(Mexico) “There will be no impunity” in the tragedy of the 38 migrants who died in a detention center in Ciudad Juárez, in northern Mexico, on the border with the United States, the Mexican president promised on Wednesday , Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador.
“We are not going to hide anything and there is not going to be impunity,” said the head of state, announcing the presentation of a first report by the authorities in the afternoon. He called for “those who caused this painful tragedy to be punished according to law”.
Broadcast by several media and authenticated by the authorities, a video showed the start of the fire. Behind bars, in the smoke, a man kicks against a closed door while another appears to put a mattress on the ground. They then retreat with other individuals. In the foreground, on the other side of the cell, three officers, two of whom are in uniform, retire offscreen with their backs to them, without giving them assistance.
A few hours after the tragedy on Tuesday, the Mexican president had indicated that the migrants had lit the fire with mattresses in a movement of “protest”: “We assume that they learned that they were going to be expelled, moved”.
“There is no intention to hide the facts,” the Mexican leader insisted on Wednesday, confirming the authenticity of the video. “Our government does not allow human rights violations or impunity.” “We will act responsibly,” he added, promising sanctions.
“How is it possible that the Mexican authorities left human beings locked up with no possibility of escaping the fire? asked Erika Guevara Rosas, director of Amnesty International for the Americas, in a statement on Tuesday.
The fire, unprecedented in facilities for migrants in the country, also left 28 injured.
