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MEXICO: ARBITRARY DETENTION OF INDIGENOUS HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER HIGINIO BUSTOS NAVARRO

The International League Against Arbitrary Detention urges the Government of Mexico to take all the necessary actions to implement the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention Opinion No. 41/2024 concerning Higinio Bustos Navarro, asking the Mexican Government to immediately and unconditionally release him and to accord him an enforceable right to compensation and other reparations in accordance with international law.

 

Read the full WGAD Opinion concerning Higinio Bustos Navarro (Mexico): Opinion No. 41/2024.

 

INDIGENOUS HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER ARBITRARILY ARRESTED BY AGENTS IN CIVILIAN CLOTHES ARMED WITH GUNS

 

Higinio Bustos Navarro, born in 1963, is an indigenous Nahuatl. Residing in the town of Tepetzintla, he is a defender of the human right to self-determination of the indigenous peoples and their territory. He is a member of the Frente Nacional de Lucha por el Socialismo (or National Front for the Struggle for Socialism), an organization that advocates for the human right to a dignified life, against forced disappearance, extrajudicial execution and the freedom of political prisoners. According to the source, in recent years, members of this organisation have been persecuted for political reasons by the authorities, including forced disappearances, arbitrary detentions and extrajudicial executions. Last, he is also responsible for the community agricultural tractor in his community.

 

On 3 May 2021, Mr. Bustos Navarro was arrested in the middle of the afternoon at the intersection of the Huautla-Terrerillos highway with the San Sebastián Chicontepec highway (municipality of Chicontepec, State of Veracruz), by twelve agents of the Veracruz State Attorney General's Office, dressed in civilian clothes with guns. He was then forced to get out of his vehicle, was handcuffed and put in a white van without any other explanation than the fact that they were taking him to the Tantoyuca Prosecutor's Office in Veracruz. However, in reality he was transferred to the Centro de Reinserción Social de Tantoyuca (or Social Reintegration Center of Tantoyuca), where he was still held at the time of the source's communication.


Allegedly, Mr. Bustos Navarro was then being held for a crime of aggravated homicide which occured on 31 January 2008 in Felipe Ángeles ranch (in Chalma), and for which an arrest warrant had been issued in 2011. It appeared that the deceased was allegedly a soldier working as an undercover agent - as a farmer in the Felipe Ángeles community - to investigate the activities of a social organisation named Frente Democratic Oriental de México “Emiliano Zapata”. Later, this organisation was one of many which merged together to create the Frente Nacional de Lucha por el Socialismo - organisation whcih Mr. Bustos Navarro is part of.


On 26 May 2021, an indirect amparo suit was filed in the Juzgado Octavo de Distrito (or the Eighth District Court) in the state of Veracruz against the constitutional order of 6 May 2021, which had decided to issue a formal arrest warrant against Mr. Bustos Navarro. On 21 March 2022, the Court rejected the suit. Other similar suits were later denied. At the time of the source's communication, Mr. Bustos Navarro's defense was still waiting for an appeal of this last decision to be sent to the corresponding court.


The Mexican Government was given the opportunity to answer these allegations, which it did on 11 July 2023.


ARBITRARILY ARRESTED WITHOUT A WARRANT OR BEING INFORMED OF THE CHARGES

 

According to the source, at the time of the arrest, the agents failed to present an arrest warrant or any official decision from a public authority. In its response, the Government claimed that the authorities had followed the proper procedure, citing an arrest warrant issued on 21 January 2011 for a crime of aggravated homicide which happened in 2008 (criminal case 05/2011-I). The Working Group was not convinced that, after 13 years, the agents had a valid arrest warrant in their possession at the time of the arrest, especially considering that the arrest was reportedly made for the purpose of investigation and interrogation, rather than for enforcing a definitive sentence against Mr. Bustos Navarro - which then did not exist. Consequently, the Working Group found a violation of article 9 (1) and (2) of the International Covenant for Political and Civil Rights. Moreover, upon reviewing the provisional arrest warrant issued in 2011, the Working Group reached the same conclusion. Indeed, while some investigative measures were carried out then, Mr. Bustos Navarro's involvement was never properly established.


In addition, following his arrest, Mr. Bustos Navarro was held in pre-trial detention. The Working Group recalled that, according to article 9 (3) of the Covenant, pre-trial detention should be an exceptional measure taken when alternatives are impossible, that it should be ordered for the shortest time possible, and that it should be based on an individualised determination of the circumstances of the case. According to the Government, the pre-trial detention of Mr. Bustos Navarro was an exceptional measure with investigative purposes - which is regulated under the Mexican criminal procedure system. Indeed, it must be requested by the Prosecutor during the preliminary investigation phase in order to complete the information held by the Prosecutor's Office, and must be accepted by a judge. The Working Group determined that none of these conditions were met in Mr. Bustos Navarro's case, and thus concluded that this had violated his right not to be arbitrarily detained under article 9 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and article 9 of the Covenant.

