Supreme Court of Mexico rules against investigating 1993 murder of cardinal

Mexico City, Mexico, Apr 21, 2010 / 15:52 pm

The Supreme Court of Mexico ruled Tuesday against investigating the case of the murder of Cardinal Juan Jesus Posadas Ocampo of Guadalajara, Mexico on May 24, 1993.

The judges unanimously ruled against accepting a request by the Governor of Jalisco, Emilio Gonzalez Marquez, to carry out an investigation of the case.

Cardinal Posadas Ocampo was murdered in 1993 at the Guadalajara Airport when gunmen, armed with automatic weapons, attacked him in his car.  The case has been reopened several times, however no one has been imprisoned.

While the judges lamented the murder of the cardinal, they concluded that the court should not intervene in the investigation of the crime.

According to El Economista, the court refused to investigate the murder because the country's constitution establishes different procedures for investigating homicides.

Marquez  argued that the court should intervene because officials in charge of the investigation during the administration of Carlos Salinas were guilty of various inconsistencies.

Many believed an investigation by the court would ensure that those behind the murder of the cardinal would be brought to justice.  According to analyst Carlos Ramirez, the decision to call for the constitutionally permitted high court investigation of grave violations of human rights would be the next-to-the last resort for in seeking justice for the cardinal's murder.

“If the Mexican court says 'no',” as it has, “the case then would go before the International Human Rights Commission of the Organization of American States.”  For the promoters of the initiative, Ramirez said, “The Supreme Court of Mexico has become the last battle line against the old Mexican judicial system and its manifestations of impunity, corruption and political protection.”