CCPR/C/131/D/3259/2018
The men asked about Roy Rivera Hidalgo, whom they accused of selling drugs. When he
identified himself, they took him from the house along with some money, various valuable
items and two vehicles.
2.4
After her son had been taken, the author saw the men driving away in the two stolen
vehicles and a dark grey Seat vehicle with no licence plates. The author and her younger son
went to a neighbour’s house so that they could spend the night away from their home. From
there, they saw two passing patrol cars belonging to the municipal police of San Nicolás de
los Garza. The cars approached the author’s house and two policemen got out, looked inside
the house (the doors of which were open) and left. In the light of what had happened, the
author did not report the facts immediately as she did not trust the local authorities.
2.5
At around 4.30 p.m. on the same day, the author received a call warning her not to file
a complaint and asking for 500,000 pesos (Mex$) to see her son again. Over the course of
the next few hours, and into the following day, the author received 12 calls from three
different numbers. The callers all made the same threats and demands. During one of the
calls, on 12 January 2011, her son was put on the line at her request. When the author had
confirmed that it was her son, the captors took the phone away from him and the author could
hear him screaming as he was being beaten. On the same day, 12 January 2011, the author
handed over Mex$ 100,000 and the receipted invoices for the two vehicles that had been
stolen from her. On 13 January 2011, at 6 a.m., the author called the number that she was
using to contact her son’s alleged captors in order to receive instructions on where to pick
him up. Although they assured her then that they were going to treat her well, they never
contacted her again or returned her calls. At the time of writing, the fate and whereabouts of
Mr. Rivera Hidalgo remain unknown.
2.6
Given that she had been threatened and that she hoped that her son would be released,
the author did not file a complaint immediately. In addition, she feared that local authorities
were involved in the kidnapping. On 4 February 2011, the author appeared before the
authorities of the seventh military zone in Apodaca, Nuevo León, to file a complaint. The
author never obtained a copy of her complaint and does not know whether any action was
taken to initiate a search and investigation. On 28 February 2011, she went to that authority
again but was told that there was no record of her complaint and that she should submit it
again to the Public Prosecution Service. On the same day, the author reported the facts to the
Office of the State Attorney General of Nuevo León, including the fact that police officers
from the Escobedo police were allegedly involved in her son’s abduction. On 1 March 2011,
preliminary investigation No. 79/2011-1-3 was initiated. On 12 March 2011, the author
broadened the scope of her complaint after she returned home that day and found that
someone had broken in and left Mr. Rivera Hidalgo’s room in disorder.
2.7
The author alleges that all action taken in connection with the case has depended
entirely on her initiative, as the authorities take a passive attitude and are unjustifiably slow
to act. For example, the first action taken by the authorities was on 5 April 2011, when they
sent a request to the Telcel telecommunications company to trace one of the telephone
numbers provided by the author. However, since the company name and address on the letter
were incorrect, it was resent on 26 July 2011 and the response was not added to the case file
until 25 May 2012. On 8 April 2011, the author and her younger son voluntarily went to the
Department of Forensic Services of the Office of the State Attorney General of Nuevo León,
whose report was not added to the case file until 5 August 2014. It was not until this date,
and at the author’s request, that their profiles were entered into the DNA database of relatives
of disappeared persons. On 22 July 2011, the author and her younger son went to the
Escobedo police station to carry out a visual inspection of the bulletproof vests worn by the
police. Although they were unable to identify the model used by the persons who had broken
into their home, they claimed that the vests worn by the police were very similar to those
worn by some of the perpetrators of Mr. Rivera Hidalgo’s disappearance. However, the police
have stated that no report concerning the theft of vests has been filed. Moreover, no other
members would mutually accuse each other by claiming to belong to the other cartel in order to sow
confusion among the public and law enforcement agencies.
GE.21-06148
3