The Mexican attorney Netzaí Sandoval presented yesterday to the International Criminal Court (ICC) a lawsuit against President Felipe Calderon

Fernando Camacho Servin La Jornada Saturday November 26, 2011, p. 5 The Mexican attorney Netzaí Sandoval presented yesterday to the International Criminal Court (ICC) a lawsuit against President Felipe Calderon and his cabinet-backed security with more than 23 000 signatures, as well as against members of the Sinaloa cartel, for the commission of various crimes against humanity that occurred in the context of the ongoing war against organized crime. The dossier submitted to the attorney general of that body, Luis Moreno Ocampo, is composed of 470 documented cases of murder, torture, forced displacement and recruitment of children, that have occurred in a "general context of systematic violence that has taken him to Mexico a humanitarian crisis, with more than 50 000 individuals last, 230 000 displaced and 10 000 missing, "Sandoval said in an interview with Radio Nederland International. The complaint was filed in The Hague, seat of the ICC, which is charged with judging the crimes of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. In addition to providing supporting documentation of cases, the document "explain the failures" of the Mexican judicial system to resolve in preventing the country. In the petition, said Sandoval, the Mexican government directly responsible for the execution of crimes against humanity, including rape, perpetrated by the Mexican Army, and "enslavement" of undocumented migrants by officials, in collaboration with groups criminals. It also denounces the killing of civilians in military checkpoints, enforced disappearances attributed to state agents, the use of torture as a mechanism for self-incrimination and extrajudicial executions. Although the "chief" of such crimes would be the Chief Executive, as the head of the armed forces, the report also includes several elements Calderon cabinet, including the secretaries of Defense, Navy and Public Safety, William Galvan, and Francisco Saynez Genaro Garcia Luna, respectively, plus the leader of the Sinaloa cartel, Joaquin El Chapo Guzman. Among the most serious complaints against the Mexican state institutions are the National Institute on Migration, in which senior officials have "participated in the kidnapping and sale of migrants" to the drug gangs, as the National Commission has documented of Human Rights. As for the actions of criminal groups, the document presented by the Mexican attorney claims that in recent years have managed to secure a broader territorial and have real armies, to whom are attributed many cases of executions, amputations and beheadings as well as attacks on civilian targets and recruitment of minors. Sandoval stressed that it was necessary to bring this complaint before the ICC, given the "lack of capacity and willingness of the Mexican judicial system to try crimes against humanity", as many of the crimes committed by the government and the underworld are not even defined in the Penal Code, which creates a "clear state policy of concealment". A win, if Mexico is placed "under observation" John Ackerman, Academic Legal Research Institute of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, said in an interview that despite the difficulties involved and the expected resistance of the Calderón government to be tried, the expectation is that the prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo open a file on the situation in the country, which concludes that if they commit crimes against humanity and they can not be analyzed in the country. "Needless to rule on the culpability of the President, but to recognize the crime and the inability to be investigated. We think this is obvious, because in the Criminal Code are not even established, the judicial authorities have no autonomy to open an investigation, and still prevents the military courts to judge crimes committed by the military, "he said. All this builds a "shield law" that hinders justice. Given this, it is necessary to seek support from international agencies. "This has to evaluate the prosecutor, and if you open a file, that would be a victory for us." The lawsuit against the President of Mexico will be a "big test" for the ICC, Ackerman found, because until now the agency has undertaken almost exclusively to prosecute leaders of African countries, with the exception of Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic, identified as "enemies" of the industrialized countries, but in this case, Calderon is considered a functional ally. "As background, he said we have the case of Colombia, where the ICC decided not to investigate, but placing the country under formal observation. If we take that first step, that would be a gain. Let's see how far evaluated in legal terms, and how far yield to pressure from the government of Mexico, "he said.