- Cases: Cases investigated by IAPA, Mexico
- Date : 1991-07-03
Place of birth: Ciudad de Puebla de Los Angeles, Puebla, México Age at time of death: 60 Marital status: Widower of Luz María Gutierrez; remarried to Patricia Martínez Téllez Children: (names and ages at time of father's death) Victor Manuel, 30, and Alejandro, 26 (both from the first marriage) Education: Physician and surgeon, graduated from National Polytechnic Institute, México City. Profession / occupation: Homeopathic doctor. Journalist and columnist of the Diario de Juárez. Journalism background: Contributor to national political magazine Siempre and the daily Diario de Chihuahua. Beginning in 1982, his articles were published in El Universal of Ciudad Juárez. In 1984, he began publishing his widely read column, "A mi manera" (My Way) in the Diario de Juárez, Ciudad Juárez, continuing to do so until his death. Years as a journalist: 28 Awards and distinctions: Posthumous plaque placed in 1994 at the monument to freedom of expression by the Association of Journalists of Ciudad Juárez. Civic activities: Founding president of the National Polytechnic Institute Alumni Association in Ciudad Juárez and founder of the Rio Bravo Ecology Association. Participated in the foundation of the Mexican Workers Party and was a follower of the National Action Party. Hobbies: Skiing and swimming. An avid reader.
Place of birth: Ciudad de Puebla de Los Angeles, Puebla, México Age at time of death: 60 Marital status: Widower of Luz María Gutierrez; remarried to Patricia Martínez Téllez Children: (names and ages at time of father's death) Victor Manuel, 30, and Alejandro, 26 (both from the first marriage) Education: Physician and surgeon, graduated from National Polytechnic Institute, México City. Profession / occupation: Homeopathic doctor. Journalist and columnist of the Diario de Juárez. Journalism background: Contributor to national political magazine Siempre and the daily Diario de Chihuahua. Beginning in 1982, his articles were published in El Universal of Ciudad Juárez. In 1984, he began publishing his widely read column, "A mi manera" (My Way) in the Diario de Juárez, Ciudad Juárez, continuing to do so until his death. Years as a journalist: 28 Awards and distinctions: Posthumous plaque placed in 1994 at the monument to freedom of expression by the Association of Journalists of Ciudad Juárez. Civic activities: Founding president of the National Polytechnic Institute Alumni Association in Ciudad Juárez and founder of the Rio Bravo Ecology Association. Participated in the foundation of the Mexican Workers Party and was a follower of the National Action Party. Hobbies: Skiing and swimming. An avid reader.
HistoryVICTOR MANUEL OROPEZA, México
A homeopathic doctor, journalist and as well an avid reader. Also a sportsman, excelling in skiing and swimming. He was born in Puebla but 60 years later, on July 3, 1991, he died far from there, in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua state, after putting up a fierce resistance to two assailants who stabbed him 14 times in the stomach after waiting for him with two others in his consulting room.
It was 7:30 p.m. when his dead body lay in a pool of blood. On failing to arrive at home or answering the telephone around midnight his wife and a son went to his consulting room. They came across his body.
He had been working as journalist for 28 years. He was still using is loyal old Remington typewriter. His writings had gained weight and importance in his column "A mi manera" (My Way), which he had published since 1984 in the Ciudad Juárez newspaper Diario de Juárez. Before that he had done so in El Universal in the same city and in the Diario de Chihuahua. He once got involved in politics, taking part in the launching of the Mexican Workers Party and then showing an inclination towards the National Action Party (PAN).
In his constant editorial criticism he would refer to the "close relationship" between the police and drug traffickers, several times identifying by name police officers engaging in abuses and human rights violations. The search for those who murdered him faded out. No one has been charged. The first police investigators in the case were the same ones that he had criticized in his newspaper column for having links with drug traffickers. The National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) alleged that confessions by two suspects were obtained under torture and coercion, leading to their being freed.
The Oropeza case was submitted by the IAPA to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) in March 1997, arguing that with this murder and the shortcomings in the proceedings there had been a violation of the standards of the American Convention on Human Rights concerning the right to life, personal integrity, equality under the law, freedom of expression, legal guarantees and judicial protection.
The government said that all necessary actions were taken to find those guilty of the murder. However, the process ignored a clue pointed out by the IAPA – a voluntary statement made by Jesús "Chuy" Molina to a reporter from the Diario de Juárez, confessing to be one of those guilty of the crime, telling how the murder had been committed and implicating his accomplices, an account that coincides with evidence and eye-witness testimony. The statement was not published, but the tape recording was handed over to the State Attorney's Office. Nevertheless, nothing has been solved. There has been a cover-up. There is an unjustified and deliberate delay. Impunity continues.
Case SummaryDate of murder: July 3, 1991 Where and how murdered: Oropeza was stabbed in his office at about 7:30 p.m. during a normal day of medical practice in Ciudad Juárez. Two of four men in the waiting room went into his examining room. During a scuffle, in which Oropeza struggled desperately. According to the forensic report, he was stabbed 14 times. Eyewitnesses said they saw four persons walk calmly out of the building afterward. Oropeza's body was found at mid-night by his wife and a son. Possible motives: Strong criticism and denunciations Oropeza made in his "My Way" column, in which he most recently referred to a " close relationship" between the police and drug traffickers. Repeatedly he named police officers he said were guilty of abuses and human rights violations. Suspects: Two suspects were held but freed in February 1992 immediately after the National Human Rights Commission issued a statement claiming that they had confessed to the crime under duress. So far, no one has been charged in the murder. Violent consequences: Anonymous threats were made to the father of Oropeza's widow, warning him to have his daughter stop pressing for a full investigation. Irregularities in the legal proceedings: The police officers conducting the initial investigation were linked by Oropeza in his column to drug traffickers. There are strong indications that the authorities ignored evidence, destroyed clues, fabricated information and had innocent people arrested. The commission declared that confessions of those arrested were obtained by torture and coercion.
NewsLectores de diarios escriben carta a Presidente de México
Periodistas reunidos en Hermosillo, piden justicia por su colega a Felipe Calderón
Reacciona la SIP ante silencio de autoridades mexicanas
SIP actualización de casos brasileños ante la CIDH
Silencio oficial en México sobre crimen de periodista
Reports CasesFocusing Only on the Probable Culprit
Judicial ProceedingsReporter and columnist for Diario de Juárez, Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua. Homeopathic doctor.
