Mexico: police suffocate woman with her knee to death, sparking protests

The case that scandalized human rights activists in Tulum (Video and photo: Contrapunto TV)

This Sunday, a video was released showing four mexican policemen beat a woman to the ground until she finally died. The event, which happened in Tulum, woke the indignation human rights defenders and even Mexico’s own government officials.

In footage recorded on Saturday and released on Sunday, one of four officers from Tulum’s municipal public security department suffocates the anonymous woman with her knee, who only manages to voice a moan next to a patrol in broad daylight.

In social networks, the case sparked outrage and The phrase “They killed her” became one of the slogans of the time which helped to make the case visible.. In a video circulating on social media, the woman is heard complaining of being overpowered by the police and in another video she is already motionless in front of the eyes of the men in uniform. According to Mexican press reports collected by the agency AFP, the woman was arrested because other citizens had denounced her for public disturbance.

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After the repercussions, Quintana Roo’s State Attorney General’s Office (FGE) opened an investigation, but did not mention whether the police were being held or the reason for the unidentified woman’s subjugation. “An investigation file related to the homicide of a victim with private identity which occurred this Saturday afternoon in the town of Tulum has started. Forensic experts are investigating the cause of death, ”he announced on his networks.

The Federal Government’s Home Office (Segob) has joined in the demands for justice. “I condemn this act of incompetence and the abuses of the police and I call for punishment for those responsible,” tweeted Alejandro Encinas, undersecretary for human rights, Population and migration of the Segob.

The local Human Rights Commission filed an ex officio complaint against public security agents in Tulum for “violations of the human right to life”. In a statement, they said that although the corresponding investigation has not yet been carried out, “any deprivation of life is regrettable and condemnable, especially when it comes to people who are constitutionally bound to respect , guarantee, protect and promote human rights. .

A pressing problem

As indicated by the agency EFEThis is not the first case of police violence against women in Quintana Roo, where police officers shot at a feminist contingent protesting impunity for the femicide of Alexis, a 20-year-old last November. At that time, police violence led to the separation of the functions of the Secretary of State for Public Security, Alberto Capella, and the municipal police director, Eduardo Santamaría.

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Feminist associations compared what happened with the murder of African American George Floyd, died of suffocation by police in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in May 2020, sparking the historic protests for racial justice in America known as the Black lives matter.

“The police on the public highway are killing you. Imagine what he does when no one is watching, ”said the Marea Verde México organization.