Chihuahua, Chih., August 11, 2022. In recent days, various media outlets published the claims of Mr. Jesús Torres Mora, who has state he fears for the life and safety of his children, and claims to be under persecution by the Superior Court of Justice (TSJ) due to the alleged improper actions of the Seventh Family Court of the Morelos Judicial District in Chihuahua in the proceedings for the Guardianship and Custody of a girl whose initials are Z.V. Last Wednesday, the case was presented in a session of the Chihuahua City Council where Mayor Marco Bonilla recognized that the municipal police officer was acting improperly.

In the afore mentioned case, Mr. Torres’s counterpart is legally represented by the Center for Women’s Human Rights (CEDEHM), and we think it’s essential to make several clarifications in light of the information that has been published, which is incomplete, inaccurate and untrue.

The Seventh Family Judge of the Morelos Judicial District has ordered the return of the girl to her mother, and contrary to what has been claimed, this decision does not go against the resolution (provisional suspension) derived from an Amparo Trial. The truth is that the District Judge who granted the suspension determined that it was appropriate only if the Family Judge felt that it was the least harmful situation for the girl, otherwise it would not go into effect.

And thus, considering all the elements in the file, including the determinations and records of the Comprehensive Family Development department (DIF), various statements by the girl before prosecutorial and specialized authorities and observing the girl’s best interest, the Judge orders that she be returned to her mother, who has legal Guardianship and Custody. This decision was appealed by Mr. Torres on July 18, before the Third District Court, the authority that granted the suspension; however, his appeal was dismissed on the grounds that it was not Mr. Torres who was right, but rather it was the Family Judge, and therefore the resolution is fully legal.

Since the return order was issued, attempts have been made to notify Mr. Jesús Torres so that he may comply with the legal determination; however, the municipal police officer has been hiding from the judicial authority, with the help of some of his colleagues, also municipal police officers. Mr. Torres himself has confessed in his statements that he has been intentionally evading justice, constantly changing his address, taking the girl out of her school and avoiding being notified.

In this case, we have formally denounced and proven the improper use of the resources and powers of the Municipal Police to fail to comply with and evade the legal resolutions that require Officer Torres to return the girl to her mother. For this reason, an internal affairs case has been opened with the Municipal Public Security Directorate, which must reach a resolution in compliance with the law and in accordance with the evidence presented.

An attempt has been made to impose on public opinion the version that the determination of the Family Judge places the girl at risk of death by being with her mother, which has been maintained by Mr. Jesús Torres to justify the illegal retention of his children whom he prevents from seeing their mother. This is the reason why the DIF got initially involved and acted in the matter granting Mr. Torres provisional custody of his daughter at some point, but subsequently and after the corresponding process, the DIF found that the mother was completely fit to take care of her daughter and sons, a situation that has not been accepted by Mr. Torres Mora, which is why he has decided to hide his children and failed to comply with judicial resolutions that are not favorable for him.

Given the concern for the psycho-emotional well-being of the 9-year-old girl, since she has been subjected to a constant situation of fleeing and hiding since last January, which has involved a constant change of addresses, a change of school and remaining hidden for days, it has been requested and accepted by the Family Court that it be guaranteed that the girl will receive specialized psychological services to prevent, as far as possible, any damage to her emotional integrity. Despite the foregoing, Mr. Torres has not taken the girl to get psychological care.

Due to the above, we call on the officials of the municipality of Chihuahua, especially the DSPM, to not allow the cover-up of an individual who, by using his contacts and position, has failed to comply with the Court’s orders, and we demand that sanctions be imposed on anyone who, in their work as public servants, act outside the law, allowing the rights of the girl to continue to be violated and for these actions to go on unpunished.

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TIMELINE

Martha Pamela Martínez, a 38-year-old primary school teacher, married Mr. Jesús Torres Mora, who currently works as a police officer for the DSPM. In 2014 they decided to divorce.

