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Indigenous women win first step in fight over military rape case in Mexico, says Amnesty International

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By Vicki Shute
WVoN co-editor

The decision to prosecute soldiers charged with the rape of two indigenous women in a civilian court is a significant step for those seeking justice for human rights violations committed by the military in Mexico, Amnesty International said today.

For more than nine years, two indigenous women in Mexico have taken on the military and the authorities to demand justice after they were raped by soldiers in the southern state of Guerrero in 2002.

Despite a lengthy investigation and Inter-American Court rulings in favor of Inés Fernández Ortega and Valentina Rosendo Cantú last August, their attackers have remained at large, seemingly shielded by Mexico’s military justice system.

Meanwhile the women and their families have faced threats as the legal battle continued.

The decision to transfer Fernández and Rosendo’s cases to civilian courts comes after a recent Supreme Court ruling which determined that human rights violations by Mexico’s armed forces against civilians should not be tried in military courts.

This follows an Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruling last year, ordering Mexico to investigate and prosecute human rights violations by the military in the civilian justice system.

“For us, this is a significant advance, as civil society has constantly fought for these cases to be transferred into the civilian justice system,” said Vidulfo Rosales, a human rights lawyer at Tlachinollan Mountain Human Rights Center in Guerrero, which is representing the two women.

Widespread human rights violations have been reported across Mexico as the armed forces have increased their involvement in policing operations to tackle drug cartels and armed groups. These include arbitrary arrest, torture and disappearances.

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