Rosendo Radilla case goes to Inter-American Court of Human Rights

On August, 25, 1974, at a military checkpoint near Acapulco, Mexico, Rosendo Radilla, a respected community leader, was arrested and never heard from again. For 30 years, his family has tried to work within the Mexican justice system to achieve truth and justice for his disappearance without success. For this reason, the case was adopted by the Inter-American Commission and Court of Human Rights.

Rosendo Radilla's enforced disappearance is one of 1,200 registered cases from the "Dirty War" period in Mexico. Almost half of the disappearances took place in Atoyac de Álvarez in the state of Guerrero, the birthplace of Rosendo Radilla.

During this period, human rights defenders documented many instances where the Mexican government, through the army, tried to extinguish social justice movements, targeting many innocent civilians. This state policy led to grave and systematic human rights violations that to this day have not been prosecuted. Rosendo Radilla's case will finally be heard this summer by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. A positive outcome will be a strong precedent for the numerous remaining cases.

PBI Mexico has accompanied Tita Radilla, Vice-President of the Association of Relatives of the Detained, Disappeared, and Victims of Human Rights Abuses in Mexico (AFADDEM) since August 2003. The organisation belongs to the Latin American Federation of Associations for Relatives of the Detained-Disappeared (FEDEFAM).

Click here to read more about Tita Radilla.