On May 3rd and 4th, 2006 in Texcoco and San Salvador Atenco, state of Mexico, Mexico, 47 women were arbitrarily detained during a police operation carried out by state and federal forces, characterized by the excessive and indiscriminate use of force. The female detainees were brutally beaten, humiliated and abused, and the majority denounced suffering sexual torture at the hands of the police.
Since then, 11 women have fought for justice, taking their case before national courts and now before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. However, despite the seriousness of the violations and their detailed documentation, absolute impunity persists in the case. Therefore, 6 years after the events, the women of Atenco continue suffering discrimination and institutional violence, as well as a lack of access to justice and reparations.
Violence against women, according to the Convention of Belém Do Pará, ratified by Mexico in 1998, “is an offense against human dignity and a manifestation of the historically unequal power relations between women and men”. To that extent we emphasize that the use of sexual torture as a tool of repression in the case of Atenco not only affects the women who were detained and abused, but also Mexican society as a whole.
Consequently, on the sixth anniversary of the events, the undersigned organizations express our support for the women of Atenco and demand that Mexico comply with its obligations under international treaties, the Constitution and the legislation currently in force; specifically, to properly investigate the sexual torture inflicted on the women of Atenco, punish the perpetrators and make reparations for the damages.
As long as violence against women and impunity persist in cases like that of the women of Atenco, it is impossible to assert that Mexico is a truly democratic State governed by the rule of law.