Inter-American Court declares wide ranging incompliance with reparation measures issued in the case Environmentalists against Mexico

Mexico City, 23rd August, 2013.- Last August 21, 2013, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IA Court) published its first resolution regarding the monitoring of compliance with the judgment in the case Cabrera García and Montiel Flores v. México, also known as the Environmentalists case. In the resolution, the IA Court declared that Mexico has failed to comply with several of the most significant reparation measures ordered in its sentence in November 2010, in which it was confirmed that the Mexican State had violated, amongst others, the rights to humane treatment, to personal liberty, and to judicial protection of Teodoro Cabrera and Rodolfo Montiel.

As the Court asserts, the State of Mexico continues to fail to meet the essential reparation measures ordered in the sentence. Said measures aim to provide reparation for damages incurred, with a view to guaranteeing that these types of human rights violations do not reoccur.

In regards to this, the Inter-American Tribunal emphasized that the Military Code of Justice has still not been reformed to guarantee that human rights violations are investigated and tried by civil authorities. This is a reform ordered by the IA Court in four consecutive cases against Mexico.  On this occasion the Court recalled that “article 57 of the Code of Military Justice is incompatible with the American Convention” and reiterated the obligation to reform it.

On another note, almost three years have passed since the sentence was issued but the investigation and sanction of the grave abuses committed against the victims has still not been completed. As such, the IA Court indicated: “this Tribunal confirms that more than two years after the initiation of the preliminary investigation, there have been few judicial proceedings aimed at determining the alleged perpetrators responsible for the events of the present case.” In consideration of this, the Court “urges the State to carry out, within a reasonable period, the pending proceedings within the preliminary investigation.” It is important to note that there is ample documentation regarding the torture suffered by the victims in this case, and furthermore, some of those responsible for the crimes have been fully identified. As such, despite 14 years having passed since the events, all aspects for the advancement of the investigation are available.

Finally, the IA Court reiterated the State’s obligation to modify the registers of detained people to prevent violations of human rights.  The Inter-American Tribunal will continue monitoring the case until the State of Mexico has fully complied with all the reparation measures ordered in the sentence.

Considering this, the Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez Human Rights Center (Center Prodh) and the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL), representatives of the victims before the IA Court, demand that Mexico effectively complies with its international obligations and consequently with the totality of the measures ordered by the said Tribunal.