The country of Mexico began its court trial before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) for alleged impunity, lack of investigation, and insufficient action on the murders of women committed in Ciudad Juárez over the last decade.

The trial took place in Santiago de Chile at the end of April. The prosecution focuses on the cases of three women killed in the famous case of Algodonero Field that occurred in 2001. In total, there were eight bodies found in the site, a workers’ area located on the outskirts of Juárez. However, five of the bodies were not identified in time to be presented in the indictment.

The case of Campo Algodonero and all murders of women that have occurred in Ciudad Juárez ‘respond to a social situation that is called femicide,’ according to prosecutors. The victims were young women who were workers with a weak economic position ‘whose families do not have the capacity or resources to seek justice.’

The brutal violence pointed to the victims being raped and tortured. Their bodies were buried or abandoned in different places. Many remains have not been discovered.

But the starkness of these deaths and the pain of the families are compounded by the fact that, in most cases, the murders or disappearances are not investigated, and no evidence has been collected. In some instances where evidence was gathered, these were lost, tampered with, or manipulated.

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Via WOLA