'Mexico admits responsibility in rape, torture of indigenous woman'

2011-12-15

In an official Act on Thursday, the Mexican government officially and publicly recognized the human rights violations committed against Valentina Rosendo Cantú, from the Me’phaa community in the southern Mexican State of Guerrero. Just last year, the Inter-American Court declared that Mexican soldiers had in fact raped and tortured two indigenous women, and declared that the government had to respond as required by international law, and carry out civilian investigations and prosecution into the abuses. Tlachinollan and partners in Mexico and the U.S. have spent the last year working to make the Mexican government complies. Just two weeks ago, the Mexican governments agreed to recognize – in a public and official act – the abuses in the cases of Ines and Valentina.

"Building accountability for abuses committed by authorities is a key issue in Mexico," Salvador Sarmiento, advocacy officer at the RFK Center, said in a statement. "Today's recognition and apology for what the Mexican soldiers did to Valentina is an important step for Mexico's civilian government to reassert its role and build oversight and controls over security operations."

Read the article from the Los Angeles Times.