Attorney General Publicly Apologizes to Indigenous Women Wrongly Jailed WION
go to original February 22, 2017

Mexico's attorney general has publicly apologized to three indigenous women wrongly jailed 11 years ago. (Al Jazeera English)

In a rare gesture, Mexico's government has apologized to three indigenous women, who spent three years in jail, for falsely prosecuting them on charges of kidnapping seven police officers and carrying cocaine.  

The apology came from the head of the attorney general's office, Raul Cervantes, as part of damages ordered by a tribunal.

The case of Alberta Alcantara, Jacinta Francisco and Teresa Gonzalez has shone a light on widespread human rights abuses by Mexico's authorities and problems in the justice system.

The head of the Pro Center for Human Rights, Mario Patron, fought the case for 10 year. He said that accepting that the women were right was the minimum the Mexican government could do.

A formal apology from authorities for wrongdoing is extremely uncommon in Mexico.

He said that given the extraordinary rates of impunity, torture and "disappeared" people in Mexico, this should be considered an achievement.

See the original at WION

Related: 'Today We Fucked with the State': Mexico Offers Rare Apology to Indigenous Women (teleSUR)

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