Ciudad Juarez murders

[Megatron]

I don't know if anybody has ever posted a thread on this so here it goes anyway.

Can somebody tell why so many women have been killed near the border in Ciudad Juarez over the past 5 or 6 years and nothing has been done about it?I know it's probably easier said than done but what's the whole story am I missing something?Fill me in.

Who's doing this?Has anyone stepped in?I know they've made a couple arrests including the arrest of an Egyptian chemist who was supposedly behind these attacks,but yet the murders keep happening.This can't just be a coincidence.Why do bodies keep turning up?

[La China Poblana]

I've been following the reports for a while, now (the New York Times has given it very thorough coverage). You're right, the more you read about it, the more bodies they find, the more frustrated you become. It does appear that the women who work in the factories in Juarez are being systematically preyed upon, and after all these years, there has been no real progress in the investigation. Are federal resources being allocated toward the investigation, or is this being left to local law enforcement?

Lisa

[fdp]

Last night on Monday Nov. 24th I received a call from my sister asking me what I knew about the murders taking place in Ciudad Juarez.

Apparently she had just finished watching an episode of Christina which covered the topic and was appalled to learn that not much has taken place to bring an end to the murders.

Originally posted by Megatron
Can somebody tell why so many women have been killed near the border in Ciudad Juarez over the past 5 or 6 years and nothing has been done about it? I know it's probably easier said than done but what's the whole story am I missing something? Fill me in.

To add to what Lisa already mentioned, it is a very chilling topic that has been ignored by the Mexican government far too long and is now drawing the attention of the United States government in an attempt to end the killings.

I will post a link which may help answer many of your questions:

http://www.amnestyusa.org/women/juarez/

16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence,which runs from International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (Nov. 25) through International Human Rights Day (Dec. 10), is a worldwide campaign that provides an opportunity to take a stand against gender-based violence and to mobilize around women's human rights....

Originally posted by lisabrasil
Are federal resources being allocated toward the investigation, or is this being left to local law enforcement?

Here is a link in Spanish which may shed some light on your question:

http://www.cnn.com.mx/2003/americas/11/25/juarez.reut/index.html

Defensor del pueblo pide a Fox aclarar crímenes a mujeres en Ciudad Juárez

25 de noviembre, 2003

CIUDAD DE MEXICO (Reuters) -- El defensor del pueblo mexicano pidió el martes al presidente Vicente Fox resolver y hacer justicia en los asesinatos de cientos de mujeres en Ciudad Juárez, un día después de haber acusado a autoridades policiales, judiciales y políticas de negligencia en la investigación de los crímenes....

[La China Poblana]

From AP:

Alleged Immigrant Smugglers Captured
Wed Nov 26, 4:58 AM ET

HOUSTON - Two women accused of participating in a smuggling operation responsible for the deaths of 19 illegal immigrants have been caught in Mexico, U.S. prosecutors said.

Emma Rodriguez and Rosa Gonzalez were arrested Sept. 5 in Matehuala, a town in the interior state of San Luis Potosi, according to the Mexican attorney general's office. They are among the 14 people named in a federal indictment in what's been called the nation's deadliest smuggling attempt.

Both women are charged in the United States with multiple counts of conspiracy to conceal and transport undocumented migrants and causing them serious injury and death.

Rodriguez has been a fugitive since May, when authorities found 70 immigrants packed in a sweltering tractor-trailer that had been abandoned at truck stop in Victoria, 100 miles southwest of Houston.

Both Rodriguez and Gonzalez have been charged with crimes punishable by the death penalty. Mexico's extradition treaty would not allow the return of anyone facing the death penalty.

Thanks to Megatron for bringing an important issue to the board.

Lisa

[Megatron]

Thanks for some of the info.I actually did some of my own research yesterday to learn a little more about the situation and the more you read the uglier the whole situation gets.I think we need to definitely shed some more light on the situation and put an end to this.

These women work in these factories for measly wages because they have no other choice but to make a living, are living in fear and can't even walk the streets at night.It's a disgusting situation.The FBI has stepped and so has Vicente Fox,and but there still has not been and end to this.

Nearly 350 women have been killed in the past 10 years and hundreds of others are missing.Some have been raped,shot,stabbed and even burned but no one has been able to solve these murders.

[CobrasCiudadJuarez]

I think the US FBI were getting involved in this case, I don't know if they still are.

I didn't know this case had gotten much attention outside of Juarez until a cousin of mine came to visit, and practically begged not to be outside after dark(visitng relatives, shopping, you know stuff you do when you visit family you havent seen in a while.)

Also one day I went to work with my uncle and on the way over, we stopped at a light and he pointed to a field and told me that that is where the officials had found some or all of the bodies, a cold chill went up and down my spine. I pass by there practically every sunday, and every time I pass, that same chill hits.

I think that the girls being targeted are young maquiladora workers going home after working the night shift or coming out at night.

Please excuse my punctuation if it is bad :)

[CobrasCiudadJuarez]

Hey guys, I just found this interesting article....


Dec. 4, 2003 -- Over the past 10 years, as many as 140 women in the Mexican town of Juarez -- just across the border from El Paso, Texas -- have been the victims of sexual homicides, their bodies dumped in ditches or vacant lots. Despite pressure to catch the killers and a roundup of some suspects, few believe the true culprits have been found.

A controversial new book implicates high-level police and prominent Juarez citizens in the crimes. But as NPR's John Burnett reports, the families of some of the victims believe the murderers will never be brought to justice.

Activists are deeply skeptical about the Mexican government's promise to put a serious effort into finding the killer or killers. Marches and memorials are keeping the issue in the public eye.

Diana Washington Valdez, an investigative reporter for the El Paso Times, has covered the murders for three years. In her book Harvest of Women, Valdez contends the killings are part of a circuit of parties hosted by prominent Juarez citizens.

"The best information we have is that these men are committing crimes simply for the sport of it," she tells Burnett. "We know of people who've told stories about escaping from certain parties, orgies, which some of these people were present -- they were recognizable people from Juarez society, from Mexican society." In particular, she names two men with ties to the Juarez drug cartel.

"The authorities know who the killers are, and nothing's being done about it," Valdez says. "We have two issues here: people who are getting away with murder, and... authorities who have become accomplices, and so this has become crimes of the state."