On March 22, 2002, Ms. Inés Fernández Ortega, a woman from an indigenous community in Guerrero, Mexico, was raped and tortured by military personnel. The State failed to undertake proper due diligence on the investigation and punishment of the perpetrators of these crimes. This case also dealt with the use of the military justice system to investigate and prosecute human rights violations, and the difficulties encountered by indigenous people, indigenous women in particular, to obtain access to justice. The Court found that the State violated the American Convention on Human Rights, the American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence Against Women and the American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture.
Case Summary: Fernández Ortega v. Mexico, Case Summary
Update: Radilla Pacheco, Fernández Ortega et al., and Rosendo Cantú v. Mexico, Addendums
Compliance Update: Fernández Ortega et al. v. Mexico