Peter Gabriel asks for political will to end impunity over Ciudad Juarez’s dead women

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Peter Gabriel, the musician and activist, implored Mexican President Felipe Calderon to show ‘real political will, muscle and budget’ in investigating the hundreds of unsolved killings of young women in the border town of Ciudad Juarez.

Speaking Friday to a packed press conference in Mexico City, and flanked by Mexican film star Diego Luna and musician Saul Hernandez from the band Jaguares, Gabriel said that he asks that no more young women suffer the same fate as more than the 300 girls and young women who have been killed in Ciuadad Juarez since 1993.

He also asked that ‘all those families who are still suffering an enormous pain have the chance to find out the truth of what happened to their kids, to their family members, and to get some kind of justice and reparation.’

Toward the end of the press conference, Gabriel was asked what he thought aboutthe current levels of drug-related violence in Mexico and whether Calderon’s military strategy would be a success. The drug war in Mexico has killed more than 7,000 people since the beginning of 2008.

Gabriel answered that a new, global approach was needed to fight the illegal drug trade, and that, in his opinion, legalization of drugs is the solution.

‘I would rather the doctors were administering the drugs than the drug traffickers,’ said the musician.

Peter Gabriel is a prominent human rights activist, and in 1992 founded the nonprofit group Witness, which uses video and online technologies to bring human rights violations to light.

A press release from the federal government about a meeting between Calderon and Gabriel reported that ‘President Calderon pledged to combat any abuse of authority and to promote the repairs of damage to victims. At the same time, he confirmed his government’s will to combat impunity. He said that federal forces are collaborating with the local authorities to solve the cases of feminicides.’

See the video for footage from the press conference.

-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City