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Businesswoman murdered by military, the ravages of militarization Lidia Villalba was driving on March 17 at night, on the highway from Guadalajara to San Luis Potosí, witnesses narrate that a white van joined with excess speed from the Ojuelos bypass. The van was chased for approximately five kilometers by a convoy of the armed forces which consisted of two military trucks, in addition to a vehicle from the Jalisco ministerial police and several municipal patrols.
The documents to which the press has had access narrate that within the limits of Zacatecas and Jalisco, the vehicle of the Ministerial Police on several occasions tried to block the path of the white van, however, it evaded passing other cars. Finally, the Ministerial managed to cross in front of the white truck to prevent its transit. The agents got out and approached from the passenger side, and with gestures they asked the crew members to get off. Simultaneously, gunshots were heard “apparently short gun” by the elements of the Ministerial. As a reaction, one of the military elements activated a “mini machine gun” that was embedded in the bed of one of the Sedena vans, hitting the white van in the rear. The narration does not necessarily coincide with the bullet marks of the truck in which he was traveling Lidia Villalbaboth in the rear and front, and on the passenger side.
Fortunately, and with a rare opportunity, the infantryman was forced to hand over his weapons and was arrested for the crime of murder of Lidia Villalba and attempted murder of the four civilians who accompanied her. He possibly only received instructions and it is the foot soldiers who pay for the crimes they commit by obeying the institution.
These facts confirm that putting public security in the hands of the armed forces is blown out of proportion, firstly because the armed forces are trained to kill an enemy, not to investigate crimes or maintain social orderas would a well-trained civilian police.
The National Law on the Use of Force approved in 2019 establishes the general rules on how agents should act when making arrests, confronting possible criminals or attending demonstrations. Its provisions apply to all police officers in the country, to members of the newly created National Guard, and to the armed forces involved in security. However, he did not consider the criteria suggested by international organizations and activists for the peace.
The legislators of both Morena and the opposition, with very few exceptions, are responsible for not having incorporated the right to compensation to which the victims of excessive use of force would be entitled, or the obligation for corporations to take out insurance that cover collateral damage for the same situation. Responsibility for the use of force –and excesses if they occur– corresponds both to the elements that directly exercise it, and to their hierarchical superiors. The detention of the infantryman is clearly a sign that the military institution is not hierarchically responsible for its human rights violations or atrocities committed.
The case of the businesswoman murdered by an element of the Sedena It is not an isolated case. The context of militarization that prevails in Mexico is fertile ground for homicides due to abuse of the use of force in the hands of the Army and different official security groups. Lives are lost and the freedom of those who deal with military discipline is sacrificed without the possibility of applying human rights criteria and protecting the lives of civilians. In the best of cases, there are those responsible in prison, in most of them neither high-ranking officers nor direct executors of the murders are arrested.
@MaiteAzuela
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