Digna Ochoa Murder Investigation
Three Months in: One Step Forward After Several Steps Back

Versión en español

January 18, 2002

Three months after the murder of Mexican human rights lawyer Digna Ochoa on October 19, no suspects have been officially identified and no arrests have been made in the case. However, following a false start, Human Rights First believes a serious investigation may finally be underway.

On December 10, approximately seven weeks after the murder, Bernardo Bátiz, Mexico City's Attorney General, shook up the investigative team. Prior to that, sensitive information had been leaked to the press and investigators failed to provide information on the progress of the investigation to the Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez Human Rights Center (PRODH) as required by Mexican law. These and other irregularities prompted the Ochoa family and several Mexican and international NGOs, including Human Rights First, to petition the OAS' Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to urge the Mexican government to allow the PRODH greater access to the investigation. On November 16, the Commission agreed, and the Mexican government consented.

While the Attorney General's shake-up resulted in delay, as a new team was named and began to review the case, the head of the investigation and one of Bátiz' senior advisors, Deputy Attorney General Renato Sales, made a promising new beginning. He ensured that the PRODH, which had been designated as a "collaborator" in the investigation under Mexican law following the murder, obtained access to the investigation and was given an opportunity for input with investigators. Recent press reports suggest that the investigation has taken on greater focus and direction - currently leading toward threats arising from Digna's advocacy work in the State of Guerrero - that was previously lacking.

The delays in making a serious investigative start are both tragic and costly. Along with colleagues and other Mexican rights defenders, Digna had been targeted since at least 1996. Had Mexican investigators undertaken proper investigations of the many antecedents to her murder, it is possible Digna would be alive today. Digna repeatedly appealed to authorities to find and bring her attackers to justice. Responsibility for this failure must be shared widely. The Mexico City Attorney General's office made inadequate efforts following extremely serious attacks against Digna (including an all-night ordeal in which she was held captive in her home in October 1999 and nearly killed), prompting Digna to turn in frustration to the Federal Attorney General's office - which ultimately closed the file on the case without identifying suspects or pressing charges.

A report released this week by an internal oversight body of the Federal Attorney General's Office suggests that Federal investigators failed to undertake a thorough investigation and concludes the investigation of her case was prematurely shelved. Human Rights First hopes that the Federal Attorney General takes prompt steps to ensure that those responsible are appropriately sanctioned and that similar failures are prevented. Mexico City Attorney General Bátiz should add to the shakeup of the Ochoa investigation with similar measures.

While there is reason to hope that the investigation is finally in capable hands, much more must be done before Digna's family and activist colleagues are free from the dangers they now live with. There is a direct link between the flaws that have long characterized Mexican justice and attacks on human rights defenders.

Human Rights First applauds the Fox administration for its commitment to cooperate with the investigation of Digna's murder and protect threatened family members and colleagues. However, it must also return to the neglected presidential campaign promise to overhaul the justice system that so abjectly failed Digna Ochoa and many of her clients. Not doing so will send a signal that violence against rights defenders of the kind that culminated in Digna's murder is likely to continue with impunity.