Mexico town executes criminals according to ‘forest law’

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People in Tepexco, Mexico, organized a trial without trial of seven suspects behind child abductions, typical of the “forest law“ that appears throughout Latin America.
Mexico town executes criminals according to ‘forest law’
The armed security forces were strengthened in Tepexco after the August 7 execution. Photo: Guardian .

One afternoon early August, Socorro Muñoz ran into the shop, locking the door. Outside, the Plaza de la Constitución has become a public school organized by the townspeople.

"I don’t want to see that," the 62-year-old grocery store owner told the Guardian .

The town of Tepexco, in the state of Puebla in southeastern , had a spontaneous execution in the central square in early August. At least seven suspected suspects have been executed publicly and have not been tried.

Square into a school of law

The locals came to see the execution filled the plaza. The suspects were taken from a local police station. The raging crowd interrogated then hung the suspects on a basketball throwing column to "claim blood".

Among those executed, three were suspected of being criminal gang members. One of them is a minor.

"God, the baby is only 16 years old. They hanged and released him to the ground. But at that time it was still breathing. Then they continued. It was terrible. I never witnessed the same thing in my life. ", Ms. Muñoz recounted the execution on August 7.

This is just a good example of the problem of "forest law" appearing in numerous Latin countries . Many incidents have been reported from Bolivia to Brazil, where President Jair Bolsonaro has declared criminals "should di‌e on the streets like cockroaches".

For weeks, Latin American newspapers have published a series of scary stories about "forest law" justice. Spontaneous executions are usually done by people who always obey the law.

The spontaneous court and judiciary are organized through social networks. Executions are filmed and distributed by mobile phones.

In a recent spontaneous trial in the Brazilian Amazon region, people used sledgehammers to destroy the police station’s door to search for a murder suspect. Local people become judges and executioners. They used the code and crescent to kill the suspect.

Self-justice

The wave of "forest law" appears in Mexico because of rampant gang crime. Particularly in 2018, the country recorded 35,964 murder cases but only a small part was resolved. People lose faith in the legal system and want to reclaim justice.

The number of spontaneous executions nearly tripled in 2018, from 60 cases in 2017 to 174 cases with 58 deaths. This phenomenon continued to increase in the first half of 2019.

Security expert Eduardo Guerrero said that since the beginning of the year there have been at least 42 executions organized by people in Mexico.

A dilapidated church at Tepexco after the earthquake in 2017 has not been repaired yet. Photo: Guardian .

"There are many similar areas of Puebla. The situation is clearly out of control," anthropologist Elisa Go‌dínez Pérez, who specializes in spontaneous, shared execution.

According to Go‌dínez, factors such as ineffective police, judicial system failures, rampant organized crime have formed fertile ground for the "civil justice justice" phenomenon.

This is especially common in remote and less invested areas like Tepexco. Nearly 3,000 people in Tepexco felt they were left by the government to take care of themselves. The land with the majority of people relying on agriculture has not recovered after the horrifying earthquake of 2017.

"The government refuses to work. That’s why people have to ask for justice. We no longer believe in the law. We no longer believe in government. That’s why this is happening. out, not because we are cruel, "Ms. Muñoz said

Nearly two years after the disaster, two local Catholic churches are still in ruins. Buildings weakened by earthquakes have not been destroyed. The Mexican government has not rebuilt the primary school for the locality.

"We have been forgotten," said Jesús Vargas, a local council member.

The outcome is inevitable

The people of Tepexco felt that Mexican security agencies had forgotten about the town’s existence.

They resent the wave of kidnappings, robbery and murder of gangs that constantly target innocent farmers. They spread horrors locally while the government buried its powerless legs.

Nearly four days after the spontaneous execution, a new Puebla state convoy arrived in Tepexco town square. The bodies were cleaned up at the time. Sitting in bulletproof vehicle is Governor Miguel Barbosa.

He came to condemn the spontaneous execution. It was also the rare time that state leaders Puebla appeared at Tepexco.

Residents at Tepexco said they were willing to commit crimes if they continued to be threatened and not protected by the government. Photo: Guardian .

Barbosa said he sympathized with people’s behavior as an inevitable reaction to the "institutional neglect" situation. Dozens of armed security personnel have been deployed to Tepexco after the visit.

"We see the incident as a reaction when people are too resentful," Mr Barbosa said, setting up an emergency council to restore local law.

"Getting justice for yourself is a way to respond to crime. However, this is not legal. You need to understand and accept this. Similar incidents cannot be repeated anywhere else. at Puebla We need a more effective security system and protection for you, "states governor Puebla.

However, many people at Tepexco said they did not feel regretful about the August 7 incident and were willing to take the same action if they continued to be threatened by gangs.

"Everyone has suffered enough. This is the only way for us to defend ourselves," said a local businessman, who said the last execution "was a decision of the whole town".

"If anyone appears and they want to kill your family, you have to fight them in any way you can and don’t hesitate. The people here too. We love peace, but if criminals come back We will act just like the last time, "he said.

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