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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 2, 2003)
t AGGIELIf HE BAITALIO |VORLP HE BATTALION 5A Tuesday, September 2, 2003 Border murders bring suspects’ and victims’ families together (Dirt McGirt are. .1 many hits forak ake a lasting imp-; vith Busta, Lutk- to. However, “If By Mark Stevenson THE ASSOCIATED PRESS .• High Speed serve as a refre )f O.D.B. can rei Jirt. rves he can ointed with the ed too many sli o what they do i your money on ncs on the cover CHIHUAHUA, Mexico — A nightmare of killings has haunted northern Mexico’s young women for a decade, and amilies of victims and suspects like are so frustrated over what [they see as inept investigations |that they’ve joined in an unusu- alliance to criticize police. And now, people fear the murders that started in 1993 in the border city of Juarez, across from El Paso, have spread here to the state capital. Sixteen [young women have disappeared in Chihuahua since 2(XX), seven of them turning up dead in cir cumstances eerily similar to the killings in Juarez 2(X) miles to the north. "This was just something that happened in Juarez, something we heard about on the radio, until girls started disappearing here,” [said Norma Ledesma. Ledesma's daughter Paloma. 116. disappeared in March 2002, ■and her body was later found on ■the side of a highway. Then, early this year, five ■young Chihuahua women van- ■ished within weeks of one anoth er. Children found the decom posed body of one in a vacant lot in May, and another’s remains were found near a road in July. The seven who have been [found dead were slim, pretty, ^^[dark-haired and between the ner Web site that a g es 0 f 14 an( ] 20 — the same ig but no inform;': l c p laracter j st j cs as most 0 p ^ [more than 90 victims in Juarez. [The bodies were also found in [the desert or vacant lots, and some had been strangled in attacks so fierce their neck ver tebrae were crushed — also like the victims in Juarez. Mothers of victims in both ■cities accuse police of not doing s are bteedk irddrive spaa copy iv your ow ill a friend a domain namet 1 led so-called ‘cyte mous names to who want the naim aid Alberta Hot Rcc 3urgar, whom tt* ous cybersquatter' Burgaror linked cor- sly been ordered t enou „p 1 lames to celebnfe “What are they waiting for, for 1 Spacey and Parcel: Park" author Mtchat elme Dion, ion system allows / have the right tot ;k without havingtt >attle or paying aW book back tversitys 2004 tax when you miscellaneous this to spread to other cities and states?” said Hilda Medrano, whose daughter Diana, 18, disap peared May 27. The young woman vanished after boarding a bus heading home from school. Many of the Juarez victims also were last seen on public buses. u There has been a lack of communica tion and a loss of credibility in law enforcement — Dr. Alfredo Rodriguez Forensic adviser State officials say such mur ders occur everywhere in the world, but they also acknowledge the killings may be part of a trend. "This is a complex problem with deep social roots, closely linked to crime, drugs, economic problems, the breakdown of the family and society, frustration, resentment and the loss of val ues,” the state government said in a news release. Suspects have been charged in many of the cases, but in both Juarez and Chihuahua there are allegations that police have engaged in evidence tampering, torture, forced confessions and sloppy forensic work. That has led almost everyone — includ ing relatives of victims and sus pects — to question whether police have caught the real cul prits. Some people even think police may be covering up for the killers. At a recent private meeting in Juarez with representatives of the London-based human rights group Amnesty International, family members who lost a daughter or sister sat in the same room with relatives of those jailed in the killings. Both groups criticized police. ‘‘In my experience, I have never seen the families of both victims and of the accused come together around the same table to express their concern about the criminal justice system,” said Irene Khan, secretary- general of Amnesty International. “That just shows how bad the whole situation is.” Ledesma disdains police alle gations that her daughter Paloma was murdered by a former boyfriend. She held a similar meeting at her home in Chihuahua to condemn police and demand better investigations. Ledesma said the family had caught a police commander try ing to plant the ex-boyfriend’s photograph at the crime scene. “Thanks to the impunity and corruption of the police, none of the culprits are in jail,” she said. “The people they have in jail are innocent.” Also at the meeting was Carol Kiecker. mother of murder sus pect Cynthia Kiecker, a native of Bloomington, Minn. Police allege Cynthia killed 16-year-old Viviana Rayas, whose body was found May 28. Almost nobody here believes it, and both Carol Kiecker and Viviana’s father have condemned the police’s handling of the case. Chihuahua state officials say they have done their best to solve the crimes but may not have done enough reach out to families. “There has been a lack of communication and a loss of credibility in law enforcement,” said Dr. Alfredo Rodriguez Garcia, a forensic adviser to prosecutors. “This isn’t a prob lem that exists only in Chihuahua but in the entire country and Latin America.” Meet The Battalion Wednesday, Sept. 3 2-4 p.m. Forsyth Galleries, MSC Meet the writers, photographers, artists and editors who produce your campus newspaper. THE BATTALION Learn to play guitar!!! Steve Carr is a recording engineer, producer and musician... and he can teach you! All you need is an ear for music and a guitar. Call today (979) 779-2277 www.righteousrain.com Bruan sn JDENT SPECIALS! Golf Course Present your student I.D. and receive a GREEN FEE and CART for just s 16.75 Offer good 10:00 a.m. - noon and after 3:00 p.m.. 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