HispanicVista Columnists

In Memory Of Digna

By Richard N. Baldwin T.

13 March 2005

 
     You may remember the "mysterious" death of Digna Ochoa, a dedicated human rights worker here in México. In October of 2001, she was found dead in her office, fatally shot in the head. Her family and activist groups have finally been able to force reopening the investigation that the prosecutors had labeled a "suicide". Her family points out that there is a litany of errors in the police report including differences in the crime scene photographs and the written report. In other words, a very sloppy investigation. But what is most interesting is that there were TWO gunshot wounds to her body. The first and non-fatal wound was to one of her legs. Then the fatal shot was delivered to her head. Now get this: the prosecutors said that she was simply "testing the gun" before shooting herself in the head! How stupid does the government think the Mexican public is? But now, at last, the prosecutor's office has agreed to reopen the investigation. We will watch this closely.

     Digna was a Catholic nun that took up a secular life to better work on human rights violations in México. At the time, she was working on violations including unjust imprisonment (and torture) of those objecting to illegal timber cutting in western México. You might remember one case of unjust trumped up imprisonment of two Indians that created an international scandal that forced President Fox to finally release them from jail. But Fox, true to form, did not have the courage to even give them a pardon. He had them released them for "medical" reasons.

     The investigation of Digna's death reminds me of a case in the 1990s that involved the gunshot death of a national party secretary in his office. The police found him shot in the chest and labeled it a suicide. He was indeed shot in the chest . . . TWICE. Our police and prosecutors just were doing a nice cover-up.

     Now, Interior Secretary Santiago Creel is screeching again. A report in the US on human rights issues that included allegations of abuse in several Mexican states was his subject. He screamed that the report had "huge errors" and that it failed to mention President Fox's new human rights plan. I wrote at the time of the release of that plan that it was pure fluff with no implementation, funding or constitutional amendments to make it work. And police torture is still standard fare to gain "confessions".

     But, as usual, the Mexican government speaks with many voices. At the same time of Creel's wailing, José Luis Soberanes, our National Human Rights Commission chief, says that the US report was "unfortunately correct". He further states that "These (human rights) problems are there and unfortunately we have to accept that they exist". Bravo for Soberanes.

     He also points out that the recent policy criticizing other country's human rights violations (such as Cuba) opens up Mexico to criticism also. We might as well get used to it.

     But let's not leave this on a negative note. I wrote about a new state level legal reform that took place in one of our northern Border States 10 months ago. Now, after 10 months of training judges, prosecutors and defense lawyers (and constructing a real courtroom), the first public trial with oral testimony has been completed. Remember that in most of Mexico, trials are secret, behind closed doors and the judge rarely ever sees the accused or the lawyers. He only gets pieces of paper to review and pass judgment.

     A normal trial takes from 10 months to four years. We just had a case of a man who was held in prison for four years whose case was finally tried. The judge found no evidence to hold or charge this man and ordered him released. After four years! The man is going to bring charges against the Mexican government in an international court . . .  but he is still without four years of his life.

     In the first oral trial, the whole thing took a bit more than four days. It was a case of drunken driving resulting in a death and property damage. The verdict was guilty, resulting in prison time for the accused and a fine for the property damage. Those who witnessed the trial found it to have been fair and open. How novel! One wonders how long it will take for our federal government to make the same changes country wide along with the necessary presumption of innocence that most of the civilized world recognizes. Here we came to justice in four days, instead of four years. And we wonder why our justice system is so clogged up and with so little popular support.

     It is in remembrance of Digna Ochoa that this is written. And it is the hope that her memory can bring better human rights and justice to the Mexican people. One cannot exist without the other.

     Would our government but have the courage.
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Richard N. Baldwin T., a HispanicVista.com (www.hispanicvista.com) contributing columnist, lives in Tlalnepantla, Edo de México. E-mail at: R1041643422@aol.com