Under the International Spotlight, Mexican Government Asks for 'Friendly Solution' Andalusia Knoll - TruthOut
go to original April 3, 2013

The Inter-American Human Rights commission is deliberating a case against the state of Mexico for police violence against women dissidents that has serious implications for the perpetration of sexual violence by police everywhere.

“The person that I was before 2006 doesn’t exist anymore,” stated Barbara Italía Mendez in front of the Inter-American Human Rights Commission (IAHRC), when asked how the sexual torture she suffered at the hands of Mexican police in 2006 has affected her life.

Mendez went on to describe all the negative effects she suffered, ranging from insomnia to an inability to engage in intimate relationships – or even receive a hug. In her remarks she reiterated that despite severe state repression and complete disregard for her human rights, she would never give up the fight for justice for all the women who were sexually tortured in San Salvador Atenco.

During this IAHRC hearing on March 14, 2013, after hearing Mendez’s testimony, representatives of the Mexican government publicly apologized and said they “hope to find a friendly solution to this issue.” For close to seven years, the Mexican state has virtually ignored women’s complaints regarding the sexual torture they suffered after being arrested at a protest on May 3 and 4, 2006. The government has not prosecuted the police or politicians involved – yet once exposed to the international spotlight, it maintained that it has sufficient mechanisms to bring justice to the case.

Read the rest at TruthOut

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