2004 International Caravan for Justice in Ciudad Juarez and Chihuahua
View this 5-minute piece that summarizes the situation in Juarez and Chihuahua City, where approximately 400 young women have been murdered with virtually no action taken by the police or government. This video was produced by Steev Hise, who traveled on the West Coast leg of the International Caravan for Justice in Ciudad Juarez and Chihuahua in October and November, 2004. This is a study in preparation for a longer, complete documentary about this situation.
Final Report from the International Caravan for Justice in Ciudad Juarez and Chihuahua
Overview:
The International Caravan for Justice in Ciudad Juarez and Chihuahua was the largest and most successful international effort to date drawing attention to the decade of largely unresolved femicides in Chihuahua state. Five mothers and one sister of femicide victims accompanied five routes as the caravan traveled from Canada and the northern US, converging in Ciudad Juarez on November 1, 2004. Fifty-three cities hosted the caravan with public events, press conferences and meetings with public officials. Over 7,000 people participated directly in the caravan and millions learned of the situation in Chihuahua via extensive media coverage. The caravan spent six days in Ciudad Juarez and Chihuahua, participating in public events, marches, public testimonies, meetings with members of Congress and local and state officials, press conferences, and ceremonies. For the first time ever, mothers of the femicide victims met with the governor of Chihuahua and the president of the state Supreme Court. Following is a brief review of the highlights of the International Caravan for Justice in Ciudad Juarez and Chihuahua, along with action suggestions for those who stand in solidarity with the women of Juarez and Chihuahua.
Suggestions for action in solidarity with the women of Juarez and Chihuahua:
- March 8 - Call for local action on International Women's Day. Protest at Mexican consulates, organize memorial services and marches, build an altar - use your creativity.
- March 1-10 - Northeastern US speaking tour focused on the femicides of Ciudad Juarez & Chihuahua - March15-26 - California speaking tour focused on the femicides of Juarez and Chihuahua.
- March 6-13 or March 12-20 - Join a delegation to Ciudad Juarez and Chihuahua, sponsored by the Mexico Solidarity Network. For more information, contact MSN@MexicoSolidarity.org.
- Host a speaker or workshop on the femicides or gender issues at your school, community center or church. Contact MSN@MexicoSolidarity.org for more information.
Goals:
· Pressure the Mexican government to end crimes against women in the cities of Juarez and Chihuahua, and to punish those responsible.
· Demand punishment of public authorities responsible for the impunity.
· Create consciousness in the United States and Mexico that the crimes against women in the cities of Juarez and Chihuahua are a bi-national problem.
· Demand that maquiladora owners assume responsibility for the safety of their workers by providing safe transportation, streetlights and increased security measures.
· In the US, promote the proposal sponsored by Representative Hilda Solis, House Resolution 466, a Sense of the Congress Resolution that condemns the femicide.
· Demand that the Fox administration intervene in the investigations and clean up local corruption and impunity.
· Promote the creation of a bi-national committee to address gender violence.
Organized by:
Justicia Para Nuestras Hijas (Juarez and Chihuahua), Nuestas Hijas Regreso a Casa (Juarez), Centro de Estudios y Taller Laboral (Juarez), Casa Amiga (Juarez), Comision Mexicana de Defensa y Promocion de los Derechos Humanos (Mexico City), Women in Black (US), Amigos de las Mujeres de Juarez (Las Cruces, NM), Amnesty International USA, and the Mexico Solidarity Network (US).
Impact in Mexico:
On November 4, the caravan met with newly elected Governor Jesus Reyes, the first time a governor of Chihuahua has met with the mothers of victims, and newly elected state Attorney General Patricia Gonzalez. The governor offered to form a permanent commission for dialogue with the families of victims and agreed to designate an assistant Attorney General for Human Rights. He admitted that the previous administration had done a poor job of investigating the femicides. The caravan presented the following list of demands:
· Cooperation with the Equipo Argentino de Antropologia Forense to assist with the identification of victims, determine causes of death, and independently verify lines of investigation.
· A program to select and train personnel involved in the investigation of cases in technical methods with a strong focus on gender issues and respect for human rights.
· Establish a program to clean up the office of the Attorney General and the police forces, including firing personnel who have been negligent in their responsibilities.
· An immediate end to torture as a means of investigation.
