A step towards justice, the indictment of former police officers regarding the Nochixtlán case

Former police commanders Juan Peralta Alavez and Carlos Guerrero Romero were indicted for their alleged responsibility in the 6 homicides and 18 injuries caused by the failed operation of the liberation of federal highways carried out on June 19th in 2016 in Asunción Nochixtlán, Oaxaca.

Peralta Alavez, former director of the Division of State Forces of Oaxaca, is accused of having ordered the deployment of police elements with high-powered weapons. While Guerrero Romero, ex-director of the ninth group of the Alert and Immediate Reaction Coordination, will face the omissions in which he allegedly incurred during the operation.

According to the report carried out by the civil organizations, Gobixha Committee for the Integral Defense of Human Rights (CODIGODH), Fundar, Luna del Sur A.C. and Consorcio Oaxaca, we showed in detail the use of weapons by the Federal Police, which they deny despite having proof in form of photographs, videos and the victims’ own testimonies that were made public.

Recently, the news portal Animal Político, highlights that “the Federal Police indicated that the elements that participated in the operation at an initial stage did not have firearms and only carried batons, but when ‘radical groups’ began to fire shots, they deployed armed police to counteract the aggressions”.

However, the FGR “obtained the ballistic study of hundreds of firearms, interviews with police officers, and expert reports, among hundreds of other procedures”.

This means a step towards justice for the victims, including 18 people who were not participating in the demonstrations, as they were at the municipal cemetery preparing a burial when the federal police detained them. From CODIGODH, we reiterate the demand for justice, reparation of damages and guarantee of non-repetition.

As well as recognizing the torture, cruel and inhuman treatment within the serious human rights violations committed against the detainees, by police under the direct order of these former police commanders.