For Indigenous, Not Speaking Spanish a 'Crime' That Lands Them in Jail Lizbeth Padilla Fajardo - CNN Mexico
go to original October 19, 2013

Only knowing the words “sí” or “no” in Spanish resulted in the unjust incarceration of 8,502 indigenous people during 2012. The incarcerations happened due to the fact that they did not know how to defend themselves before a public prosecutor, according to the National Commission for the Development of Indigenous Peoples (CDI).

“They were taken to jail because they did not have a translator at the time they entered their plea and could do no more than say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ at the time of their plea, and so they were sentenced because they gave their statement as a ‘yes,’” explained Nubia Mayorga, secretary of the CDI.

With the prison release program, the CDI has managed to free nearly 1,000 indigenous people so far this year. They are between 18 and 40 years old, illiterate or with no more than an elementary school education. Unjustly accused, they were not able to defend themselves because they could not speak Spanish. Others did not go free because they did not have the money to pay the bail amount “between 5,000 and 12,000 pesos, [$390 to $935US]” the official said.

The official did not specify the percentage of cases where incarceration resulted from the lack of a translator or defense lawyer.

Read the rest at Mexico Voices

Translated by Penn Tomassetti

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