· Guarantee access of families of victims to cases, and create centers for legal training with a focus on violence against women.
· Develop a comprehensive program for assistance for victims.
· Schedule regular meetings in Ciudad Juarez and Chihuahua with the families of victims and their attorneys.
· Present a work plan for investigations in each of the unresolved cases.
· Provide information on the experience and history of each of the people in charge of investigations.
Both the Governor and the Attorney General agreed to these demands and signed copies in the presence of the caravan.
On November 4, the caravan met with the President of the state Supreme Court, José Chávez Aragón. During the meeting and in the presence of various members of the caravan, Mr. Chavez called various state judges and instructed them to quit accepting as evidence confessions taken under torture.
On November 1 and 4, the caravan met with various Deputies from the state and federal Congress, and received strong commitments to end the femicides and bring those responsible to justice.
Highlights in the US and Canada:
The caravan participated in public events, press conferences, meetings with local officials and members of Congress, church services in 56 Mexican, US and Canadian cities between October 17 and November 5, 2004. Among the highlights:
October 17 - The caravan met with Massachusetts state Senator Ellen Story.
October 18 - Rep. Jim McDermott addressed a public event hosting the caravan in Seattle.
October 20 - Public meeting in the City Council Chambers in Fort Collins-CO.
October 20 - Public meeting in Brantford, Ontario, attended by several members of the city council, which later passed a resolution in support of the mothers of Juarez and Chihuahua. The caravan also met the same day with the Ganohkwasra Family Assault Support Services, an indigenous group in Ohsweken, Ontario.
October 21 - New York City council member Margarita Lopez and Representative Jose Serrano hosted a public meeting in which the city of New York approved a resolution condemning the femicides in Juarez and Chihuahua.
October 22 - Representative Hilda Solis hosted a briefing in the House of Representatives encouraging support for HR 466 and SR 392. The Mexico Solidarity Network, the Comision Mexicana de Defensa y Promocion de los Derechos Humanos, Amnesty International, the Washington Office on Latin America and the Latin America Working Group met with officials from the Embassy of Mexico in Washington, DC.
October 22 - The caravan met with the office of Rep. Mike Doyle (D-OH) in his Pittsburgh offices.
October 25 - The mayor of Las Vegas-NM declared October 25 a day in solidarity with the families of victims in Juarez and Chihuahua.
October 25 - The caravan met with the national office of the Presbyterian Church USA.
October 26 - A press conference in the heart of Los Angeles drew dozens of media outlets. The brother of one of the femicide victims who lives in LA joined told his sister's story.
October 27 - The caravan met with the Consul General at the Mexican Embassy in San Diego.
October 27 - The caravan met with Rep. Richard Romero in Albuquerque-NM.
October 29 - The caravan met with the office of Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) in her Dallas offices.
Universities hosting the caravan:
Among the universities that hosted the caravan are: Harvard, Yale, Duke, Amherst College, Dartmouth, University of Texas-Austin, University of Texas-San Antonio, Stiles College, George Washington University, University of Richmond, Milsaps College, Oregon State University, Humbolt State University, UCLA, Phoenix College, Colorado State University, University of Northern Colorado, University of Colorado-Boulder, Denver Metro University, Highlands University, University of New Mexico, University of Minnesota, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Augustana College, Loyola University, University of Missouri-Columbia, University of Missouri-Kansas City, Rhodes College, University of Cincinnati, University of Washington, Portland State University, New College of California.
Organizations hosting the caravan:
Among the hosting groups were: the Jackson Mississippi Hispanic Society, various Amnesty International local chapters, various MEChA chapters, MECA Community Center in Houston-TX, Coalition of Imokallee Workers, PCASC/CBLOC in Portland-OR, Casa de la Raza in Santa Barbara-CA, World Beat Center in San Diego-CA, Derechos Humanos/Alianza Indigena in Tucson-AZ, Escuela Tlateloco in Denver, Santa Fe Rape Crisis Center, Albuquerque Peace and Justice Center, Casa de Guanajuato Cultural Center in Rock Island-IL, Sexual Assault Center of Brant in Brantford, Ontario, Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, Center for Women and Families in Louisville-KY, Toronto Women's Bookstore, Iglesia Hispana de Columbus, Mid-South Peace and Justice Center, Traditions Fair Trade Café-WA, Accion Zapatista de Humboldt, Friends of Juarez-Sacramento, and many more.
