How safe is Yucatan; Academics question Saidén’s position in the SSP, if he had an arrest warrant for criminal acts in Cancun

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MÉRIDA, MX.- During the presentation of the report “Peace as a myth: the unsustainable model of Public Security in Yucatan”, gathered academics questioned why Felipe Saidén Ojeda, Secretary of Public Security (SSP) in Yucatan, has held this position since 2007 if while he was in charge of the direction of the Municipal Police of Benito Juárez there was an arrest warrant issued by a Federal Judge for alleged crimes derived from organized crime.

The Collective for the Analysis of Security with Democracy (Casede) organized the event in which Jorge Fernández Mendiburu, a member of the Indignation association, stated that Saidén Ojeda’s permanence at the head of the SSP in all these years should be questioned.

“He has been in three administrations in a row and that makes us wonder what are the causes for a person to be with administrations of different parties and remain as secretary of the State Police. The FGE should investigate in-depth since it is suggested that this situation has as its origin that there is a control over the square”, he indicated.

It should be mentioned that the arrest warrant he mentioned dates back to 2004 when Saidén Ojeda was involved in the so-called ‘Cancun Case’, supported by file PGR/SIEDO/UEICDCS/329/04.

Felipe Saidén Ojeda, Secretary of Public Security (SSP) in Yucatán, has held this position since 2007.

In said file, 13 narco-executions were followed up, where three of the victims were elements of the now-defunct Federal Investigation Agency (AFI) and Saidén Ojeda was prosecuted for crimes against health and organized crime, as allegedly responsible for providing protection to drug dealers.

However, the arrest warrant was issued by the Third District Court, based in Mérida.

This situation leads academics and experts in the defense of human rights to question why he holds this position.

In addition, they also exposed that Yucatan is a state that is characterized by high-security rates but in exchange for a significant cost such as human rights violations and the emergence of cases of torture during arrests.

“It is important to break the myth of ‘Yucatán Seguro’. There is a systematic violation of human rights and that has been generated by police action,” added Fernández Mendiburu.

To support this opinion, he also said that the proof is that Yucatan is one of the states where there is greater gender violence and hate crimes at the national level and above all, with a high black figure.

To demystify the consideration of a “Safe Yucatan,” Jorge Fernández said that, for example, Kanasín has been placed among the first places among the municipalities with the highest crime rate, which shows that the perspective of Public Security in Yucatán is classist. .

“The most affected social groups in the state belong to the middle or lower social classes, that is, the crime figures are higher in social environments made invisible by society,” he commented.

In this sense, he mentioned that the dark figure of crimes exists because several cases are not reported due to mistrust of authorities and also because of the discrimination that people experience during the processes.

During the discussion of various variables regarding security in the state, the case of José Eduardo was put on the table, which has made it possible to uncover and make visible a systemic situation of human rights violations, in this case, committed by police elements.

As an example, he recalled that from January 2018 to June 2021, 965 complaints were filed with the State Attorney General’s Office (FGE) for the crime of torture.

“The Codhey does not clearly catalog the cases of torture and this institutional weakness contributes to the persistence of the situation of impunity in the cases of torture that have been documented. Without a doubt, there is a serious situation of human rights violations, for example, in the last four years, 15 people have died in the context of municipal prisons,” he added.

Despite the fact that the population growth is currently excessive and it is one of the reasons why the crime situation is increasing, the activists indicated that it is not the only reason.

Research professor Sergio Aguayo Quezada, also a member of Colegio México, said that there is currently a deterioration in security in the Yucatan Peninsula and, above all, Quintana Roo is a negative mirror of where the entity should not go.

Similarly, Raúl Benítez Manaut, president of the Collective for the Analysis of Security with Democracy, mentioned that there is security in Yucatan, but at the cost that the lives of people from various social sectors are at risk, so it is necessary to demystify that it is an example of peace, as even the president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has celebrated. (Noticaribe)

Source: noticaribe.com.mx

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