IPS-English MEXICO: Alleged Rape of Indigenous Woman a Minefield of Contradictions Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2007 17:19:49 -0700 Diego Cevallos MEXICO CITY, Apr 26 (IPS) - Opposition lawmakers in Mexico refused to review evidence presented by the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) that contradicts charges against the army for the alleged gang rape by soldiers of a 73-year-old indigenous woman, who died on Feb. 25. The case of Ernestina Ascensio, a sheepherder from the poor rural district of Soledad Atzompa, has been taken up by social activists and opposition politicians who point to inconsistencies in the versions offered by the authorities and the army, and underline the vulnerability of indigenous women in this country of 104 million. The CNDH, a public agency, carried out an autopsy on Ascensio's body and sent investigators to the area, located 450 km east of the capital in the state of Veracruz. In its conclusions, it reported that it found no signs of rape, and that the elderly woman died of anemia caused by intestinal bleeding. With evidence in hand consisting of photos, testimony, videos and clinical studies, the president of the CNDH, José Luis Soberanes, appeared Wednesday before the committees on human rights and gender equity in the lower house of Congress. However, the legislators did not allow him to present his evidence, and instead harshly questioned him and accused him of engaging in a cover-up. The CNDH's claims that the elderly woman was not raped contradict the results of the investigation carried out by the Veracruz state prosecutor's office, whose forensic reports stated that the woman had sustained injuries consistent with vaginal and anal rape. The CNDH also says that the samples of semen that the prosecutors reportedly retrieved from Ascensio's body are nowhere to be found. Amalia Ramos, a resident of Soledad Atzompa, whose 17,000 inhabitants are mainly indigenous people, told IPS that the local community has no doubts that Ascensio was raped by soldiers and died as a result of her injuries. ”All we want is justice,” and the CNDH is lying, said Ramos, who travelled to the capital this week with another local resident and with the help of lawmakers, in order to speak out about the case. Ascensio's family, who initially reported that the elderly woman described the sexual assault by soldiers just before she died, now refuses to talk to the press. Deputy minister of the interior Abraham González is known to have visited the family at least two times. ”I would not be surprised if in this case soldiers had been framed in order to discredit the armed forces, and that the supposed rape never even existed,” Guillermo Garduño, an expert in security issues at the Autonomous Metropolitan University, told IPS. ”Some group could have an interest in smearing the image of the military, which today are playing a key role in the fight against drug trafficking,” said the analyst. Defence minister Guillermo Galván, who appeared before lawmakers Thursday, gave his assurances that no one would be protected, and that if the investigations found that soldiers attacked Ascencio, they would be punished. The final verdict in the case is in the hands of the state prosecutor's office in Veracruz, which is studying the arguments put forward by its own experts and by the CNDH. The military prosecutor's office is also investigating. Evidence against the claim that Ascencio was raped includes testimony from staff at the hospital where she was taken after the alleged assault. Doctors and nurses told prosecutors that the patient had presented no signs of rape. The human rights group Agustín Pro Juárez, which visited the rural municipality of Soledad Atzompa and made enquiries into the case, doubts that the rape claim is a set-up. ”There is evidence and testimony that tends to confirm that an assault did take place,” Isabel Uriarte, an activist with the organisation, told IPS. Legislators from the leftwing opposition Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) agree. They accuse the CNDH of attempting to protect the perpetrators as well as conservative President Felipe Calderón, who also maintains that no sexual assault took place. ”Whatever the truth of the matter, the only thing that's clear is that someone is lying,” said Carmen Aristegui, a columnist for the newspaper Reforma and presenter of a local radio news programme. Soldiers carry out regular patrols close to where Ascencio lived, and there is nothing to indicate the presence of insurgent groups or drug traffickers in the vicinity. Javier Hernández, another local resident who argues that the rape did take place, acknowledged that the people of Soledad Atzompa had never had any trouble with the soldiers, except for the occasional minor incident when the soldiers took some of the community's firewood without permission. Human rights groups and opposition lawmakers say they will continue to closely follow the Ascencio case, in order to prevent a miscarriage of justice and to expose irregularities. The case is a minefield of contradictions. Shortly after Ascensio's death, the assistant prosecutor of Veracruz, Miguel Mina, announced that the autopsy had confirmed that the indigenous woman had been raped and sodomised. After that, the defence inistry issued a communiqué reporting that ”forensic experts are carrying out tests to compare the seminal fluid recovered from the body of the deceased with blood samples taken from military personnel.” However, the defence ministry later retracted its statement, and now claims that it never had any semen samples. ***** + MEXICO: Gov't, Military Scramble to Deny Rape of Indigenous Woman (http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=37149) + RIGHTS-U.S.: One in Three Native Women Suffer Sexual Assault (http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=37493) + INDIGENOUS PEOPLES: Where are the Missing Women? - 2004 (http://ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=23750) (END/IPS/TRASP-SW-VD/LA IN HD WO SX IP/DC/07) = 04270149 ORP001 NNNN