Ex-Mexican President Should Have Immunity in Massacre Case Say US Officials Catherine E. Shoichet - CNN
go to original September 8, 2012

The former Mexican President, Ernesto Zedillo (CNN)

U.S. officials have recommended immunity for a former Mexican president in a U.S. federal court case over his alleged role in a 1997 massacre.

Survivors of the attack and heirs of the 45 villagers who were killed in the massacre filed a civil lawsuit last year, accusing former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo of crimes against humanity.

A court filing from the U.S. government Friday supported Zedillo's argument that he should be immune from prosecution.

"The alleged actions as set forth in the complaint are predicated on former President Zedillo's actions as President of Mexico, thus involving the exercise of his powers of office," the filing said.

The filing concluded by saying "the United States has determined that former President Zedillo enjoys immunity from this lawsuit."

Arguments that Zedillo "should be held liable for lower level officials' tortious conduct simply by virtue of his position as president at the time" were not enough to change the U.S. State Department's assessment, officials said in the filing.

Zedillo and attorneys representing the plaintiffs did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The case has been closely watched on both sides of the border, particularly as the six-year term of current Mexican President Felipe Calderon - whose administration has been accused by some of human rights abuses in the nation's drug war - nears its end.

Zedillo was Mexico's president from 1994 to 2000.

The civil case against him was filed nearly a year ago in Connecticut, where Zedillo resides while he teaches at Yale University. It accuses him of being responsible for the killings of 45 villagers in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas, and afterward conspiring to cover it up.

Ten anonymous plaintiffs were seeking about $50 million in damages, according to court documents.

Although the killings happened in Mexico, the lawsuit argued that a long list of U.S. laws and international treaties - including the Alien Tort Claims Act and Torture Victim Protection Act - give the American federal court jurisdiction to try the case.

The killings occurred on December 22, 1997, and are considered among the more brutal incidents during an armed conflict that began three years earlier in southern Mexico after Zapatista rebels pushed for more rights for indigenous people.

Zedillo has denied allegations that his office was somehow responsible for the killings.

"These anonymous accusations that President Zedillo was somehow complicit in the events in Acteal are baseless and outrageous," he said in a January court filing. "The December 1997 attack in Acteal was an appalling tragedy. But that tragedy was not the result of an elaborate conspiracy by the Mexican federal government, masterminded by President Zedillo."

CNN's David Ariosto and Mariano Castillo contributed to this report.

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