As one of the many NGOs working to raise awareness of the issue of murders of women in Juarez, we would like to bring to your attention the partial nature of the data presented by the Mexican government officials last week. We have no desire to dispute the death of one more or one less woman, however, we would like to point out what is missing from the charts and statistics presented by the Chihuahuan Institute of Women. The homicide rate for women in Cuidad Juarez is at least 4 times that of any other border city. When one examines the rates by age, the difference is even more striking. For girls aged 5 to 14, Juarez has a murder rate 4 times that of El Paso and 20 times that of Tijuana. For women aged 15 to 24, Juarez has 11 times as many homicides as El Paso and 3.4 times as many as Tijuana.
Source: Pan American Health Organization (2000), Mortality Profiles of the Sister Communities of the U.S. Mexico Border
While we do not know of any country that keeps or publicizes statistics on women who have been sexually assaulted, brutalized, tortured and murdered, the fact that these form a separate category in Cuidad Juarez is horrifying and indicates the seriousness of the problem. Generally, homicide has the highest clearance rate of any crime. This clearance rate is the number of cases solved and brought to trial by police forces. Generally, this rate is around 60 to 75%. While the Mexican government’s study claims a similar rate, the conviction rate for the sexually motivated murders is only 0.05%. The claim that these case have been solved is ludicrous in view of testimonies by those involved in the cases. One forensic expert resigned after being asked to manufacture evidence. There exists a recurring pattern of torture. The groups mentioned by the Chihuahuan Institute of Women as responsible for many of the crimes all allege they were forced to confess. There is credible evidence that this is the case.
We, along with many of the family members and Mexican society as a whole, reject these people as the perpetrators of these crimes. Once again, shame on the Mexican government for this further attempt to confuse the public and mask the truth. The families of Juarez and Chihuahua deserve their human rights. It is within the government’s power to rectify this situation and bring those guilty to justice. Do so now!