Last week, a woman was released after enduring 12 years and seven months of incarceration without ever being convicted or sentenced. This case, which involved Verónica Razo Casales, garnered international scrutiny and prompted calls from a United Nations group for her freedom.
Razo Casales was initially detained in 2011 on kidnapping allegations, which were ultimately dropped. Post-release, she recounted her ordeal, including sexual assault and electric shock torture by authorities shortly after her arrest, as mentioned in reports by the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.
In an interview with Noticias Telemundo following her Jan. 4 release, Razo Casales expressed her disbelief and anticipated challenges in adjusting to freedom. She detailed the trauma she endured from torture and the initial three-month ban on family visits, which plunged her into severe depression. Arrested at 32, she is now 45.
Razo Casales’ case highlights a systemic issue in Mexico. Official data shows that 40% of Mexican prisoners have not been formally prosecuted or sentenced. The country’s legal system is overburdened, resulting in a high rate of unresolved crimes, with many unconvicted individuals languishing in jail.
Her mother, Austreberta Casales, spoke of her prolonged efforts to secure her daughter’s release, which were met with indifference from legal authorities. Ruth Zenteno, of Mexico’s Federal Institute for Public Defense, pointed out that this case showcases grave human rights violations in the nation’s judicial processes, emphasizing the misuse of preventive detention and its consequences.
This misuse stems partly from the expansion of preventive detention in 2019 under President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. This practice, which entails automatic imprisonment without bail for certain crimes, has been criticized for presuming guilt before proving innocence, contrary to legal principles.
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights and various U.N. groups have called for reforms to Mexico’s preventive detention practices, which they deem incompatible with human rights. A 2021 survey by the Mexican Official Institute of Statistics (INEGI) found that prisoners often spend years in jail without trial or conviction, with some cases extending up to 17 years.
Razo Casales and her brother Erick were arrested in 2011 in separate incidents by the now-defunct Federal Police in Mexico City. Their arrests involved significant irregularities, including torture and threats to force self-incrimination, as confirmed by José Luis Espejel, an attorney at the Office of the Federal Defender.
The U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, after reviewing the siblings’ case in 2021, declared their detention arbitrary and contrary to international laws, advocating for their release. Erick was freed in May 2022 after 11 years behind bars.
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Razo Casales’ release followed the acknowledgment of flaws in the evidence against her. The Federal Institute for Public Defense reported thousands of potential torture or mistreatment cases between 2020 and 2021. Razo Casales lamented the irreversible impact of her unjust imprisonment, underscoring the need for institutional accountability and reparation for the harm inflicted.
