Case History: Nestora Salgado García
On 18 March 2016 human rights defender and indigenous leader Ms Nestora Salgado García was released from prison after being cleared of all charges due to lack of evidence against her. Nestora Salgado was illegally and arbitrarily detained on 21 August 2013 on fabricated charges of aggravated kidnapping. The charges originate in actions she took in accordance with her role and duties as a member of CRAC-PC. The human rights defender has been kept under detention for over two years and has yet to be tried for the charges she faces.
Nestora Salgado García is a human rights defender and indigenous leader from the state of Guerrero, where she has worked to protect indigenous rights, and in particular the right of indigenous peoples' to self-determination.
Prior to her arrest in August 2013, she led the organisation of the Coordinadora Regional de Autoridades Comunitarias: Policía Comunitaria – CRAC-PC (Regional Coordinating Body of Community Authorities: Community Police) in the municipality of Olinalá, in Guerrero. The community police force was organised and led by Nestora Salgado García in an effort to combat increases in violence, violent crimes, political corruption, and violations of the rights of indigenous peoples in the municipality of Olinalá. The Governor of Guerrero initially promised to support the community police force, before deciding to eliminate it in November 2014.
On 18 March 2016 human rights defender and indigenous leader Ms Nestora Salgado García was released from prison after being cleared of all charges due to lack of evidence against her.
Nestora Salgado García is a human rights defender and indigenous leader from the state of Guerrero, where she has worked to protect indigenous peoples' rights, in particular the right to self-determination. Prior to her arrest in August 2013, she led the organisation Coordinadora Regional de Autoridades Comunitarias: Policía Comunitaria – CRAC-PC (Regional Coordinating Body of Community Authorities: Community Police) in the municipality of Olinalá, in Guerrero. The community police force was organised and led by Nestora Salgado García in an effort to combat increases in violence, violent crimes, political corruption, and violations of the rights of indigenous peoples in the municipality of Olinalá. The Governor of Guerrero initially stated that he would support the community police force, before deciding to close it down in November 2014.
Nestora Salgado was facing charges of kidnapping, robbery, illegal deprivation of freedom and murder. On 17 March 2016 the human rights defender was informed about the acquittal and the release order issued by the the 67th Criminal Circuit in Mexico City (Juzgado 67 Penal de la Ciudad de México). She was released the following morning.
The human rights defender was detained on 21 August 2013. The charges were based on actions she took in accordance with her role and duties as a member of CRAC-PC. CRAC-PC is an entity legally recognised by Mexican law and based on indigenous customary law, including the right to adopt their own system of justice. The human rights defender had been kept under detention for over two years, first at the high security prison in Tepic, Nayarit, and then at the Tepepan Prision.
While Front Line Defenders welcomes the acquittal and release of Nestora Salgado García, it remains concerned by the fact that the Prosecutor's Office of Guerrero could challenge this decision. Front Line Defenders calls on the authorities to maintain the decision that acquitted and freed Nestora Salgado García.
On 6 January 2016, the First Criminal Chamber of the Superior Tribunal of Justice of Guerrero rejected the appeal presented by the defence lawyers of Ms Nestora Salgado García requesting her immediate release.
The decision to uphold the detention order against Nestora Salgado García follows an appeal lodged by the human rights defender's lawyers demanding her immediate release, based on a decision of the First Unitary Tribunal of the Twenty-First Circuit of Chilpancingo, from March 2014. This decision revoked the original detention order against Nestora Salgado García, due to a lack of evidence against her. In spite of this, the human rights defender was not released and is now being held at the Tepepan detention center in Mexico City, to where she was transferred from the federal maximum security prison in Nayarit in May 2015.
Nestora Salgado was illegally and arbitrarily detained on 21 August 2013 on fabricated charges of aggravated kidnapping. The charges originate in actions she took in accordance with her role and duties as a member of CRAC-PC. The human rights defender has been kept under detention for over two years and has yet to be tried for the charges she faces.
On 28 January 2015, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) issued precautionary measures in favour of Nestora Salgado. In its decision, the IACHR took into consideration the fragile situation faced by the human rights defender at the maximum security federal prison in Nayarit, and the risk to her life and personal integrity. The human rights defender has reported that she has not been provided with access to proper medical treatment for chronic pains she suffers from as a result of a previous car accident; and that she had been subjected to ill-treatment while detained.
Due to the State's failure to comply with the protective measures issued by the IACHR, the human rights defender embarked on a hunger strike in May 2015, resulting in the significant deterioration of her health. On 29 May 2015, after almost a month on hunger strike, she was transferred to the Tepepan detention centre in Mexico City.
