confessions and identified others as being responsible for this act, precisely during the periods in
which he claims to have been subjected to such treatment, and that he subsequently refused to
ratify those statements (supra para. 77).
213. It should also be recalled that this event occurred in a context in which individuals under
arraigo were frequently subjected to torture or coercion in order to obtain their confessions for the
criminal acts under investigation. On this point, the United Nations Human Rights Committee has
warned that “people detained under arraigo are exposed to ill-treatment.” 231 Similarly, the
Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment, noted that “of all the reports of abuse heard by the delegation during its visit, the
most alarming allegations came from people held under arraigo (investigative or pre-charge
detention).” It also found that “although this form of detention is intended to be the least restrictive
of liberty, it is in fact - since persons detained under this arrangement have not yet been formally
investigated - the form of detention that is most restrictive of the liberty of the individual. People
under arraigo are at times held completely incommunicado and neither their families nor their
lawyers have any information about their whereabouts. Such situations can render the individual
defenseless against situations of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. The
delegation interviewed persons detained under arraigo in all the states visited.” Thus, it concluded
that “the practice of arraigo may be conducive to torture owing to the lack of supervision and to
the vulnerability of individuals held under arraigo, whose legal status is unclear and therefore their
ability to exercise their right to defense is compromised.” 232
214. Therefore, based on the foregoing, this Court finds sufficient grounds to conclude that
Reyes Alpízar was subjected to mistreatment by the authorities who were interrogating him.
Furthermore, there is no doubt about the extreme severity of such mistreatment nor about the
purpose pursued by those who inflicted it on him. All of this leads to the conclusion that Reyes
Alpízar was subjected to torture by the authorities of the Public Prosecutor’s Office of the State of
Mexico. Accordingly, the Court concludes that the State is responsible for the violation of the right
to personal integrity and the right not to be subjected to torture recognized in Article 5(1) and
5(2) of the American Convention, in relation to Article 1(1) of the same instrument, and Articles 1
and 6 of the IACPPT, to the detriment of Reyes Alpízar Ortiz.
b) Regarding the alleged acts of torture to the detriment of Daniel García Rodríguez
215. With regard to Daniel García Rodríguez, it is on record that he was arrested on February
25, 2002, by police agents of the PGJEM. From then on, he was in the State’s custody until 2019
and made statements to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, a situation that continued during the period
in which he was held in arraigo (supra para. 68).
216. According to the information contained in the case file, during his first appearance before
the Fifth Criminal Judge, Daniel García Rodríguez stated that he had been arrested by deception,
detained by force and under threat, both by agents of the judicial police and by the Deputy
Prosecutor, who allegedly conditioned his release to the signing of prefabricated statements in
which he incriminated himself and other persons. He stated that when he refused to sign, he was
threatened and told that he and his family members would be accused, and that his wife had
received phone calls to convince him to sign so that his daughters would not have “physical
problems” (supra para. 71).
217. The facts of the case show that the Public Prosecutor’s Office requested certification of
physical injuries and the private defense attorney requested an examination to confirm
231
Cf. United Nations, Concluding Observations of the Human Rights Committee, Mexico (April 7, 2010), UN Doc.
CCPR/C/MEX/CO/5, para. 15.
232
Cf. United Nations, Report on the Visit of the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman
or Degrading Treatment or Punishment to Mexico (May 31, 2010), UN Doc. CAT/OP/MEX/1, paras. 142, 217 and 238.
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