Amnesty: Mexico Police Who Tortured Innocent Woman Into Confessing to a Crime Must Face Justice Amnesty International
go to original November 10, 2015

The acquittal of a young woman who was tortured into confessing to the crime of extortion is long awaited good news but Mexico must ensure those responsible for the abuse she suffered face justice and that she receives reparation, said Amnesty International.

“The fact that a young woman has been forced to spend two years in prison after being tortured to confess to a crime speaks volumes about the state of the Mexican judicial system,” said Erika-Guevara Rosas, Americas Director at Amnesty International.

“While we welcome Cristel’s acquittal, justice will not be done until those who sexually tortured her into confessing to a crime are put behind bars and a strong message is sent that torture is never acceptable.”

Cristel Fabiola Piña Jasso, a 25-year old mother of two, was today acquitted by a court in Chihuahua, northern Mexico after spending two years in prison. The judge found there was not sufficient evidence against her and ordered a federal investigation into the torture she suffered.

She was arbitrarily detained alongside her husband in August 2013, after state police stormed her home in the city of Ciudad Juarez. Police brutally beat both of them and sexually abused Cristel until she agreed to confess on videotape. She retracted these statements in court telling the judge she had been tortured.

Cristel, her husband and another co-accused could be free by the end of the month, after the deadline for the public prosecutor to appeal this decision expires.

See the original at Amnesty International

Photo: Sergio Ortiz Borbolla

Torture and ill-treatment in Mexico is out of control with a 600 per cent rise in the number of reported cases in the past decade, according to a report published by Amnesty International. (Amnesty International)

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