Conveying Sympathy of Congress to Families of Young Women Murdered in Chihuahua, Mexico

CONVEYING SYMPATHY OF CONGRESS TO FAMILIES OF YOUNG WOMEN MURDERED IN CHIHUAHUA, MEXICO -- (House of Representatives - May 02, 2006)

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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Con. Res. 90, and I wish to express my respect and admiration for the gentlelady from California, Congresswoman SOLIS, for her important leadership on this tragic issue.

Since 1993, nearly 440 women have been killed in Ciudad Juarez and the State of Chihuahua, Mexico. Most of the victims are young, poor women. Nearly one-third worked in maquiladora factories that flourish along the U.S.-Mexican border; another third were students; Over 100 of these women were sexually assaulted prior to their murders, and these cases may be related. Other murders appear to be the product of domestic and intimate partner violence.

Regrettably, the Mexican authorities have done little to investigate the murders: According to human rights investigations into these murders, at least 130 police, prosecutors, and forensic officials were negligent or abusive in their handling of the murder investigations. Frequently, these officers of the law blame the victim for her own violent death. They have ignored, deceived, harassed and even attacked the families of the victims. While a few men have been convicted for some of the sexual murders, several of the victims' families believe these men are scapegoats, while the real perpetrators remain free at-large. As long as the wrong people are in prison, the killers remain unpunished and able to kill again and again.

We know that the police have used torture to obtain confessions from several people, even though no physical evidence connected these individuals to the crimes. For example, days after eight women's bodies were found in a field in downtown Juarez, two men were arrested and tortured into confessing to their murders. No physical evidence links them to the crime. Police killed one of their lawyers. One of the men died in prison. The judge presiding over the case ignored the remaining detainee's credible allegations of torture and the lack of evidence against him, and convicted him to 50 years in prison for the murders. The families of the murdered women do not believe he is the person responsible for their daughters' deaths.

Mr. Speaker, the Ciudad Juarez murders are an issue that embraces both sides of the border: U.S. citizens have been arrested for the murders, have been victims of the murders, and have had loved ones lost to murder. U.S. citizen Cynthia Kiecker and her husband, a Mexican national, were arrested and tortured in June 2003, accused of the murder of a young woman in Chihuahua. They were acquitted in December 2004. In another case, one U.S. citizen's daughter disappeared in July 2000.

I believe that the Mexican government will respond to U.S. and international pressure to solve these murders and bring peace of mind to the victims' families, and restore peace and security to the people who live in the State of Chihuahua and Ciudad Juarez, in particular. Already, as a result of international pressure, the federal Mexican government has appointed a special commissioner to prevent violence against women in Juarez, as well as appointing a special prosecutor to find out what went wrong with the previous murder investigations.

But Mexican federal and state authorities have made too many promises, and still there is too little progress in any of these investigations.

Mr. Speaker, H. Con. Res. 90 will clearly tell the families of these women that their voices and their pleas for justice have not gone unheard. They have our sympathy, and they have our support. But passage of this bill will also send a clear message to the Mexican authorities that the United States Congress is concerned about these murders, willing to have our government assist in their investigation, and that we want the perpetrators of these heinous acts arrested and put behind bars.

The lives of all these young women had meaning and promise. Let us remember them now, and solemnly vow to their families that we will work to bring their killers to justice.

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