Mexico & Nafta - 21 October 2003
Supreme court gets involved
The supreme court has agreed to take on its first case involving the so-called `dirty war', which lasted from the 1960s to the 1980s, when the authorities used the army to kill dissidents. The case they agreed to look at was the disappearance of Juan Jesús Piedra in 1975.
The application to the supreme court was made by the special investigator appointed to investigate the dirty war by President Fox. The investigator wants overturned a judgment which refused permission for the arrest of two former senior officials of the now defunct Dirección Federal de Seguridad (DFS). The judge ruled that the statute of limitations meant that the two, Luis de la Barreda Moreno and Miguel Nazar Haro, whom the investigator wanted to question about Ibarra's disappearance, could not be compelled to testify.
Ibarra was a dissident and the son of a former presidential candidate, Rosario Ibarra. The investigator claimed that the DFS officials had, effectively, kidnapped Ibarra.
The supreme court considered whether to take on the issue, and decided that it would, but it said that it had not considered the case in any detail. The decision over whether the statute of limitations is a valid defence for crimes against humanity will determine whether any dirty war cases ever come to trial.
The application to the supreme court was made by the special investigator appointed to investigate the dirty war by President Fox. The investigator wants overturned a judgment which refused permission for the arrest of two former senior officials of the now defunct Dirección Federal de Seguridad (DFS). The judge ruled that the statute of limitations meant that the two, Luis de la Barreda Moreno and Miguel Nazar Haro, whom the investigator wanted to question about Ibarra's disappearance, could not be compelled to testify.
Ibarra was a dissident and the son of a former presidential candidate, Rosario Ibarra. The investigator claimed that the DFS officials had, effectively, kidnapped Ibarra.
The supreme court considered whether to take on the issue, and decided that it would, but it said that it had not considered the case in any detail. The decision over whether the statute of limitations is a valid defence for crimes against humanity will determine whether any dirty war cases ever come to trial.