As the second anniversary of the events of San Salvador Atenco, Mexico, draws near, Amnesty international denounces that "no substantial progress has been made" for the victims that were sexually abused by the police on May 3rd and 4th 2006. In an appeal on the website www.amnesty.it, they ask the Mexican authorities to "immediately fulfil their obligation to enforce the women’s rights to justice and reparation, including acknowledgement of the seriousness of the tortures inflicted on them". On those days, over 2500 policemen put an end to the protests led by the People’s Front organisation in defence of the land in Texcoco and San Salvador Atenco. The operation ended with 207 arrests, 2 people killed, dozens of protesters and policemen wounded. Virtually all of the arrested people, including 47 women, were tortured and abused. 26 of these women have lodged with the National Human Rights Commission a denunciation against the police for sexually abusing them as they were being transferred to the state prison of Santiaguito. Even if the medical tests have corroborated the statements of the women and other witnesses, the state investigation only led to issue charges against 21 policemen: 15 of them have been acquitted and only 6 have undergone criminal proceedings.