Media coverage:
The caravan received widespread media coverage both in the U.S. and Mexico, largely due to the phenomenal media work of Caravan hosts in cities across the country. The caravan included three major press conferences, the first held October 21st at the New York City Council after the new City Council Resolution condemning the femicides was passed. The second press conference was held October 26th in Los Angeles with Congresswoman Hilda Solis, which generated widespread coverage on national networks. A final press conference was held on October 31st when the five caravans converged in Juarez and met at Campo Algodonero, and abandoned cotton field outside Juarez where 8 women's bodies were found in 2001.
US Media:
The Caravan received extensive coverage in the U.S. both as it was occurring and after the caravans crossed the border into Chihuahua state. As the caravan and U.S. delegates joined families of victims in Juarez for a series of conferences, and family members met with officials in Chihuahua City, U.S. media outlets and networks continued to follow the story through foreign correspondents. The story was picked up by Associated Press and Reuters, and these articles were syndicated in publications across the U.S, including the Miami Herald, San Diego Union-Tribune, and the Washington Post Express, a free daily publication that is distributed daily to thousands of commuters in the Washington DC metropolitan area. An excellent Associated Press article about the Caravan ran as headline news on Yahoo News Online, where it was viewed by thousands checking their email. The Caravan received local coverage in dozens of papers, including, among many others, the Dallas Morning News, Albuquerque Journal, Rocky Mountain News, San Jose Murcury News, and Minneapolis Star Tribune, with multiple articles appearing in the Houston Chronicle. The Denver Post published an editorial on October 25 inspired by the caravan. A story on the Caravan appears on the front page of the national Indymedia website, and the caravan received extensive coverage from Indymedia outlets throughout the U.S. Television interviews aired on stations including Univision and Telemundo, and the dozens of radio coverage included the Associated Press Radio Network and Pacifica as well as local independent and commercial programming in dozens of cities. The caravan participated in dozens of radio and television interviews, with heavy coverage on the Spanish language stations, including: Patria Grande Radio Show, Fort Collins-CO, Radio Montanesa KOCA, Laramie-WY, Denver Post editorial October 25, 2004, Univision-Denver, Milwaukee Public Television, Univision-Chicago, Sol de Texas, La Voz Latina in Ohio, Al Dia in Dallas, Diario la Estrella in Dallas, La Noticia in Nashville, and many more.
Press Coverage in Mexico:
Notably, an article about the Caravan and the passing on New York City Council resolution condemning the femicides ran on the front page of La Jornada, Mexico's second largest daily newspaper. While press coverage was phenomenal during the caravan, it really picked up after the caravans converged and crossed the border into Ciudad Juarez. The family members participating in the Caravan and following conferences and meetings, as well as the U.S. delegation accompanying the Caravan, were swamped by reporters and television crews. The news reports in Mexico were numerous and overwhelmingly positive, especially since media coverage by (state funded) media outlets in the state of Chihuahua is usually hostile to the families and organizations fighting the femicides.
Among articles published were the following:
1) Flaccus, Gillian. "Caravan Targeting Ciudad Juarez Killings moves through California." Associated Press October 27, 2004
2) Rodriguez, Olga. "Activists form U.S. and Canada Demand Justice for slain Juarez Women." Associated Press. October 31st, 2004.
3) Brooks, Davis and Cason, Jim. "City Council of New York Condemns Femicides: Council members call U.S. Businesses in Juarez to Take Action to Protect their Employees." (The International Caravan for Justice in Juarez begins: they predict 50 protests). La Jornada. October 22nd 2004.
4) Gaynor, Tim. "U.S., Canadians Protest Mexico Border Murders." Reuters. October 31st, 2004.
5) Everett-Haynes, Monica. "Political Heat on Juarez Killings Sought: Group Hopes to Shake Apathy to the murders." Houston Chronicle. October 27th, 2004.
6) Corchado, Alfredo. "A Call for Justice in Mexico: Mothers of Women Slian in Juarez Rally on Day of the Dead." Dallas Morning News. November2nd, 2004.