During her marriage and after her divorce, Pamela was a victim of family violence, which was witnessed by her son and daughter, and which has been brought to the attention of the corresponding authorities.

In the divorce decree, it was agreed that she would retain custody of her daughter and son, while their father would have visitation based on his availability. At the time, he served as a bodyguard of the then Director of Municipal Public Security, Mr. Heliodoro Araiza, who is currently his legal representative.

Despite the divorce, the violence continued, and on March 25, 2021, they reached an agreement in which she ended up giving him the Guardianship and Custody of their son, with free visitation rights.

Due to the pandemic, the Court issued a resolution suspending visitation between father and daughter, an order that was disregarded because Mr. Jesús Torres would show up at his ex-wife’s home accompanied by various patrol cars, making improper use of Public Security resources.

On Saturday, May 8, 2021, at 10:00 a.m., Mrs. Pamela Martínez picked up her son from Mr. Torres Mora’s home for visitation. An hour later, he showed up at Pamela’s home, accompanied by patrol cars and some police officers, who knocked on her door and said that a report had been received at the emergency number indicating that her son and daughter were at risk, and without providing any further information, Mr. Torres Mora took the girl and boy with him in his private vehicle, while Mrs. Pamela Martínez was taken to the Police Station in a patrol car.

Upon arrival at the Southern Police Station, the boy and girl were transferred to the Children and Adolescents Unit (UNNA), while the mother was kept aboard the patrol car for approximately 2 hours and was told that Mr. Torres had ordered that she remain there.

Later, they told her that her son and daughter had been handed over to their father and that they were no longer in the facilities; she was illegally retained and accused of being drunk (which was not true) only because of what Mr. Torres Mora had said, as she was never given an alcohol test or any other test that would prove such an assertion and it is even alleged that she was interviewed by someone who was not even on the premises at the time of the event. The authorities, in complicity with Jesús Torres, carried out an illegal, malicious, and arbitrary procedure.

There was no such call to the emergency number; furthermore, the patrol cars that responded to the alleged report were off duty that day. Due to the foregoing, a complaint was filed with the Internal Affairs area of the Public Security department.

There is a file in the Assistant Attorney General’s Office for the Protection of Girls, Boys and Adolescents of the State DIF in which it was determined that the boy and girl are not at risk with their mother. She even complied with the conditions imposed by the Assistant Attorney General’s Office, such as undergoing therapy, assertive parenting workshops and Alcoholics Anonymous workshops; even though these were measures imposed for no other reason than the claims of Mr. Torres.

On August 23, 2021, the Seventh Family Court for hearings, led by Nicolasa Concepción Payán Holguín, ordered the return of the girl to her mother, but while completing the necessary steps to comply with such order, Mrs. Pamela’s human rights and due process are violated once again, because when attempting notification Pamela was unjustifiably handcuffed, an issue that was recorded in the records of the TSJ’s notification officer.

Mr. Jesús Torres’s current girlfriend, who works for the Prosecutorial Investigative Police appointed to the Arrest Warrants Unit of the Specialized Prosecutor for the Investigation and Prosecution of Crime in the Central Zone, physically attacked Mrs. Pamela on that occasion when a notification attempt was made, while other investigative police officers unduly restrained her and handcuffed her, while Mr. Torres’s girlfriend took the boy and girl in her vehicle. These arbitrary acts were immediately denounced and that is how the girl was handed over to the facilities of the Special Prosecutor’s Office for Women Victims of Gender-Based Crimes (FEM). She was transferred when the investigative police officer was off duty, with no order or legal justification, exceeding her authority. At the end of the day, the girl, who was under the care of the DIF, was returned to her mother, after the mother had been unduly detained by personnel from the Prosecutor’s Office.

On January 26 of the current year due to an involuntary omission, the girl whose initials are Z.V. was handed over to her father, Mr. Jesús Torres. Since then, her mother, Mrs. Pamela Martínez, has not been allowed to see her daughter or maintain contact with her, not even by phone.

