The Attorney General’s Office (FGR) points to three officers, five private security guards and at least one migrant as guilty of the deaths of 39 people this Monday in a fire at a detention center run by the National Institute for Migration (Inami) in Ciudad Juarez. Speaking to the press on Wednesday afternoon, Minister for Security and Civil Protection Rosa Icela Rodríguez said they had already been identified. The officer appeared accompanied by human rights prosecutor Sara Irene Herrerías, who said four arrest warrants will be sought this Wednesday.
Herrerías pointed out that the FGR initially opened investigations into the commission of two crimes, manslaughter and vandalism. The prosecutor added that as the investigation progresses, new crimes may emerge, such as abuse of office or ill-treatment. Herrerías has not made clear what crime they will accuse the migrant who set the fire in the detention center. Neither she nor Rodríguez have detailed his condition, whether or not he is injured, or how he would have started the fire. However, Rodríguez has suggested that this man would have used cables from the surveillance camera of the cell in which they were held.
The appearance of both outlines the government’s strategy in the face of one of the worst tragedies on record in those years, particularly the speech that Rodríguez raised. The secretary has insisted that justice be done, that what happened is unacceptable and that the private company that helped with security problems at the center cannot return to Mexico. But it hasn’t called into question the government’s migration policy, conditioned by the United States on the basis of tracking and containing groups of migrants to prevent their arrival at the northern border.
“These unfortunate events have nothing to do with the government’s immigration policy, which respects human rights,” the official said. “This unfortunate event is the responsibility of well-identified public officials and guards. It’s not a political issue. Mexico is a country with very established values and laws,” he added. The official has insisted the workers are not following the rules. “We condemn the poor performance of state officials who have not adhered to life-safety and civil defense protocols,” he said.
Reporters have asked both about the heights the investigation may reach as to whether they will stay with the Juárez workers or move up the Inami chain of command. Rodríguez has said they will go as far as necessary. It is surprising that not a single official has resigned in the face of a tragedy of this magnitude. Also this Wednesday, the Inami Commissioner Fracisco Garduño made himself available to the FGR “to find those responsible for the events”.
The tragedy in Ciudad Juárez hits the government led by Andrés Manuel López Obrador, which came to power with a humanist discourse respecting human rights. The images of what happened paint a panorama that reacts to contrasting values: imprisoned migrants, guards who see the fire growing in the cell and flee… Rodríguez has put the death toll at 39, with another 27 injured. Of the 27, 16 are seriously ill and at least eight are sensitive.
The secretary also reported on the origin of the detention of migrants. Since early Tuesday morning, local media have reported a morning raid, a situation the officer has confirmed. “There were several complaints from neighbors that a group of migrants, we don’t know if this or that, attacked people, demanded money and demanded on the street,” he explained. “For this reason, it was decided to perform an operation and bring her to the migrant residence.”
Rodríguez did not say who decided to conduct this operation, whether it was local or state authorities, or whether it was Inami’s own initiative. The official has not clarified whether there is evidence that this or another group of arrested migrants attacked anyone in Juárez on Monday afternoon. As for the origin of the fire, Rodríguez said it appeared to be related to her fear of deportation. Neither they nor Herrerías have informed about the possibility that other reasons made detained migrants desperate, such as lack of food or water.
Subscribe here to the EL PAÍS México newsletter and receive all the important information about current events in this country