The International League Against Arbitrary Detention urges the Government of Mexico to take all necessary actions to implement the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention Opinion No. 32/2023 concerning Mario Almanza Cerriteño, Jorge Hernández Mora, and Sergio Rodríguez Rosas, asking the Mexican Government to immediately release these individuals and accord them enforceable rights to compensation and other reparations in accordance with international law.
Read the full WGAD Opinion concerning Mario Almanza Cerriteño, Jorge Hernández Mora, and Sergio Rodríguez Rosas (Mexico): Opinion No. 32/2023.
ARRESTED WITHOUT LEGAL BASIS AND UNDER FALSE ACCUSATIONS
Messrs. Cerriteño, Mora and Rosas are all nationals of Mexico, born between 1959 and 1981. Between January and August 2001, two kidnappings occurred in Tlaxcala, prompting the State’s General Prosecutor’s Office to initiate an investigation. Failing to apprehend the real perpetrators, the Tlaxcala Government opted to detain, accuse, and punish innocent individuals to demonstrate their capacity to ensure citizen security.
As such, on August 13, 2002, Messrs. Cerriteño, Mora and Rosas were summoned and arrested. The three men were arrested in different context (e.g., upon arrival to the police station, just after arriving home), but all by unidentified armed men at first. Messrs Mora and Rosas were presented with a summon issued by the Prosecutor justifying their arrest, though none was able to read it.
The Government was given the opportunity to contest these allegations, which it did. Notably, according to the Government, all men were arrested in flagrante delicto for possession of narcotics by identified police officers. If at first the charges brought against the three men were possession of narcotics for commercial purposes, kidnapping and organized crime, the charge related to narcotics was later revoked.
First, they were arrested without a legal warrant, since the summon presented to Messrs. Mora and Rosas was deemed insufficient. Besides, nor the reasons for their arrest nor the charges brought against them were explained to them. Considering this, the Working Group established their right not be arbitrarily detained, guaranteed by article 9(2) of the Covenant, had been violated.
Besides, all were held in preventive detention. Reminding the exceptional nature of such detentions, and noting the lack of individual assessment that could justify such detentions, the Working Group found a violation of article 9(3) of the Covenant.
Therefore, considering all the above, the Working Group concluded that the arrest and detention of these three men were arbitrary under category I.
VIOLATIONS OF THEIR RIGHT TO A FAIR TRIAL AND TO CONSULAR ASSISTANCE
Soon after their respective arrest, Messrs. Cerriteño, Mora and Rosas were all presented as kidnappers at a press conference held by the Prosecutor. As such, the Working Group found that their right to presumption of innocence was violated, based on articles 14(2) of the Covenant and 11 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Furthermore, they were all forced to confess to crimes they did not commit under extreme duress, with their confessions being recorded and used against them in legal proceedings. The Government appears to concede that they were indeed subjected to torture, but argues this evidence was dismissed by a court decision. Considering the above, the Working Group found that Messrs. Cerriteño, Mora and Rosas' right not to be subjected to torture was violated, under articles 7 of the Covenant and 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It also found that their right not to be subjected to torture in order to extract a confession was violated, under article 14 of the Covenant.
There has also been undue delays of nearly two-decades in the appeal procedure, until 2019, when they were acquitted of the charge of organised-crime. Recalling that the right to a trial without undue delay includes the entire trial process, and so the appeal, the Working Group established this right had been violated, under article 14(3)(c) of the Covenant. Moreover, considering these undue delays and the fact that during this time, no definitive decision was taken, the Working Group found that their right to an effective remedy was violated, under article 2(3) of the Covenant and 8 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
As a consequence, the Working Group established that their detention was arbitrary under category III.
CONCLUSIONS OF THE UN WORKING GROUP AGAINST ARBITRARY DETENTION
In the light of the foregoing, the UN Working Group Against Arbitrary Detention considered that the deprivations of liberty of Mario Almanza Cerriteño, Jorge Hernández Mora, and Sergio Rodríguez Rosas were arbitrary under category I and III, as it contravened Articles 5, 8, 9, 10, and 11 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Articles 2, 7, 9, and 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
The Working Group considered that, taking into account all the circumstances of the case, the appropriate remedy would be to immediately and unconditionally release the three individuals and grant them the right to obtain redress, including compensation, in accordance with international law.
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