Also, check out the Indymedia Coverage on the web:
1) Hise, Steev. Crossing into Juarez with the International Caravan for Justice. November 10th, 2004. http://www.indymedia.org/or/index.shtml
2) Radio Interview: International Caravan For Justice Stops in Houston by Tara Ramos Friday, Oct. 29, 2004 at 7:54 AM http://radio.indymedia.org/news/2004/10/2820.php:produccionessolidarias@yahoo.com
Caravan targeting Ciudad Juarez killings moves through California
By GillianFlaccus
ASSOCIATED PRESS
12:10 a.m. October 27, 2004
LOS ANGELES - A caravan that has traversed the United States to bring attention to the killings of 340 women in the border town of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, made one of its last public stops in this country before heading to Mexico to lobby government officials.
Mexican authorities say the victims - mainly slender, long-haired, and between the ages of 15 and 20 - have been killed over the past decade. Nearly 100 of them were sexually assaulted, strangled and dumped in the desert. Activists accuse police not only of torturing suspects, but of contaminating and falsifying evidence and harassing victims' relatives. Most believe the real killers have not yet been caught.
Ramona Morales told the story Tuesday of her slain daughter, 16-year-old Silvia Elena Rivera Morales, to a crowd of reporters, California politicians and activists, as preschoolers played in a historic plaza commemorating the first Spanish settlement in Los Angeles. Papier-mache skeletons hung in an open-air pavilion in celebration of the upcoming Day of the Dead, a popular Mexican holiday.
Morales, who spoke through a translator, said the last time she saw her daughter was on July 7, 1995, when she left for school with her eldest brother.
"She was supposed to go to a job at a shoe factory after school and then she was supposed to return home," Morales said. "It was my custom to wait for her at the bus stop every evening, but that night I waited until 1 a.m. and she never came home."
Morales said her daughter's decomposed body was eventually found, but a judge ruled there was not enough evidence to convict a man suspected in the case, Egyptian-born chemist Abdel Latif Sharif. He is currently serving a sentence of 20 years for the death of another woman, she said.
"Time has passed and I have received no justice," Morales said.
Speakers blamed Ciudad Juarez police and politicians from the state of Chihuahua for not doing more.
David Gonzalez said his sister, 32-year-old Maria de Jesus Gonzalez Apodrica, was shot twice in the chest at point-blank range in the middle of a market in 2002 and multiple witnesses identified a suspect. But Gonzalez said police let the man go free and have not sent an arrest warrant to police in nearby El Paso, Texas, despite repeated requests. Gonzalez said he believes his sister's killer is now in Los Angeles.
"I want justice for my sister, I want justice for all woman," he said. "The life of a woman in Juarez doesn't count. They just say, 'Oh, it's another one.'"
The tour, which calls itself the International Caravan for Justice, is actually made up of five regional caravans that have crisscrossed the United States since Oct. 18, said Jessica Marques, organizer for the Mexico Solidarity Network.
They will converge on Ciudad Juarez on Sunday and travel together to Chihuahua, capitol of Chihuahua, where members will lobby regional politicians and a newly appointed special prosecutor on Nov. 2, the Day of the Dead.
The caravan that stopped in Los Angeles will visit San Diego, Phoenix and Tucson, Ariz., before arriving in Ciudad Juarez.
Activists from U.S. and Canada demand justice for slain Juarez women
By OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ Associated Press Writer
October 31, 2004
CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico- Caravans carrying activists traveling from as far as Canada arrived Sunday in Ciudad Juarez to demand authorities find the culprits behind a string of unsolved killings committed against women since 1993 in this rough border city.
Mexican authorities say 340 women have been killed over the past decade in Ciudad Juarez, a city of about 1.3 million people across the U.S. border El Paso, Texas.
The activists departed from Toronto, Seattle, Boston, Minneapolis and Laramie, Wyoming and visited 56 cities in the United States and Canada. Each caravan stopped at churches, universities and community organizations, accompanied by some of the victims' mothers, who gave talks about their daughters' deaths and their struggle for justice.
"For 11 years these killings have been going on and women continue dying," said Tom Hansen, who traveled from Toronto and is the director of the Mexico Solidarity Network, the organizer of the caravans. "Enough is enough."
Mothers and relatives of some of the slain women joined the group of about 60 activists at the Lerdo International Bridge and together they walked to a large wooden crucifix erected in memory of the victims. Orange flowers was placed by the cross _ an offering typical of the Day of the Dead. Mexicans honor the dead on Monday, when the souls of dead children are believed to return, and on Tuesday, when adults are believed to arrive.
