CAT/C/71/D/759/2016
purpose, such as extracting information or a confession for an offence or meting out
punishment for an act of which the victim is accused. However, convictions for the offence
are rare, amongst other reasons because the judicial authorities try perpetrators of torture for
other offences such as, for example, abuse of authority and/or bodily injury.2
2.8
In 2012, Taxco ranked thirty-third on the list of least safe municipalities and, in 2014,
the Government was in possession of information that, in Taxco, the Guerreros Unidos
(“United Warriors”) crime syndicate had infiltrated units of the municipal police and
organized crime had infiltrated the public administration and the police force. 3 As a result,
the federal police had assumed control of the municipality’s security at the end of 2014 and
the Director of Public Security had been arrested for membership of an organized criminal
group.
Medical reports
2.9
On 28 April 2013 at 20.55 hours., while the complainant was still deprived of his
liberty, a report on his physical state of health was drawn up by a doctor attached to the
Municipal Public Security Force which concluded that the complainant was aggressive and
overexcited and had no recent injuries visible on the surface of his body. The complainant
claims that this report contradicts all other examinations that he underwent.
2.10 Immediately after having been released, the complainant went with his wife to Adolfo
Prieto General Hospital, where he was diagnosed with a broken rib.
2.11 On 29 April 2013, the complainant went to Alarcón Judicial District Public
Prosecutor’s Office to file a complaint and the forensic medical expert attached to the Office
certified that the complainant had suffered various injuries, but that they were not serious.
The complainant maintains that this report demonstrates the lack of impartiality in the efforts
of the public prosecution service to investigate his case, since all the other medical
examinations that he underwent certified that he had a number of serious injuries.
2.12 On 1 May 2013, the complainant filed a complaint with the Guerrero State Human
Rights Commission against officers of the Municipal Patrol Police of Taxco de Alarcón. The
Commission appointed a forensic medical expert, who, on 1 May, concluded that the
complainant had an inflamed haematoma in his skull, behind his right ear, and abrasions on
his abdomen, back, neck, wrists, left arm, right forearm and left leg, ankle and knee.
2.13 On 8 July 2015, the complainant went to the General Hospital of Mexico for various
medical tests since he was still suffering from pain and associated injuries.
2.14 On 24 September 2015, the Chief of the Hospital’s Rehabilitative Medicine Service
concluded that the complainant had several old, dark-coloured scars and a loss of muscle
strength in both hands that made tight pincer grips and other specific hand movements
difficult for him. Furthermore, as the complainant was affected by penile pain and erectile
dysfunction, it was decided that he should undergo penile surgery.
2.15 On 7 April 2016, after assessing the complainant’s case, two psychologists who were
members of the Colectivo Contra la Tortura y la Impunidad A.C. issued a report in which
they concluded that “there is a high degree of consistency and coherence between all the
sources of information mentioned in the study, the account of the events, knowledge of
torture practices in Mexico and investigations into the physical and psychological effects of
acts of torture and ill-treatment, meaning that torture and ill-treatment is possible”. The report
also concludes that the complainant has symptoms of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic
stress and various physical sequelae.
2
3
GE.21-13347
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mexico, Informe de México: avances y desafíos en materia de derechos
humanos, second edition, 2011, para. 195; available for consultation at https://www.uprinfo.org/followup/assessments/session17/mexico/Mexico-InformHR.pdf.
Marcos Muedano, Federales desarman a policías a policías de Taxco, Arcelia y Buena Vista, El
Universal, 19 October 2014; available for consultation at
https://archivo.eluniversal.com.mx/estados/2014/ policias-municipales-fuerzas-federales-guerreroseguridad-1047360.html.
3