Ex-Mexican president is asked about killings

Tucson, Arizona Wednesday, 3 July 2002
http://www.azstarnet.com/star/today/20703IMexico-PastCrimes.html

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

MEXICO CITY - A special prosecutor grilled former President Luis Echeverria on possible genocide charges Tuesday - a bold step in Mexico's campaign to come to terms with its often-violent past and break a tradition of impunity for its former leaders.

Since Mexico's longtime ruling party was ousted in 2000, President Vicente Fox, an increasingly independent Congress and the courts all have helped overturn tradition, and the once all-powerful president - and protected former presidents - are increasingly coming under challenge.

Special prosecutor Ignacio Carrillo spent about six hours detailing complaints filed against the 80-year-old Echeverria and adding pointed questions of his own about deadly government attacks on dissidents in the 1960s and '70s.

The questioning apparently came as part of an investigation, which in Mexico is a formal legal process.

Echeverria asked to be able to respond in writing within 30 days, Echeverria's lawyer, Antonio Cuellar, said after the session.

Echeverria planned to return for more questioning next week.

The session was not open to the public or press.

"He has nothing to hide," Cuellar said. "Our strategy is to testify, and to testify truthfully."

Other former presidents also have been questioned, but only as witnesses.

The last time a Mexican ex-president faced a formal criminal investigation apparently was in 1934, when President Lazaro Cardenas' administration threatened arrest to break free of a domineering predecessor, Plutarco Elias Calles.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson, who was visiting Mexico City on Tuesday, called the testimony and other steps by Fox's government to protect human rights "very healthy."

"You cannot build a good future for human rights if you will not address the dark periods of the past," the former Irish president said. "It is part of building a culture of human rights."

All content copyright © 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 AzStarNet, Arizona Daily Star and its wire services and suppliers and may not be republished without permission. All rights reserved. Any copying, redistribution, or retransmission of any of the contents of this service without the expressed written consent of Arizona Daily Star or AzStarNet is prohibited.