Hundreds of people came out to meet several cars as they pulled into Mexico. The crowd was joined by a group of former braceros seeking unpaid retirement funds from farm work in the United States that just happened to be protesting when the caravan arrived.
Ramona Morales, whose 16-year-old daughter Silvia Elena was killed in Juarez in 1995, said she'd traveled through 12 cities in the United States _ including San Francisco and San Diego.
"We're still tired from having been in so many cities," Morales said. "But maybe with all of this we can get the support of the United States to finally find who killed our daughters."
The effort by Morales and her travel companions adds to the international attention focused on this border city, which has been visited by dozens of international organization and foreign officials that came hoping their presence would pressure Mexican authorities to find those behind the killings.
Still, prosecutors appear no closer to solving most of the killings, and families of the victims describe official efforts as futile probes that have been tainted by inept and corrupt police officers.
About 100 of the victims in Juarez have been young and slender women who were sexually assaulted, strangled and dumped in the desert near Ciudad Juarez, across the Rio Grande river from El Paso, Texas.
While there have been dozen of arrests only two men have been convicted for nine of the crimes.
Abdel Latif Sharif, a U.S. resident and Egyptian-born chemist, was found guilty in one of the earliest slayings and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
This month, bus driver Victor Garcia Uribe was sentenced to 50 years for the deaths of eight women whose bodies were found in a vacant lot in Ciudad Juarez in 2001. Garcia Uribe claimed he was tortured into confessing.
Some mothers of slain women point out it was only after international organizations focused on Ciudad Juarez that President Vicente Fox sent in a special prosecutor and appointed a commissioner to work on preventing violence against women in Juarez.
"Before authorities would close the door in our face," said Julia Caldera, whose 16-year-old daughter Maria Elena was killed in 2000. "Now they at least talk to us and treat us with some dignity."
Hansen, who traveled from Toronto, said the group plans to meet with local, state and federal officials and visit the city of Chihuahua, where at least eight young women have been killed in circumstances eerily similar to the killings in Juarez. There they will meet with the newly appointed state prosecutor.
On Tuesday, members of the caravan plan to celebrate a Day of the Dead mass in memory of the victims in Anapra, a poor, desert neighborhood where many of the slain women lived.
"The international pressure has made the three levels of government recognize we have a problem in this city," said Norma Andrade, an elementary school teacher whose 17-year-old daughter was slain in 2001. "We just hope the international pressure continues and that it helps to find the true culprits."
La Jornada:
Directora General: Carmen Lira Saade
México D.F. Viernes 22 de octubre de 2004
Sociedad y Justicia
Exigen a empresas de EU en Juárez acciones para proteger a sus empleadas
Concejales de NY condenan feminicidios
Comienza la caravana internacional por la justicia en Chihuahua; se prevén 50 protestas
DAVID BROOKS Y JIM CASON CORRESPONSALES
Nueva York y Washington, 21 de octubre. El concejo municipal de Nueva York, la ciudad más grande de Estados Unidos, condenó hoy en una resolución oficial el asesinato de cientos de mujeres en Ciudad Juárez, y pidió que el gobierno neoyorquino destine recursos de su fondo de pensiones, de 14 mil millones de dólares, para presionar a empresas estadunidenses que operan cerca de esa localidad fronteriza a coadyuvar en la protección de los derechos humanos en la región.
Esta acción del concejo es una de las más de 50 que se tienen programadas durante las próximas dos semanas como parte de una Caravana Internacional por la Justicia en Juárez y Chihuahua, organizada por la Red de Solidaridad con México y Justicia para Nuestras Hijas, entre otras agrupaciones que buscan llamar la atención pública sobre los feminicidios en esa región. Esta semana cinco caravanas comenzaron su viaje rumbo a Juárez desde diferentes puntos en Estados Unidos: Amherst, Massachussets; Fort Collins, Colorado; Buffalo, Nueva York; Seattle, estado de Washington, y Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
"Hasta ahora la participación en cada ciudad ha sido tremenda", afirmó Kate Chanton, una de las organizadoras de la caravana. En entrevista con La Jornada, agregó que en el acto de esta semana en Dartmouth, Nueva Hampshire, había tal cantidad de interesados que no todos pudieron entrar a la sala. ''Había más de 500 personas'', añadió Chanton.
