Francisco Garduño skips hearing over migrant station fire as groups accuse him of evading accountability

Francisco Garduño did not appear at the hearing that could have determined his legal status over the fire that killed 40 men at a migrant detention station in Ciudad Juárez on March 27, 2023. Twenty-seven other men suffered permanent injuries, while 15 women survived.

Judge Víctor Manlio Hernández Calderón postponed the hearing without announcing a new date and without penalizing the former commissioner for his absence. Organizations supporting survivors and relatives of those killed denounced the decision.

The Institute for Women in Migration, the Alaíde Foppa Legal Clinic for Refugees at Universidad Iberoamericana, the Foundation for Justice and Integral Human Rights in Action, and other groups said Garduño had requested permission to attend remotely just hours before the hearing. They described the request as a “visible act of indifference toward the proceedings” and another setback for survivors and bereaved families.

After 18 months, the judge was due to assess whether Garduño had met the conditions imposed for a conditional suspension of his proceedings on a charge related to the unlawful exercise of public service. The organizations said the arrangement could allow him to avoid criminal responsibility for what they called an avoidable tragedy.

The groups represent 10 survivors and 10 families of people who died. During preparations for remote participation, a representative of the family of a Guatemalan man who died in the fire withdrew legal representation from Mexico’s Executive Commission for Victim Assistance. The family said the commission had failed to provide meaningful support or protect its rights to information and justice. The family instead transferred its representation to organizations assisting other survivors and families. The groups said Garduño’s absence was not a scheduling problem, but a sign of contempt for a judicial process he had requested and disrespect toward the victims and their countries of origin.

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visible act of indifference toward the proceedings