Veronica Zapana S. / La Paz
More than a week ago, the Mujeres Creando collective presented a list of 119 femicides and violent women who are free. Today, after seven days, the group received more files from the victims and already records almost 160 cases. The activists indicated that there are more loose feminicides and identified more consortiums.
“All day, at all hours and at all times, the phone of the compañeras (of Mujeres Creando) does not stop ringing to (register) their cases, because people are trusting much more in the work that perhaps we can do than in the commission proposed by the Government. That is why many more (families) have come to present their files. From Thursday until now we have about 30 to 40 more cases (of the 119 that already existed),” said Raiza Zeballos, one of the members of the Mujeres Creando collective. According to Zeballos, 160 cases have already been registered, in which femicides and rapists are free thanks to house arrest or never entered jail.
He said that the registered cases are only those received at their headquarters, on Radio Virgen de los Deseos (Sopocachi). The calls from relatives of victims received by the members of the collective are not counted on that list.
The group identified “not only one consortium, but many more and possibly others will be added because the names of judges, prosecutors and investigators involved in the release of femicides and rapists are repeated in several cases.”
Zeballos assured that at first this investigation only registered the names of judges, but the particularity of each case was so great that doctors, psychologists, lawyers, investigators and prosecutors were already involved.
He indicated that despite registering this situation, the audit -which will be carried out for a month on all cases that arrive at the offices of Mujeres Creando-, will not focus much on identifying all the consortiums, but on the work of the “justice system”. and that implies the state apparatus”. Despite this, according to the activist, there is evidence that there are consortiums of lawyers and doctors who support the “release of these aggressors.”
This audit is promoted by Mujeres Creando due to the “very lukewarm” response it received from the Government.
The representative of the collective, María Galindo, denounced that the Government “excluded” Mujeres Creando from carrying out the audit, despite the fact that this proposal was an idea of the organization.
“We reject, question and repudiate with indignation the commission formed by the Government because the president of the Senate, Andrónico Rodríguez, was not present, nor was the attorney general (Juan Lanchipa) and these two absences are not coincidences, they are ways to tell women that sexist violence does not matter to them. They have not understood that it is problem number one,” Galindo said.
According to Galindo, a document describing the scope, functions, and constitutional foundation was not seriously presented either, because not just any commission can reverse a release measure or suspend a judge, among others. “There is no seriousness in that commission,” he explained.
Due to this situation, Galindo formed the team Action in Legitimate Defense of the Lives and Freedoms of Women that will carry out the requested audit. This group of professionals will have the task of registering, analyzing and demonstrating the violation in the processes.
This commission will be composed of 20 women. A team will be in charge of receiving and registering the files. Another will review the cases. “There will be seven lawyers and three professionals from the social area,” said Zeballos.
To receive the cases, the Hope telephone number was set up: 70102001. There, a face-to-face appointment will be set to find out about the irregularities in the processes and everything must be supported by the file. The reception will be from 8:00 to 20:00 from Sunday to Monday.
The job
- Advertisement María Galindo, from Mujeres Creando, said that today she will launch the first case of a continuous series of complaints and will explain structure by structure with the corresponding evidence. “Tomorrow (today) he launched the first complaint with a letter to the Minister of Government so that he takes immediate action,” she assured.
- Job Galindo explained that the cases will be collected from all corners of the country. He assured that all complaints will be investigated. “No preference, no influence peddling and no exclusions,” he said.
- Action This commission will be composed of 20 women. A team will receive and record the files. Another will review the cases.
