An investigation has been opened for « homicide » in Mexico where eight people have been identified as presumed responsible for the death of 39 migrants in a detention center of a federal institute in Ciudad Juarez at the gates of the United States, the Mexican authorities indicated on Wednesday March 30.
“None of the officials nor any of the private security police took any action to open the door to the migrants who were inside while there was fire”human rights prosecutor Sara Irene Herrerías Guerra said at a press conference the day after the incident.
Eight suspected perpetrators have been identified, Public Safety Secretary Rosa Icela Rodriguez added. Three agents from the National Institute for Migration (INM) and five agents from a security company, “are already being heard” by the prosecution, continued the prosecutor. “The offense for which the (investigation) file has been opened is the offense of homicide”she said, also mentioning the offense of ” injury “ et “damage to the property of others”. Prosecutions for other offenses such as “abuse of authority” or ” bad treatment “ are considered, she said.
The prosecutor confirmed the authenticity of a 32-second video broadcast by several media including Agence France-Presse. “This video is part of the investigation file”, she said. These CCTV images show the start of the fire in the night from Monday to Tuesday. Behind bars, in the smoke, a man kicks against a closed door while another appears to put a mattress on the floor.
The fire in the migrant detention center in Ciudad Juárez in the early hours of 28 March, in which at least 40 migr… https://t.co/LdJoWJhcWF
In the foreground, on the other side of the cell, three officers, two of whom are in uniform, retire with their backs to them, without giving them assistance. This video provoked outraged reactions from civil society. “How is it possible that the Mexican authorities left human beings locked up without any possibility of escaping the fire? »asked Erika Guevara Rosas, Amnesty International’s director for the Americas, in a press release. “Government, assume your responsibilities”read a banner held by a protester at a rally in Mexico City on Wednesday.
“We are not going to hide anything and there will be no impunity”
During the press conference, the Secretary of Security revised the death toll upwards from 38 to 39. It also reported 27 injuries, including six in critical condition. “extremely serious”ten in serious condition, and nine in a situation “delicate”.
The authorities have still not given details of the nationality of the victims, mentioning their country of origin, mainly from Central America (Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras) and Venezuela. Guatemala said on Tuesday that 28 of its nationals had died. El Salvador spoke of four seriously injured, asking that those responsible for the tragedy be brought to justice.
“We are not going to hide anything and there will be no impunity”, assured President Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador. At first, the Head of State had estimated that the migrants had lit the fire with mattresses in a movement of “protest”.
President @lopezobrador_ expressed his heartfelt condolences to the families and governments of the countries of origin… https://t.co/LAdKHgQGWn
“We assume that they learned that they were going to be expelled, moved”he said Tuesday a few hours after this tragedy, unprecedented in facilities for migrants in Mexico.