Femicidios in Juarez Omitted From President’s Report

Femicidios in Juarez Omitted From President's Report

At least 106 women have been disappeared or killed in the state of Chihuahua in northern Mexico so far this year, with 67 such cases reported in Ciudad Juarez alone. But the femicides so far tallied for 2009 by the organization Justice For Our Daughters were not mentioned this week in the human rights section of the President Felipe Calderon’s third informe de gobierno, or state of the union report, the daily La Jornada is reporting.

The omission outraged human rights activists in the northern city, where hundreds of women have been killed since 1993 in unsolved homicides that lay bare the corruption and impunity present in the Juarez justice system. La Jornada adds that other organizations are also criticizing the president’s report for not mentioning progress or setbacks in reproductive rights for women in Mexico.

“It’s a schizophrenic report where apparently the policies are going well, but there is not a single precise piece of information, and, furthermore, we do not know if the implemented policies are working,” said Leticia Cuevas, national coordinator for the Network for Sexual and Reproductive Rights.

Calderon’s report for the most part defends his embattled strategy of military confrontation with narcotrafficking cartels, fueling a war in which almost 14,000 people have died in less than three years.

* Photo above via Wikimedia Commons.

Daniel Hernandez is a journalist and commentator based in Mexico City. His work on politics, arts, culture, and media has appeared in publications throughout the United States, Europe, and Latin Ameri ...read more