Yecenia Armenta Graciano in Mexico

Yecenia Armenta Graciano in
Mexico
Yecenia has spent the last three years in
prison after she was arrested and forced to
sign a false confession. Demand that Yecenia be released and that those who tortured
her must stand trial.
On the 10th of July 2012, Yecenia was on the
way to the airport with her sister and sister-inlaw when she was stopped by the police and
told that the car was reported stolen. Yecenia
was forced into a police car where she was
handcuffed and blindfolded. The policemen
separated the three women and forced
Yecenia into a different car. They accused
her of having killed her own husband, who
had been shot in the streets a week earlier.
She denied the accusations.
Yecenia was then driven to an unknown
location where the policemen continued to
interrogate her while they choked and beat
her. She fainted several times. Since Yecenia
still denied having killed her husband, the
violence escalated. She was stripped naked
and raped. They continued to beat her while
she was hanging upside down by her feet.
After 15 hours of torture and sexual violence,
the police threatened to hurt her family.
Due to the threats, she finally gave into the
demands and confessed. The policemen
then took Yecenia to a new location, where
she signed the confession without knowing
what it said, as she was still blindfolded.
The arrest of Yecenia was only officially
registered hours after she signed the
confession. Everyone that is arrested shall,
after interrogations, be examined by a
doctor, to ensure that they have come to no
harm during the interrogations. The problem
was that the doctors who conducted the
routine examination of Yecenia were from the
same office that those who arrested her. The
doctors therefore concluded that Yecenia had
no injuries and therefore believed that she
had not been subjected to torture.
In September 2012, the International
Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims
(IRCT) examined Yecenia’s case. The
IRCT, which consist of independent forensic
experts, believe that there is clear evidence
that Yecenia was tortured. This led to the
public prosecutor in Sinaloa announcing that
her case would be taken to court. The case
has been sent to the Supreme Court, but is
still unclear what the outcome will be. Still, no
one has been convicted of torturing her.
Yecenia is still accused of having killed her
husband and therefore remains imprisoned
pending trial. The only evidence of Yecenia
being guilty is the confession she gave after
several hours of torture.
Amnesty International demands that the
charges against Yecenia are dropped and
that she is released from prison. In addition,
Amnesty demands that a full investigation of
the policemen who interrogated Yecenia is
initiated, and that the investigation is prompt,
thorough and impartial.
GI HÅP OG KREV RETTFERDIGHET
WRITE A LETTER OF SOLIDARITY TO YECENIA:
Yecenia appreciates all solidarity messages written to her, in all languages, but prefer letters in
Spanish.
In your letter you can include:
Estimada Yecenia
He conocido la terrible injusticia que se está cometiendo en tu contra. Deseo fervientemente
que puedas recuperar tu libertad y que las personas que te torturaron sean llevadas ante la
justicia.
Dear Yecenia,
I have learned about the terrible injustices you’ve been exposed to. I really hope that you can
be set free and that those who tortured you will be brought to justice.
Write to the public prosecutor in Sinaloa, Mexico:
The demands:
• Prosecutors carry out a full, prompt and impartial investiagtion into the torture suffered
Yecenia and bring all those responsible to justice,
• Drop the charges against Yecenia Armenta Graciano and release her.
• Mexico’s research and treatment of torture victims made in accordance with
international standards such as the UN recommendations and Istanbul Protocol , as
they have promised for years
• Public Prosecutions Procuraduría General de la Republica ( PGR ) change
procedures in official forensic examination , so that they comply with international
standards , and ensures that the official forensic experts are independent of PGR
Write to: Marco Antonio Higuera Gómez, Sinaloa State Attorney General
Procurador General de Justicia del Estado Sinaloa
Titelform: Dear Sinaloa State Attorney General, Marco Antonio Higuera Gómez
Send the letters to:
Amnesty International Norge
Att. Yecenia Armenta Graciano
Postboks 702 Sentrum
0106 Oslo
Suggested tweets:
Estimado @gobsinaloa,por favor libere Yecenia Armenta Graciano e investigue la tortura a la que fue sometida #SkrivForLiv #W4R #StopTorture
Dear @gobsinaloa, please release Yecenia Armenta Graciano and investigate the torture she was exposed to. #SkrivForLiv #W4R #stoptorture