[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 466 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 466

Conveying the sympathy of the House of Representatives to the families 
  of the young women murdered in the State of Chihuahua, Mexico, and 
 encouraging increased United States involvement in bringing an end to 
                             these crimes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 21, 2003

  Ms. Solis (for herself, Mr. Reyes, Mr. Ramstad, Ms. Slaughter, Mrs. 
 Capito, and Mr. Rodriguez) submitted the following resolution; which 
        was referred to the Committee on International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Conveying the sympathy of the House of Representatives to the families 
  of the young women murdered in the State of Chihuahua, Mexico, and 
 encouraging increased United States involvement in bringing an end to 
                             these crimes.

Whereas the Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez has been plagued with the 
        abduction, sexual assault, and brutal murders of more than 370 young 
        women since 1993;
Whereas these abductions and murders have begun to spread south to the city of 
        Chihuahua;
Whereas more than 90 of these murders show signs of being connected to one or 
        more serial killers;
Whereas some of the victims are as young as 13 years old, and many were abducted 
        in broad daylight in well-populated areas;
Whereas these murders have brought pain as the families and friends of the 
        victims on both sides of the border struggle to cope with the loss of 
        their loved ones;
Whereas many of the victims have yet to be positively identified;
Whereas to date the perpetrators of most of these heinous acts remain unknown;
Whereas the Mexican Federal Government has taken steps to prevent these 
        abductions and murders, including setting up a commission to coordinate 
        Federal and State efforts in Mexico, establishing a 40-point plan, and 
        appointing a special commissioner;
Whereas in 2003 the Federal Bureau of Investigation's El Paso Field Office and 
        the El Paso Police Department began providing Mexican authorities with 
        training in investigation techniques and methods;
Whereas the Government of the State of Chihuahua has jurisdiction over these 
        crimes;
Whereas Mexico is a party to the following international treaties that relate to 
        abductions and murders: the Charter of the Organization of American 
        States, the American Convention on Human Rights, the Universal 
        Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and 
        Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and 
        Cultural Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of 
        Discrimination Against Women, the United Nations Declaration on Violence 
        Against Women, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention 
        of Belem do Para, the Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish 
        Torture, the Inter-American Convention on Forced Disappearance, and the 
        United Nations Declaration on the Protection of All Persons From 
        Enforced Disappearance; and
Whereas impunity for these crimes is a threat to Mexico's ability to consolidate 
        its growing democracy: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) condemns the abductions and murders of young women in 
        Ciudad Juarez and the city of Chihuahua in the State of 
        Chihuahua, Mexico, since 1993;
            (2) expresses its sincerest condolences and deepest 
        sympathy to the families of the young women killed in the State 
        of Chihuahua, Mexico, since 1993, many of whom appear to be 
        victims of one or more serial murderers;
            (3) recognizes the courageous struggle of the victims' 
        families in seeking justice for the victims;
            (4) urges the President and Secretary of State to express 
        concern over these abductions and murders to the Government of 
        Mexico and to request that the investigative and preventative 
        efforts of the Mexican Government become part of the bilateral 
        agenda between the Governments of Mexico and the United States;
            (5) urges the President and Secretary of State to express 
        support for the efforts of the victims' families to seek 
        justice for the victims, to express concern relating to the 
        continued harassment of these families and the human rights 
        defenders with which they work, and to express concern with 
        respect to impediments in the ability of the families to 
        receive prompt and accurate information in their cases;
            (6) supports multilateral efforts to create a DNA database 
        that would allow families to positively identify the remains of 
        the victims and encourages the Secretary of State to facilitate 
        United States participation in such a DNA database;
            (7) encourages the Secretary of State to include in the 
        Department of State's annual Country Report on Human Rights all 
        instances of improper investigatory methods, threats against 
        human rights activists, and the use of torture with respect to 
        cases involving the murder and abduction of young women in the 
        State of Chihuahua;
            (8) recommends that the United States Ambassador to Mexico 
        visit Ciudad Juarez and the city of Chihuahua to meet with the 
        families of the victims, women's rights organizations, and 
        Mexican Federal and State officials responsible for 
        investigating these crimes and preventing future such crimes;
            (9) condemns the use of torture as a means of investigation 
        into these crimes;
            (10) encourages the Secretary of State to urge the 
        Government of Mexico to ensure fair and proper judicial 
        proceedings for the individuals accused of these abductions and 
        murders and to impose appropriate punishment for those 
        individuals subsequently determined to be guilty of such 
        crimes;
            (11) condemns all senseless acts of violence in all parts 
        of the world and violence against women in particular; and
            (12) expresses the solidarity of the people of the United 
        States with the people of Mexico in the face of these tragic 
        and senseless acts.
                                 <all>