Participantes de las cinco caravanas se reunirán en Juárez el 31 de octubre para realizar cinco días de protestas contra los feminicidios en ese lugar.
Exigen campaña coordinada
Soledad Aguilar, cuya hija Cecilia Cobarrubias Aguilar fue asesinada en Juárez, fue una de las oradoras en el concejo municipal de Nueva York, que hoy se enfocó en la situación en esa ciudad fronteriza. El concejal José Serrano organizó la audiencia ante un subcomité del concejo para discutir la situación y para instar a empresas estadunidenses y al gobierno de México a tomar acciones para proteger a los ciudadanos de Juárez.
Según Teju Ajaiyeoba, una vocera de Serrano, el concejo municipal aprobó una resolución "condenando la violencia sexual y el asesinato de mujeres en Ciudad Juárez, México, a lo largo de los últimos 10 años". La resolución establece que 320 personas han sido asesinadas desde 1993, muchas en actos de brutalidad y violencia sexual. Muchas de las asesinadas fueron empleadas o buscaban laborar en las maquiladoras, pero las empresas dueñas de esas plantas no han realizado una "campaña coordinada" para protegerlas, afirma la resolución.
Así, el concejo municipal solicitó que el fondo de pensiones de los empleados municipales destine recursos de sus 14 mil millones de dólares en inversiones para presionar a las empresas estadunidenses con presencia en Juárez a realizar acciones coordinadas para proteger a sus trabajadoras. La resolución menciona en particular a General Motors, Ford y General Electric.
También se afirma que Tyco International, Delphi Auto, Lear Corporation, TDK, Proctor Silex, Phillips Consumer Electronic, Siemens Energy and Auto, Phillips Lighting, Honeywell Inc, Mannesman Inc, Sumitomo Electric Wiring, Epson Portland Inc, Johnson and Johnson Medical y Toshiba America subcontratan trabajo a estas maquiladoras.
El concejo también señala que Amnistía Internacional (AI) ha dicho que el gobierno estatal de Chihuahua y el gobierno federal de México tienen una responsabilidad para actuar y poner fin a estos asesinatos.
Otros actos programados para las diversas rutas de las caravanas incluyen una reunión con representantes federales en Los Angeles, un día en solidaridad con el pueblo de Juárez en Las Vegas, y decenas de foros.
Además de la Red de Solidaridad con México y Justicia para Nuestras Hijas, la caravana está patrocinada por el Centro de Estudios y Taller Laboral (Juárez), Casa Amiga (Juárez), Comisión Mexicana de Defensa y Promoción de los Derechos Humanos (México), Amigos de las Mujeres de Juárez (Las Cruces, Nuevo México), AI-EU y Women In Black (EU).
U.S., Canadians Protest Mexico Border Murders
Sun Oct 31, 2004 04:56 PM ET
By Tim Gaynor
CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico (Reuters) - About two dozen Canadian and U.S. activists joined 1,000 Mexicans on Sunday in a demonstration to demand justice in the murders of hundreds of local women in the crime-ridden border city of Ciudad Juarez.
Prosecutors say more than 340 women have been stabbed, strangled and bludgeoned to death since 1993 in the grim industrial city that lies south of the border from El Paso, Texas, although only two convictions have resulted from a widely criticized police investigation.
The foreign activists from as far afield as Boston, Montana and Toronto and were welcomed to the desert-ringed city by a 1,000-strong Mexican crowd chanting "no more deaths" and "justice now."
The foreign protesters, organized by the U.S.-based Mexico Solidarity Network, hope increased international attention would persuade authorities to do more to investigate the crimes.
"The state and city security apparatus has bungled the cases completely, and the women in the state of Chihuahua are insecure right now," protest organizer Tom Hansen, who drove from Toronto, told Reuters.
"Eleven years of these killings is enough, and its got to come to an end. Almost all the cases remain unresolved and the few people who are in prison are probably innocent," he said.
The murders have been variously attributed to domestic violence, rogue drug cartels and serial killers. But despite an outcry both in Mexico and abroad, just two men -- an Egyptian chemist and a local bus driver -- have been convicted.
Last week a special prosecutor appointed by President Vicente Fox to look into the slayings said 100 police and criminal prosecutors -- almost 40 percent of the total assigned to the investigation -- face misconduct charges.
