The municipal authorities of Santo Domingo Teojomulco, in the Sierra Sur of Oaxaca, have kept a one-year-old baby incarcerated with her parents for seven months in the basement of the Municipal Palace, set up as a prison, residents denounced.
Erika Díaz Martínez and Rubén Gutiérrez Silva were indicted on May 29 for the alleged diversion of resources from a community gas station they managed.
Both were pointed out and found guilty without the authorities allowing them to present any documentation on their work and without being allowed access to a defense, according to local media.
Santo Domingo Teojomulco is a mountainous region located 136 kilometers from the capital of Oaxaca. According to the most recent census, it is estimated that the community is populated by 5,260 indigenous people.
The Municipality is governed by the internal normative system of “uses and customs” and by a system of “prison justice” imposed by the municipal authority headed by Otoniel Cruz Díaz.
The Oaxaca Human Rights Ombudsman’s Office (DDHPO) pointed out that although the normative jurisdiction of indigenous communities is recognized to establish sanctions, “these also have limits,” it said.
“According to the laws in force in the Country, the arrest for administrative offenses in municipal centers should not exceed 36 hours,” said the DDHPO.
He warned that the arrest of the minor and her parents represents “a serious violation of human rights.”
The deputies of the 65th Legislature of the State Congress urged the Oaxaca State Attorney General’s Office to immediately release the minor, her parents and nine other people who are illegally deprived of their liberty.
Erika and Rubén are sentenced to 15 and six years in prison, respectively, or to pay 10 million and one million pesos so that they can obtain their freedom.
Last October, Mayor Cruz Díaz denied in an interview with the state newspaper “Noticias” that the minor and her parents were imprisoned, despite the fact that the locals – who have preferred to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals – maintain his version.
A subject identified as Rubén Salvador Martínez denounced through a letter that he has been sentenced to three years in prison in Santo Domingo Teojomulco for trying to expose the case of Erika and her baby.