 

Therefore, the Working Group found that Mr. Bustos Navarro‘s arrest and detention lacked a legal basis, rendering his deprivation of liberty arbitrary under category I. 

 

VIOLATION OF HIS RIGHTS TO A FAIR TRIAL, TO APPEAL AND TO EXERCISE CONSTITUTIONAL REMEDIES

 

The source stated that Mr. Bustos Navarro was accused of a homicide allegedly committed on 31 January 2008 in the ranchería Felipe Ángeles (Chalma, Veracruz). The facts of the case were being investigated by the Public Prosecutor's Office of Tantoyuca (Veracruz) following a complaint made by the father of the deceased. On 4 March 2008, the accusation was legally elevated to the Specialised Unit for the Investigation of Terrorism, Arms Stockpiling and Trafficking of the former Attorney General's Office of the Republic - and the Public Prosecutor's Office decided to abandon its jurisdiction in favor of the Specialised Unit. Thus, this changed the jurisdiction of the detainee, and the legal rules used for his prosecution.

 

According to the source, this change of jurisdiction was due to the fact that the deceased was a military man working as an undercover agent in order to investigate the activities of the social organisation Frente Democrático Oriental de México “Emiliano Zapata” (an organisation that merged with others to form the Frente Nacional de Lucha por el Socialismo).


In this way, the principle of equality of arms in the process was compromised, and the right to the presumption of innocence was denied. For instance, decisions in the case were based on the father's second statement, in which he directly accused Mr. Bustos Navarro of the crime, rather than the initial statement where he clearly said, “he did not know or imagine who it could be”. Moreover, Mr. Bustos Navarro’s defence was not granted the right to have relevant witnesses admitted (e.g., the police officer who detailed the events was not allowed to testify), nor was he granted bail, as Mexican law prohibits it for aggravated homicide. The Working Group also expressed grave concerns over the lack of expeditious proceedings, a crucial element for ensuring an impartial trial. Indeed, these proceedings were conducted under a provision that has been in force for 13 years, with no clear indication of whether it had been renewed or was still legally applicable. Last, Mr. Bustos Navarro’s attempts to seek justice through constitutional remedies were obstructed, with all three amparo appeals rejected, raising concerns about the fairness of the legal process. In light of the above, the Working Group found in the violation of the rights of Mr. Bustos Navarro to equal arms as regards the right to admit relevant witnesses, to exercise his constitutional rights and to be granted bail, enshrined in article 14 (1) and 3 (e) of the Covenant.


Hence, the Working Group concluded that the violations of Mr. Bustos Navarro's right to a fair trial were of such gravity as to render his detention arbitrary within the meaning of category III.

 

DISCRIMINATORILY DETAINED AND JUDGED DUE TO HIS INDIGENOUS STATUS

 

According to the source, Mr. Bustos Navarro has been targeted for having been a committed defender of the human right to self-determination for indigenous peoples and their territories, for belonging to Náhuatl people, and for being a member of the Frente Nacional de Lucha por el Socialismo. Yet, the Government denied any connection between Mr. Bustos Navarro's detention and his ethnic or political affiliations.

 

In this light, the Working Group found that Mr. Bustos Navarro’s detention was based on discriminatory grounds, namely on his ethnic and political affiliations. As such, the Working Group considered that Mr. Bustos Navarro's rights not to be discriminated against, to be equal before the law and to be protected the law, enshrined in articles 2 (1) and 26 of the Covenant, had been clearly violated.


Thus, this led the Working Group to conclude that Mr. Bustos Navarro’s detention was arbitrary under Category V.

 

CONCLUSIONS OF THE UN WORKING GROUP AGAINST ARBITRARY DETENTION

 

In light of the foregoing, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention considered that the detention of Higinio Bustos Navarro was arbitrary and fell under categories I, III and V because his deprivation of liberty was in contravention of articles 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and articles 2, 7, 9, 10, 14 and 26 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

 

The Working Group recommended that the Government of Mexico take the necessary steps to remedy the situation of Mr. Bustos Navarro without delay and bring it into conformity with the relevant international norms. The Working Group considered that, taking into account all circumstances of the case, the appropriate remedy would be to release him immediately and accord him an enforceable right to compensation and other reparations, in accordance with international law.

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