CAT/C/55/D/500/2012
The facts as submitted by the complainants
2.1 On 16 June 2009, Ramiro Ramírez, Rodrigo Ramírez and Orlando Santaolaya
were leaving their room at the Oceana hotel in Playas de Rosarito, Baja California,
when they were stopped by a group of 8 to 10 hooded indivi duals in civilian clothing
armed with rifles, who ordered them to the ground. When they asked why, the three
men were hit on the legs with the guns and fell to the ground. A person in military
uniform, who also had his face covered, then arrived and starte d giving orders, leading
them to conclude that their assailants, who did not show an arrest warrant, were
members of the army.
2.2 The assailants asked them about two persons called “el Rambo” and “el
chuletas”, which were names used by Ramiro Ramírez and Orlando Santaolaya. They
then asked them about a third person whom they did not know. The soldiers threatened
to shoot the three complainants if they moved, before taking Ramiro Ramírez to the
hotel room, from where cries of pain were heard. The soldiers t hen took Orlando
Santaolaya to the same room and interrogated both men about persons who had
allegedly been kidnapped; they handcuffed their hands behind their backs, blindfolded
them, covered them with blankets, struck them in the ribs, stomach and jaw, p ut
plastic bags over their heads and almost suffocated them, causing Ramiro Ramírez to
lose consciousness twice, and applied electric shocks to their genitals and other parts
of their bodies. In the meantime, Rodrigo Ramírez remained in the hotel lobby, wh ere
he was beaten repeatedly by two soldiers. After about one hour, the three men were
taken outside and loaded into vans.
2.3 That same day, Ramiro López was working on an avenue in Playas de Rosarito.
During his lunch break, as he was phoning his wife, around 10 vehicles approached
him. The vehicles made up the convoy carrying Ramiro Ramírez, Orlando Santaolaya
and Rodrigo Ramírez. Two persons in military uniform got out of one of the vans and
asked Ramiro López “who he was warning with his phone”, to which he replied that
he was not warning anyone, but rather speaking to his wife, and that they could check
the number. The soldiers snatched the phone from him and forced him into one of the
vehicles, striking him several times with a rifle.
2.4 After travelling for around 20 minutes, the vehicles stopped in front of a house.
Ramiro Ramírez was taken out of one vehicle and into the house. Once inside, the
soldiers threw him to the floor, put a plastic bag over his head and hit him on the jaw
with weapons, causing it to dislocate. The beating lasted about one hour, during which
time the other detainees remained in the vehicles outside. After taking Ramiro
Ramírez back to the vehicles, the soldiers headed towards another house. They got out
and entered the house, but when they heard screams from women and children inside,
they got back into the vehicles and left the area. During the journey, Ramiro López
was hit many times on his head and body, making him lose consciousness.
2.5 The soldiers stopped again in front of a house in the town of Rosarito. After
taking the detainees inside, the soldiers threw them to the floor and beat them again all
over their bodies, interrogating them about weapons and a person who had been
kidnapped. When the complainants said that they had no idea what the soldiers were
talking about, they were beaten again and subjected to death threats. The leader of the
convoy pointed a pistol at Ramiro Ramírez’s head and threatened to kill him unless he
confessed to kidnapping and possessing weapons. They remained in that position for
approximately two hours.
2.6 Finally, the complainants were taken to the Second Military Zone in Tijuana,
which belongs to Infantry Battalion No. 28. During the 30 -minute journey, the soldiers
continued to hit the detainees with weapons. When they reached the barracks, they
kept on hitting and threatening them to make them confess to kidnapping someone in
GE.15-17782
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