIRECCIÓN GENERAL DE ATENCIÓN CIUDADANA
RESIDENCIA OFICIAL DE LOS PINOS
MOLINO DEL REY S/N
COL. SAN MIGUEL CHAPULTEPEC
DISTRITO FEDERAL. C.P. 11850
CC: MINISTRO LUIS MARÍA AGUILAR MORALES
PRESIDENTE DE LA SUPREMA CORTE DE JUSTICIA DE LA NACIÓN
Y DEL CONSEJO DE LA JUDICATURA FEDERAL SUPREMA CORTE DE JUSTICIA DE LA NACIÓN
PINO SUÁREZ NO. 2,
COLONIA CENTRO, DELEGACIÓN CUAUHTÉMOC
C.P. 06065, D.F.
CC: MINISTRO ALFREDO GUTIÉRREZ ORTIZ MENA
PRESIDENTE DE LA PRIMERA SALA SUPREMA CORTE DE JUSTICIA DE LA NACIÓN
PINO SUÁREZ NO. 2,
COLONIA CENTRO, DELEGACIÓN CUAUHTÉMOC
C.P. 06065, D.F.
CC: EXECUTIVE SECRETARIAT OF THE INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS, ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES
1889 F STREET N.W. WASHINGTON, D.C. 20006
USA
CC: MR. JUAN MÉNDEZ
SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON TORTURE AND OTHER CRUEL, INHUMAN OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT
OFFICE OF THE UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
PALACIO WILSON-52 RUE DES PÂQUIS CH-1201 GENEVA
SWITZERLAND
