Translated by Penn Tomassetti
Only knowing the words “sí” or “no” in Spanish resulted in the unjust incarceration of 8,502 indigenous people during 2012. The incarcerations happened due to the fact that they did not know how to defend themselves before a public prosecutor, according to the National Commission for the Development of Indigenous Peoples (CDI).
The official did not specify the percentage of cases where incarceration resulted from the lack of a translator or defense lawyer.
Currently there are 5.1 million indigenous people living in poverty; 2.5 million are in extreme poverty, according to the National Council for the Evaluation of Social Development Policy (CONEVAL).
The program has national coverage through CDI’s administrative units in the states. It addresses requests on behalf of or through applications received from institutions (like human rights organizations), family members or the incarcerated indigenous person.
The program had a 2013 budget of 26.8 million pesos [$2,088,000US] for paying bail bonds, giving 2,462 consultations, producing 26 expert reports and contracting 259 interpreters.
There is no particular kind of crime that is most prevalent for which indigenous people are in jail. The accusations are both for ordinary and federal crimes, for offenses against life and physical integrity, for property crimes, against health [drugs] or for matters involving sexual assault, added Mayorga.
This was the case for two Nauhaus indigenous, Puebla José Ramón Aniceto Gómez and Pascual Agustín Cruz, who in 2012 were sentenced to six months in jail for stealing a truck. They were not able to defend themselves because they did not speak Spanish. After 10 months in prison, the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation granted them a straightforward appeal that let them out of prison. It became apparent that there were violations of due process since they did not have translators.
According to the ananlysis in "Access to Justice for Indigenous People in Mexico, the Oaxaca Case", published in 2007 by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Mexico,
“They were taken to jail because they did not have a translator at the time they entered their plea and could do no more than say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ at the time of their plea, and so they were sentenced because they gave their statement as a ‘yes,’” explained Nubia Mayorga, secretary of the CDI.With the prison release program, the CDI has managed to free nearly 1,000 indigenous people so far this year. They are between 18 and 40 years old, illiterate or with no more than an elementary school education. Unjustly accused, they were not able to defend themselves because they could not speak Spanish. Others did not go free because they did not have the money to pay the bail amount “between 5,000 and 12,000 pesos, [$390 to $935US]” the official said.
The official did not specify the percentage of cases where incarceration resulted from the lack of a translator or defense lawyer.
Currently there are 5.1 million indigenous people living in poverty; 2.5 million are in extreme poverty, according to the National Council for the Evaluation of Social Development Policy (CONEVAL).
The program has national coverage through CDI’s administrative units in the states. It addresses requests on behalf of or through applications received from institutions (like human rights organizations), family members or the incarcerated indigenous person.
The program had a 2013 budget of 26.8 million pesos [$2,088,000US] for paying bail bonds, giving 2,462 consultations, producing 26 expert reports and contracting 259 interpreters.
There is no particular kind of crime that is most prevalent for which indigenous people are in jail. The accusations are both for ordinary and federal crimes, for offenses against life and physical integrity, for property crimes, against health [drugs] or for matters involving sexual assault, added Mayorga.
This was the case for two Nauhaus indigenous, Puebla José Ramón Aniceto Gómez and Pascual Agustín Cruz, who in 2012 were sentenced to six months in jail for stealing a truck. They were not able to defend themselves because they did not speak Spanish. After 10 months in prison, the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation granted them a straightforward appeal that let them out of prison. It became apparent that there were violations of due process since they did not have translators.
According to the ananlysis in "Access to Justice for Indigenous People in Mexico, the Oaxaca Case", published in 2007 by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Mexico,
“The right to a translator or interpreter is not fulfilled unless there are spokespersons that can facilitate genuine intercultural communication” and there is an effective defense of the accused.Oaxaca, together with Chiapas and Guerrero, is one of the states where the CDI has more cases of incarcerated indigenous people, even when Article 32 of the Law of Rights of Indigenous Peoples and Communities of the State of Oaxaca dictates:
“the State, by conduct of the Secretariat of Indigenous Issues, in coordination with the Public Prosecutor, will guard the effective protection of the rights of indigenous peoples and communities, from the beginning of the initial investigations until the decision regarding the cases, verifying that they have the assistance of bilingual translators and defense counselors at the opportune time.”Mayorga said that it would be ideal if public prosecutors had interpreters but this doesn’t happen.
“There are some cases where they don’t do the work that they’re supposed to do according to the obligations they’re under; in this case it is the public prosecutors who have failed. It’s very easy to put these defendants in jail; that is an injustice that shouldn't happen,” she said.But not all cases are resolved with a bond payment. One significant case is that of teacher Alberto Patishtán, who was detained in 2000 for presumably participating in an ambush that killed seven police officers in Chiapas. International organizations such as Amnesty International (AI) have lamented the “grave irregularities” that took place in his trial.
On September 13 a Chiapas court rejected the appeal presented by the defense of the ethnic Tzotzil professor, in which his final option within the Mexican justice system was exhausted.
“It’s cause for deep concern that the justice system decided to ignore the grave irregularities in the case against Alberto Patishtán and continues to deny the right to a fair trial,” expressed AI in a statement after the judge’s decision.In 2010 three indigenous women, Jacinta Francisco, Terresa González and Alberta Alcántara, were freed after almost four years in prison on charges of presumably kidnapping six federal agents. The Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation determined that there were inconsistencies in the proceedings that led to their detention. Spanish original