In a historic ruling, Mexico's Supreme Court said Wednesday that a special prosecutor could present genocide charges against former President Luis Echeverria, accusing him of ordering a 1971 massacre of student protesters.
By a 3-2 vote, the court determined that, for technical reasons, a 30-year statute of limitations had not expired. The decision was the latest step in President Vicente Fox's efforts to bring to justice those who committed crimes during Mexico's so-called "Dirty War" of the 1960s and 1970s.
The issue now returns to a lower court, which will decide whether allegations brought by special prosecutor Ignacio Carrillo meet the legal definition of genocide. If so, an arrest warrant could be issued for Echeverria and a trial could be set.
The ruling came after prosecutors appealed to the Supreme Court a judge's decision last year to reject Carrillo's request for the arrest of the 83-year-old former president.
"I feel content, but not satisfied," Carrillo said in a telephone interview. "It's not a victory, it's a triumph, it's an advance."
He called the ruling "part of a general current sweeping Latin America" in which governments have joined the citizenry in demanding that former government and military officials be held accountable for past crimes.
Justice Jose Ramon Cossio, who voted to allow the genocide charges to go forward, said the decision set a historic precedent -- but it was only the beginning as far as the case was concerned.
"What will be the concrete consequences? That's up to the prosecutors' office first," he said.
Dozens of protesters, many holding up banners or waving hand-printed signs branding Echeverria a killer gathered on the steps outside the courthouse in Mexico City's historic city center before the vote.
"This is a step forward for Mexico," said Alfredo Benal, 31, who was standing next to a paper sign that said "Echeverria = Prison."
"The top officials can't hide from the past."
The special prosecutor says Echeverria ordered government thugs to attack protesters during a student demonstration on June 10, 1971.
Carrillo alleged that dozens of students died in what has become known as the "Corpus Christi massacre." Prosecution files say Echeverria helped draw up elaborate plans to attack anti-government activists.
Echeverria has denied any involvement in the killings.
The former president's attorney, Juan Velazquez, reacted to the decision by saying the 1971 clash "had absolutely nothing to do with genocide."
"There were events of repression, lamentable events, confrontations, what have you, but not a policy of exterminating the population," Velazquez said.
The government's effort to weed out alleged members of guerrilla groups and sympathizers began in the 1960s. The National Human Rights Commission has documented the disappearance of at least 275 suspected rebels.
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