In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

298 The J uárez M u rders and the Inquiry Pro cedure ma ria R egina Tavares da Silva, Portugal Y olanda Ferrer Gómez, Cuba As members of the CEDAW Committee—Yolanda Gómez on her second mandate and Regina da Silva on her first—we were directly involved in the first inquiry by the Committee under the Optional Protocol to CEDAW. Both us have been deeply engaged in the struggle for sex and gender equality in our countries and at the regional and international levels. This has provided us with many challenging, joyful or depressing experiences, but we can truly say that this particular experience was a powerful and disturbing one that we cannot forget. The Ciudad Juárez inquiry involved the abduction, rape, and murder of women occurring in a systematic manner for about a decade in Ciudad Juárez, in the state of Chihuahua, northern Mexico (close to the border with the United States, facing El Paso, Texas, on the other side of the frontier).1 Ciudad Juárez is an open door to immigration, both legal and illegal, as well as both internal, from other regions of Mexico, and external, from other countries. This has created a dangerous environment for vulnerable young women arriving to work in the maquilas established in the area. Maquilas or maquiladoras are assembly factories usually established in industrial parks on the outskirts of a city that produce for export, primarily to the United States. These assembly plants, also known as export processing zones (EPZs), are mainly owned by multinational companies and deal with various products, including electronics, television and stereo equipments, computer components, etc. The Inquiry Procedure—Main Features The Optional Protocol not only provides a communication procedure for individuals and groups to submit individual complaints, but also establishes an inquiry procedure. Both procedures aim to make the rights guaranteed under the Convention effective by denouncing and combating violations of those rights and by putting pressure on States Parties toward this end. The inquiry procedure is a mechanism through which the CEDAW Committee can look into a specific situation of “grave or systematic violations” of rights covered under the Convention. Being a State Party to the Optional Protocol, however, does not automatically allow for an inquiry procedure, since an opt-out clause allows for nonrecognition of it by the State Party at the time of signature or ratification. Compared to the communication procedure it has the advantage of not requiring the exhaustion of domestic remedies and its less formal process makes a timely response possible. The Committee can conduct an inquiry and transmit its findings, including comments and recommendations, to the State Party concerned to stop the violations and to prevent them from happening again. Because the issues are of a more general nature than the ones addressed by the individual communication procedure, the recommendations can also be of a more general nature, pointing to remedies in the way of policies and measures to address the underlying causes of such situations. The State Party commits to responding to the Committee with its observations within six months Requirements to Initiate an Investigation The process starts when the Committee receives “reliable information indicating grave or systematic violations by a State Party of rights set forth in the Convention” and invites the State Party to “submit observations with regard to the information concerned” (Article 8).This is thus the first step. The reliability of the information is evaluated by the Committee on the basis of its consistency, corroborating evidence, the credibility of its sources, as well as information from other sources, national or international, official or nonofficial. Although there are no specific guidelines the information must be as complete and illustrative as possible. It must include a clear description of the alleged violations, their gravity or systematic nature, their impact and consequences, and the specific provisions of CEDAW being violated. Information should also be provided on the alleged perpetrators; on complaints filed; on investigation(s) undertaken; on involvement of the police or other authorities; on support of civil society organizations, women ’s nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), or human rights NGOs; as well as on measures taken, or not taken, within the jurisdiction of the State Party, to respond to the situation. Information can be supplied by a person, a group, or an organization, national of the State Party or not; it can be in writing, on videotape or other electronic means, or oral; and it can present different types of evidence, according to...

Share