Mexico: Human rights experts welcome promised release of Brenda Quevedo Cruz, detained for more than a decade without trial

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GENEVA (15 October 2020) – UN human rights experts* today welcomed the Mexican Government’s statement that it will implement its Opinion No. 45 and will release Brenda Quevedo Cruz from prison, after 11 years behind bars in Mexico without trial.

"We are very satisfied with the official announcement of Mexico’s Ministry of the Interior that it will comply with the opinion of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention to release this victim of arbitrary detention, and we hope that concrete actions follow immediately,” the Group said.

Quevedo Cruz was detained in connection with a notorious 2005 kidnapping and murder, but the Group found serious violations of due process guarantees, such as the presumption of innocence and the right to be tried without undue delay.

“After spending more than a decade in pre-trial detention, Ms. Brenda Quevedo Cruz must be released, with guarantees of access to full reparations,” they said. “The violation of her human rights must be thoroughly investigated, leading to accountability of those responsible."

The Working Group encourages the Government to urgently review all its opinions regarding arbitrary detention in Mexico, in order to identify and implement the structural reforms to the justice system that are necessary to prevent the occurrence of cases like this in the future. "We remain at the disposal of the Government to help it comply with its international obligations."

In accordance with paragraph 5 of the Working Group’s methods of work, one member of the Working Group, José Antonio Guevara Bermúdez, who is from Mexico, did not participate in discussion of the Opinion No. 45/2020.

ENDS

* The UN experts: Ms. Leigh Toomey (Chair-Rapporteur), Ms. Elina Steinerte (Vice-Chair), Mr. Seong-Phil Hong, Mr. Sètondji Adjovi, Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.

The Special Rapporteurs and Working Groups are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council's independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures' experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.

UN Human Rights, Country Page — Mexico

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