Mexico City - The President of the National Commission for Human Rights (CNDH), Raúl Plascencia Villanueva, said that in the case of General Tomás Ángeles Dauahare--released last night after charges filed against him by the Attorney General's Office (PGR) were withdrawn--unjustified "institutional excesses" were committed. This is about:
"one of those practices that we have to overcome to prevent innocent people from being imprisoned," the national ombudsman stated in an interview following the signing of a cooperation agreement in Mérida, Yucatán, between the CNDH and Yucatán Attorney General's Office (FGE).
Plascencia Villanueva added:
"One cannot continue to allow that the administration of justice will continue giving credence to the statements of criminals who decide to cooperate, and who are willing to declare whatever against whomever. Ultimately, it only causes problems like the one we're experiencing today with the general."
The case of General Tomás Ángeles Dauahare, he insisted, calls into question the use of protected witnesses and evidence when prosecutors decide to act without any elements [of proof].
"Now is the time to begin to differentiate between protected witnesses and criminal collaborators," he added.
He stressed that "it is very unfortunate" that innocent people are put in jail. Those are the things that should no longer be in our justice system, he maintained.
Plascencia Villanueva also reported that the CNDH intervened in the case concerning the overall conditions the general faced in prison,
"so we have given support to the family, and if they ask for our support now that he has been released, we would also intervene."
According to Plascencia Villanueva, the major complaints filed with the CNDH against the authorities refer to the failure to register complaints, maltreatment, unresponsiveness and lack of investigation. Thus, he said, it is necessary to continue strengthening the institutional structure for the training of police and public servants under the framework of the new oral and accusatory criminal justice system.
Separately, on Thursday the Secretariat of National Defense (SEDENA) applauded the release of the highest-ranking military officer charged with alleged ties to drug trafficking during the presidency of Felipe Calderón.
Separately, on Thursday the Secretariat of National Defense (SEDENA) applauded the release of the highest-ranking military officer charged with alleged ties to drug trafficking during the presidency of Felipe Calderón.
"Without a doubt, the determination and responsibility assumed by the appropriate authorities are the result of a professional job," he said in a statement.