On Monday the Federal Supreme Court of Justice (SCJN) announced an extraordinary gift for the inhabitants of the capital city: it determined part of Article 287 of the Mexico City Penal Code to be unconstitutional. The section of the article is an atrocity sponsored by legislative, judicial and administrative authorities in Mexico City and deals with the validity of a disgraceful concept called “Ultrajes a la autoridad” (aggressions toward authority), which aims deny citizens one of the few loopholes against the daily abuses of authorities, mainly the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the police.
For example, if you were a witness to an abuse and announced who did it, recorded it or registered it in some way to publicly denounce it, you would surely be accused of “ultraje,” and would experience terrible consequences to your integrity. There are still people imprisoned today because of this. Needless to say this primitive regulation gives rise to the enormous amount of impunity in Mexico City.
The convenient silence from all public figures in Mexico City cannot be avoided. They didn’t care about remaining silent in front of this medieval scenario. On the contrary, they allowed official outrages to be justified. They forgot about the campaign messages that said it was “a city for all” and about their “progressive” initiatives. Practically no other important capital in the country has a similar disposition in its legislation. They adopted impunity.
Fortunately, the court showed up and instilled order. Now, we are recuperating our fundamental space after the denouncement. Those in uniform need to follow the rules. Tierra Blanca and so many other dangerous examples occurred precisely because of the lack of rules. Now, we should spread the word about this great news. We should denounce Mexico City authorities, as “ultraje” is no longer constitutional. This right was recuperated thanks to the SCJN.
