PBI would like to congratulate the work done by Mexican human rights defenders and activists who have fought and campaigned over decades to make this momentous decision possible.

Over several days, the Mexican Supreme Court reviewed the 2009 Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruling on the case of Rosendo Radilla, who was forcibly disappeared by the military in 1974. On 5 July 2011 Mexico’s Supreme Court  confirmed that the Mexican justice system was obliged to comply with Inter-American Court rulings. On 12 July, the Supreme Court went to the core of the issue, establishing that members of the military accused of human rights violations should be tried in civilian courts. The review was carried out in the light of a recently promulgated reform of the Mexican Constitution, which puts international human rights standards ratified by Mexico on a par with the Constitution and above ordinary legislation.

Between 2009 and 2010, the Inter-American Court issued four rulings on cases of human rights violations perpetrated by the Mexican military on civilians, those of Rosendo Radilla, Valentina Rosendo Cantu, Ines Fernandez Ortega and Teodoro Montiel- Rodolfo Cabrera. In all rulings, the Inter-American Court ordered Mexico to proceed with proper investigations and trials of those responsible in the civilian justice system and to reform internal legislation to restrict the use of military tribunals.

PBI has accompanied Tita Radilla, daughter of Rosendo Radilla and Vice President of the Asociación de Familiares de Detenidos Desaparecidos y Víctimas de Violaciones a los Derechos Humanos en México  (AFADEM) since August 2003. Tita Radilla has played a leading role in insisting that her father’s case and others where members of the military are accused of Human Rights violations should be heard by civilian courts.

PBI has also accompanied Ines Fernandez and Valentina Rosendo Cantu, who were raped by members of the military in 2002. With the help of the Organization of the Me’phaa People (OPIM) and Tlachinollan Human  Rights Centre, these two women carried on their struggle for justice for many years. They are both deeply conscious that many other men and women, especially from indigenous and poor backgrounds, have suffered violence and abuses at the hands of the military and that their struggle could bring justice for their communities.