National Human Rights Commission Report
On 16 October 2006, National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) President José Luis Soberanes Fernández published the results of its five-month investigation of the case. The CNDH called the incident a "tragedy", called particular attention to the excessive use of force and firearms by state and federal authorities, and specifically found that:
- 207 people (including ten minors) were victims of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.
- 145 were arbitrarily arrested.
- 26 women suffered sexual assault.
- 5 foreigners, in addition to the violence inflicted on them, were illegally expelled from the country.
In connection with these findings, the CNDH served recommendations to the federal Secretary of Public Security, Eduardo Medina Mora; the governor of the state of México, Enrique Peña Nieto; and the commissioner of the National Migration Institute, Hipólito Treviño. The contents of the recommendation included, inter alia, improved training for the security forces, due compensation for the next-of-kin of the two fatalities and for all those whose human rights were violated, and a review of the expulsion procedures applicable to foreign visitors.
The report also concluded that the violence could have been prevented through dialogue, but that "preference was given to the use of public force".
Read more about this topic: 2006 Civil Unrest In San Salvador Atenco
Famous quotes containing the words national, human, rights, commission and/or report:
“Humanism, it seems, is almost impossible in America where material progress is part of the national romance whereas in Europe such progress is relished because it feels nice.”
—Paul West (b. 1930)
“A man at work, making something which he feels will exist because he is working at it and wills it, is exercising the energies of his mind and soul as well as of his body. Memory and imagination help him as he works. Not only his own thoughts, but the thoughts of the men of past ages guide his hands; and, as part of the human race, he creates. If we work thus we shall be men, and our days will be happy and eventful.”
—William Morris (1834–1896)
“The respect for human rights is one of the most significant advantages of a free and democratic nation in the peaceful struggle for influence, and we should use this good weapon as effectively as possible.”
—Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.)
“Children cannot eat rhetoric and they cannot be sheltered by commissions. I don’t want to see another commission that studies the needs of kids. We need to help them.”
—Marian Wright Edelman (20th century)
“What has history to do with me? Mine is the first and only world! I want to report how I find the world. What others have told me about the world is a very small and incidental part of my experience. I have to judge the world, to measure things.”
—Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951)