More than three decades after Rosendo Radilla Pecheco disappeared at an army checkpoint, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights has found the Mexican state responsible for his disappearance.

In a historic ruling, the Court condemned Mexico for the forced disappearance of Rosendo Radilla and recognised the existence of massive and systematic violations of human rights during the Dirty War years. It said the state had created the conditions in which impunity for the crimes had been allowed continue to the present day. Among other measures, the sentence ordered the reform of the Military Justice Code, to ensure that human rights violations committed by members of the Mexican armed forces would no longer be investigated and tried in military courts.

The organisations that brought the case, the Association of Relatives of the Disappeared and Victims of Violations of Human Rights in Mexico (AFADEM), and the Commission for the Defence and Promotion of Human Rights (CMDPDH), believe that the ruling is a step towards ending impunity for past human rights violations, and sets a precedent for hundreds of other possible cases of forced disappearance. It is a historic achievement for the movement of victims and relatives of these crime, and testimony to the resilience and dedication of Rosendo Radilla's family, whose 35-year struggle for justice has made human rights history.

Among the most important elements of the Court ruling were: that the Court was competent to rule in the Radilla case; that due process and the right of access to justice for the victim and his family had been violated; that the application of military justice is incompatible with international standards in cases of serious human rights violations; that domestic legislation is inadequate for the international definition of enforced disappearance; and that reparations and assistance should be provided to the victims.  

In specific relation to the Radilla case, the Mexican state was ordered to publicly acknowledge its responsibility and to place a memorial plaque in the city of Atoyac de Alvarez, Guerrero, in Radilla’s memory. It must also pay monetary reparations to Radilla’s family and the litigating organisations.

His daughter, Tita Radilla, vice-president of AFADEM said she was hopeful that the Mexican state would abide by the Court’s ruling.

“They say the Mexico of today is different, we want to see that," she said.