The omission consisted in ratifying a protective measure that was no longer applicable because the process had been completed.

On January 26, 2022, the girl’s father went to the mother’s home accompanied by court personnel and municipal police, to notify her that the court had ordered the return of the girl to her father, based on a case file that was issued at the Office of the Deputy Attorney for the Protection of Children and Adolescents, which was no longer applicable because it had been closed.

Despite the fact that he was not a party to the process, Mr. Torres took advantage of the Court’s error and requested a clerk to enforce the return of the girl. On January 26, 2022, they went and informed the girl’s mother that she was at risk and that she should hand her over to her father. Since that date, Pamela Martínez has not seen her daughter, or spoken with her.

Due to the foregoing, all existing legal resources have been filed to recover the girl and all of them are favorable to us. Despite many efforts, this has not been attained because Mr. Jesús Torres keeps the girl retained and in hiding, and as already mentioned, is being covered up by his colleagues, who are also police officers.

Mrs. Pamela Martínez immediately went to court where she saw Mr. Gerardo Ontiveros, who assured her that if she had guardianship and custody there was nothing to worry about, so she left, feeling reassured.

When she went to the court, the court noticed the omission and tried to correct it by ordering the return of the girl to Mrs. Pamela; however, Mr. Torres Mora evaded notification and filed an amparo against her. This has been happening over and over to date.

Due to the filing of the amparo, the girl’s father was granted a suspension; therefore, the return order that the mother has in her favor could not be executed at that time. Later, on July 14, 2022, the Seventh Family Court for Hearings issued an agreement where it once again ordered the return of the girl, because the District Court considers that returning her does not pose any danger and considering the best interests of the child it is important that she be returned to her mother.

Due to the foregoing, on July 12, 2022, the Seventh Family Court for Hearings issued an order for the immediate return of the girl authorizing the use of public force, and notifying the father wherever he is, but Mr. Torres has evaded notification, hiding, and hiding the girl; he has even stopped going to his workplace in order to avoid notification.

On July 13, at 5:00 a.m. we went to the home of the girl’s paternal grandparents, to the home of Mr. Torres and to his place of work; we could not locate him anywhere and even at the DSMP they told us that he had left the workplace. It is worth noting that this diligence was witnessed by Internal Affairs personnel

On August 3, 2022, another attempt was made to notify Mr. Torres, at his workplace; upon arrival at the South Police Station, the personnel who received us denied knowing him, even though the same people stated that he had left the facilities in the procedure carried out on July 13 of this year.

Mr. Torres Mora filed a new lawsuit against Mrs. Pamela Martínez, requesting the permanent guardianship and custody of the girl. We responded to the lawsuit in a timely manner and also filed a counterclaim where she requested confirmation of guardianship and custody, immediate visitation and a restraining order. On July 14, 2022, receipt is acknowledged, but there is no positioning on the visitations. On August 5, an agreement is issued where it is ordered that visitation between the mother and the girl be conducted in the Supervised Family Visitation Center, which will be notified to Mr. Torres via the email that he provided to the Court.

Mr. Jesús Torres has posted on social media a forensic test given to the girl and submitted by him to the court; as a result of these postings, the Seventh Family Court by Hearings, through a resolution from August 9, 2022, forbids Jesús Torres Mora to post information about the girl in the media, where personal data is included.

Internal Control Process in the DSPM

The complaint process filed by Mrs. Pamela Martínez is in the resolution stage; it was integrated with the evidence provided by her and has to do with the abuse of power perpetrated by Mr. Torres Mora.

Criminal process for domestic violence

The case file is fully integrated, and the process remains open.

Further information The son of Mrs. Martínez and Mr. Torres, 11 years old, has supervised visitation with his mother on Saturdays in the Court Visitation Center; however, due to his father’s manipulation, he has said he does not want to see his mother; due to the foregoing, the court ordered a forensic test to check for manipulation traits, but the father has refused to take the child to be tested.