105
intimidation by state officials and authorities since they reported the disappearances to
the present date.” According to the Commission, “in this case, following the
disappearance of their daughters, the quest for justice, at times, resulted in the
mothers and some members of the families becoming victims of harassment and
threats that jeopardized their life and integrity.”
426. The representatives affirmed that “faced with the demand for justice and
investigation by the mothers of Esmeralda, Laura, Claudia, and their next of kin, the
response of the Mexican State was intimidation, harassment, systematic dissuasion,
and even violence against them: directly towards their children, or against their
lawyers.”
427. The State emphasized that “it had not found any element that would reveal acts
of public disparagement, harassment or discrimination against the next of kin of these
three women during the investigations into the disappearance, the discovery of the
remains or the inquiries to find those responsible for the murder of Claudia Ivette
González, Esmeralda Herrera Monreal and Laura Berenice Ramos Monárrez.” The State
assured that it “had not found any element that would reveal false accusations or
threats made by public officials against the next of kin of the three victims. To the
contrary, the State has informed the Tribunal of all the remedies available in domestic
legislation to the next of kin of Mss. González, Herrera and Ramos in order to report
possible accusations or threats. However, since the next of kin have not come forward
to report these accusations, the authorities have no grounds for investigating them and
punishing those responsible.
428.
Mrs. Monárrez testified before the Court as follows:
[Because I took one of my daughter’s bones], we began to be followed; cars, identified by
both my daughter Claudia Ivonne and me, followed us everywhere; official vehicles from the
Office of the Attorney General of the Republic.
[…]
I had to leave my country because, on one occasion, they tried to run over my two youngest
children and me; and I had to request asylum in the United States because, because after
they did not look for my daughter, I founded an organization called Integración de Madres
por Juárez […]
We were being persecuted, even my daughter Claudia Ivonne; she had remained in Mexico
when I went to ask for asylum. We went through a very difficult time. We were detained. I
spent three weeks with my five-year-old son, who now has a problem. He cannot look at the
authorities. He cannot look at anyone in uniform because he is frightened by them. My
daughter Claudia remained in Mexico because they couldn’t help all of us at the same time.
She stayed with my grandchildren. They tried to take one of my girls, who was seven years
old, from school. They put a gun to [Claudia’s] head and told her to be quiet, […] to stop
talking because, if not, they would kill her […].
[The authorities harassed us] because they could never buy me; not even with all the things
they did to me to frighten me, […] that’s why I left. […]
I had to ask many people to help me. I had to sell food on the street. We had to sleep on the
street. We had to be in a place with the people who live on the street. I don’t think my family
deserved this. I consider the authorities are to blame for forcing me to emigrate to protect
the life of my children and my own life […]. I left on September 4, 2006, and my daughter
[…] last year, which was when she couldn’t bear it anymore. […].
[The harassment took place] from the time my daughter disappeared; from then on, I felt as
though my hands and feet were tied.430
429. On July 9, 2007, Claudia Ivonne Ramos Monárrez, sister of Laura Berenice
Ramos, testified before the Public Prosecutor’s Office that:
430
Cf. testimony given by Mrs. Monárrez, supra note 183.
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