The president of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation, Arturo Zaldívar, presented before the Senate of the Republic a constitutional reform proposal to federalize the crime of femicide, including attempted femicide, so that it is classified as a crime that never prescribes and in which the authorities are prohibited from negotiating a criterion of opportunity with a defendant and the commutation or reduction of sentences for those sentenced for this crime.
During a work meeting with the Permanent Commission of the Congress of the Union, the bill delivered by Minister Zaldívar to federal senators and deputies it also proposes standardizing the penalties and types for the crime of femicide and related crimes, at the federal and state levels, for which it is proposed to modify article 73 of the Constitution so that the phrase “femicide and related crimes” be added to the wording that already contemplates general laws for other crimes such as kidnapping, forced disappearance of persons, trafficking in persons, torture and crimes in electoral matters.
In this way, the new wording of article 73 of the Constitution would be embodied in the following way: “The general laws that establish at least, the criminal types and their sanctions in matters of femicide and related crimes, kidnapping, forced disappearance of personsother forms of deprivation of liberty contrary to the law, human trafficking, torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, as well as electoral.
With this proposal, the crime of femicide would now also fall under federal jurisdictionwithout this taking away the powers of the states to investigate and punish this crime.
In the company of the president of the Board of Directors of the Senate, Olga Sánchez Cordero, the constitutional reform proposal called “Project of General Law to Prevent, Investigate, Punish and Repair Femicide” It also contemplates that preventive detention be imposed on all people who are accused of the crime of attempted femicide or of carrying out preparatory acts to commit said crime.
The need to grant the precautionary measure, states the bill, would occur if there are “Sufficient elements of conviction (to presume) of their participation in the crime as well as their intention to escape, hinder in any way the investigation or the process, or if it is necessary for the safety and protection of the woman, her family or society”.
The bill also warns that Alternative dispute resolution mechanisms in criminal matters are prohibited, such as criteria of opportunity and the conditional suspension of the processto prevent those responsible from benefiting from the reduction of their sentences.
Similarly, Pre-release benefits will be prohibited for those sentenced for this crime.
In addition, it is established that allegations of femicide may not be considered as mitigating or exempting the crime of femicide, even when it is not specified and remains tentative. behaviors or emotions that justify aggression against women such as violent emotion, anger, an “alleged” provocation by the victims, honor or jealousy; as well as cultural beliefs or any other custom that is contrary to human rights.
Nor will it exclude the crime add that this crime was committed by order of a hierarchical superior, since subordinates have the duty to disobey said instructions and report the conduct before the ministerial authority.
In addition, the bill considers that the existence of special circumstances or exceptional situations, such as time of war, cannot be alleged as excluding the crimeinvasion or its imminent danger, serious disturbance of the public peace, an armed conflict, internal political instability or the suspension of rights and their guarantees in the event of any of these scenarios.
The standard proposed by Zaldívar creates the concept of “institutional re-victimization” that is applied to public servants and law enforcement institutions who try to stop, hinder or discourage the filing of complaints for the crime of femicide, to those who leak sensitive information about the victims, including photographs, or to those who justify aggression against women with gender stereotypes.
In this case, it is also suggested that the public servants singled out for “institutional re-victimization”, as well as the institutions for which they work, they will be obliged to offer public apologies to the victims and their families, regardless of the criminal complaints to which they may be creditors in accordance with the provisions of the Federal Penal Code and other regulations.
Other obligations created by Zaldívar’s proposal to federalize the crime of femicide are: creation of records of this crime in which the sociodemographic characteristics are included of the aggressors, create a national database of disappeared women and girls and create a confidential genetic bank that contains information on the disappeared women and girls, as well as the genetic profiles of the bodies of any unidentified woman or girl, who has been deprived of life.
Reference-aristeguinoticias.com