Oct. 27, 2004, 11:42PM
Political heat on Juarez killings sought
Group hopes to 'shake apathy' to the murders
By LA MONICA EVERETT-HAYNES
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle
U.S. residents can help prevent killings of young women in the Mexican cities of Ciudad Juarez and Chihuahua by getting involved politically, said people attending a meeting Wednesday night to raise awareness of some 300 deaths in nearly a decade.
About 150 people attended the meeting by the International Caravan for Justice in Juarez and Chihuahua, which is staging a 56-city tour to spotlight the killings. Multicultural Education and Counseling Through the Arts sponsored the Houston stop. Speakers encouraged participants to call or write to members of Congress and to Mexico President Vicente Fox.
Karla Aguilar, assistant to the executive director at the arts group, helped organize the event.
"We're trying to shake the apathy," Aguilar said. "This could be anyone's daughter."
She said the numbers of deaths are not "impressive" to U.S. residents. "We think massacre and genocide and we talk in thousands," Aguilar said. "It's the numbers that amaze Americans."
Soledad Aguilar's daughter, Cecilia Cobarrubias Aguilar, was one of those killed. "The authorities treated us very poorly because, for them, it was a case that didn't have any importance," she said.
ctyleh@chron.com
A call for justice in Mexico
Mothers of women slain in Juárez rally on Day of the Dead
08:33 PM CST on Tuesday, November 2, 2004
By ALFREDO CORCHADO / The Dallas Morning News
CIUDAD JUÁREZ, Mexico - Mothers of many of the young women slain in and around Ciudad Juárez over the last decade used the Day of the Dead observance Tuesday to grieve for their daughters and to demand justice.
The women visited churches and cemeteries, accompanied by friends and supporters from as far away as Canada. The show of solidarity came in the face of a federal report last week that lambasted nongovernmental organizations and "foreign visitors" who "complicated the uncovering of the homicides of Ciudad Juárez."
The report's language echoed criticism by Chihuahua state authorities, who have criticized such groups as Amnesty International for what they called meddling in state affairs.
About 370 young women have been killed in Juárez and Chihuahua City over the last 11 years.
Clutching bright orange flowers, a number of women gathered Tuesday at a church in Anapra, a poor subdivision outside Juárez where the bodies of several young women were discovered. Many went from there to area graves to set up altars and to make offerings - teddy bears, a favorite blouse, and other items that reminded them of their slain daughters.
Several of the women said the rituals brought them everything except closure and justice.
"There is still no justice for my daughter, just pain," said Soledad Aguilar, whose daughter, Cecilia Covarrubias, was slain in 1995. "Once again, another year, and I'll be at her grave without answers."
Dia de los Muertos is celebrated Nov. 1 and 2. It evolved through a combination of Catholicism and the Aztec ritual of celebrating the dead - infants and adults on separate days.
The Spanish conquerors of Mexico were solemn about death, while the Aztecs honored their ancestors with festive ceremonies that incorporated loved ones' favorite music, food and personal items.
This year, some women whose daughters were victims of violence took part in a two-week international caravan that stopped in 56 cities in the United States - including Dallas - Mexico and Canada. The caravan was an effort to raise awareness about the violence that has taken the lives of the young women.
In Dallas on Friday, Patricia Cervantes, mother of a victim named Neyra Asucena, said: "We have to leave our own country and come to this one to demand justice, to pressure our own government into doing their work."
The caravan arrived in Las Cruces, N.M., over the weekend, and organizers held a number of activities in Juárez over the last three days. On Wednesday, members will travel to Chihuahua City for a meeting with newly elected state Gov. José Reyes Baeza.
"The important thing about this caravan was the number of new seeds planted throughout the journey," said Tom Hansen, director of the Washington-based Mexico Solidarity Movement, which organized the effort. "People who once knew nothing about the issue now want to know what they can do to help pressure the Mexican government."
Last week's federal report condemned the state investigation into the slayings. It recommended criminal investigations of 51 local law enforcement officials, in addition to 49 others previously targeted, for shoddy work, according to Maria López-Urbina, the top federal investigator on the case.
The report also recommended that federal investigators in the organized crime unit take over 24 murder cases, indicating that some of the killings could be tied to drug traffickers.
E-mail acorchado@dallasnews.com