JUDGES ISSUE PARADIGMATIC SENTENCES IN FAVOR OF DISPLACED FAMILIES FROM THE EL MANZANO AND MONTERDE COMMUNITIES IN THE SIERRA TARAHUMARA

Chihuahua, Chih., August 24, 2022.- After 7 years of having been displaced by members of organized crime led by the «el Chueco» criminal group, on August 12 and 19, two sentences were obtained in favor of displaced persons from the communities of El Manzano and Monterde in the municipalities of Uruachi and Guazapares located in the Sierra Tarahumara, where they are granted an amparo due to the lack of protection, which the authorities in the territory in which they lived should have provided them and did not; the judges order the federal and state governments to repair the damage caused by the internal forced displacement they were subjected to as a result of the violence.

The two amparos lasted a little over a year to be resolved, the responsible authorities are the Ministry of the Interior, the Attorney General’s Office, the State Attorney General’s Office and the Executive Commission Services for Victims of the State CEAVE.

In these amparos, the requests for the judges were:

  1. Pacification of the mountain region in which they lived,
  2. Access to justice through the case files initiated at the time of displacement,
  3. Humanitarian aid,
  4. Recovering the assets they left behind in their community,
  5. Definitive resettlement, for which they need to have their own housing and jobs that allow them to live with dignity and
  6. The issuance of comprehensive and relevant legislation that protects people displaced by violence.

In this regard, the judges resolved

That the Attorney General of the State and the Attorney General of the Republic shall report the status and progress of the case files.

That they should carry out the necessary actions so that they can return safely to the places where they lived, and that any criminalization and discrimination against them be stopped.

Regarding humanitarian aid, they are ordered to continue providing it until lasting solutions can be achieved, which includes:

  1. guaranteeing education free of charge, providing uniforms and school supplies, as well as a regularization program for children and youth and accompaniment for their school insertion.  
  2. Enrolling complainants for free in public health services.
  3. Maintain food and safe lodging supports, as well as dignified housing, drinking water, adequate clothing and the security conditions necessary to protect families from attacks or acts of violence resulting from the persecution of criminal groups.
  4. Training adults.
  5. Completing land donation and home building procedures.
  6. Facilitating the issuance of required official documents.
  7. Adopting the necessary measures to stop the appropriation, destruction, occupation, usurpation or arbitrary and illegal use of their assets in the community of origin.
  8. Managing the recovery of property or possessions that they abandoned or that were taken from them when they were displaced, and,
  9. lastly, compensating them according to international parameters.

After 7 years of displacement, the families hope that the federal and state governments will accept the sentence and enforce it.

The cases of the communities of El Manzano and Monterde are not isolated cases. According to the Mexican Commission for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights (CMDPDH), in 2021 alone, 44,905 displaced persons were recorded in Mexican territory. The sentences of these two amparos show the interest of the judiciary so that the authorities will address this problem and advance in the application of public policy for immediate attention to people who continue to be displaced, not only in the state, but in the country.

We urge the passing of the General Law on Internal Forced Displacement, which has been brought before the Senate of the Republic for almost two years and continues to await a resolution.

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