Arbitrary Detentions in Mexico: ‘We Never Thought This Could Happen to Us’ Josefina Salomon - Amnesty International Mexico
go to original July 26, 2017

False Suspicions | Enrique Guerrero (Amnesty International Americas)

The phone rang at four in the afternoon, exactly as scheduled. The ringing heightened the tension in the small living room of the 1950s house in Mexico City.

“Will you accept a call from the West Federal Prison?” said the voice at the end of the line.

“Yes, of course. Yes, I will,” Blanca responded, visibly nervous, as if she hadn’t done this before.

But Blanca Aviña Guerrero has done this many times before. She has been doing it every Friday since her youngest son, Enrique, was arbitrarily detained by federal police in May 2013 and eventually thrown into a maximum security prison in the state of Jalisco, around 540 km west of Mexico City.

Authorities claim Enrique, 28, was involved in kidnapping the nephews of a well-known local businessman.

But a closer look at his case reveals a more sinister story.

False suspicions

A recent investigation by Amnesty International found police forces across Mexico are routinely detaining people without reason.

It appears to be an attempt by authorities to show they are tackling the country’s brutal drug cartels and high crime rates. But the reality is different.

In some cases, they ask victims for money not to be arrested. In others, they torture individuals to force a “confession”. Most victims are poor, lacking resources to challenge the legality of their detention.

Many arrests end up being cases of “wrong place, wrong time”.

But Blanca never thought this could happen to her family.

Read the rest at Amnesty International

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