SAN DIEGO.- With tears in her eyes, the mother of Anastasio Hernandez Rojas, an immigrant killed two years ago on this border, demanded on Thursday an informative report by the government of the United States in regard to her son's death.
Therefore, a letter was sent this morning to President Barack Obama signed by dozens of civil associations across the country, said letter is demanding a transparent investigation on the case that so far remains unpunished.
Rojas, who traveled from San Luis Potosi, Mexico, made it clear she will not rest until the officers involved in the death of his son are punished.
"The emptiness left by my son's death cannot be filled; killing him took them seconds, but it has been two years and we haven't had a single answer, I demand justice," said Rojas.
Activists and relatives of the Mexican gathered outside the Federal District Attorney of San Diego; this agency sent the case to the Justice Department in Washington where it seems to have been forgotten.
On April 20, a PBS program nationally showed a never before seen video clearly showing how the twelve agents brutally beat Anastasio Hernandez to death.
The images, which seem to speak for themselves, seem to have caused no effect whatsoever on the authorities involved in the case, despite the strong evidence, there has been no progress in the investigation.
"Anastasio was a father, son, brother, we miss him and we need him a lot, it's not fair that while we're still crying his death, the offenders are still working," she said. "They have very clear evidence, I do not know what else they want," complained Maria Puga, Rojas Hernandez, widow and mother of five children, now 22, 20, 13 and twins of six years.
According to local activists, the thing they worry more is that Anastasio's case joins eight other incidents of excessive use of force on the border of Mexico and the United States.
From 2010 to date, there are records of the deaths of Jorge Solis, Sergio Adrian Hernandez, Jesus Enrique Castro Romo, Ramses Barron, Roberto Perez, Carlos Lamadrid, Jose Gutierrez and Jose Alfredo Yanez, four in Arizona, two in San Diego, one in Nogales and one in Ciudad Juarez, all of them unpunished.
"The country's largest office cannot operate above the law," said Christian Ramirez, director of the Coalition of Communities South of the Border, in regard to the of Customs and Border Protection that has more than 20,000 agents. "The people behind this crime must be punished".
After pressure from activist groups and community members at the border, on Tuesday, the United Nations (UN) urged the federal government to help and cooperate with the investigation of violent deaths in recent years
"We have reached to international organisms that have listened to the border communities," said Pedro Rios, president of the American Friends Service Committee.
In regard to the recent trip he made to Washington to meet with lawmakers, he said the results were positive since they received the support of politicians who previously did not support them.
alexandra.mendoza@sandiegored.com
Original Text : Alexandra Mendoza
Translation : Daniel Blanco
