World
She awoke to a gun in her face. What happened next would change Mexican law
Tijuana, Mexico – On the evening of December 12, 2019, as Alina Narciso was falling asleep in her home in Tijuana, Mexico, she remembers hearing her boyfriend Luis Rodrigo Juarez snorting cocaine.
Hours later, she was awoken by a gun to her head. It was Juarez, asking her if she “was going to leave him again”.
“One hand was enough for him to beat me in strength, and drunk and drugged, I thought: I don’t have a chance against him,” Narciso, now 28, told Al Jazeera.
What happened next would raise questions about self-defence law in Mexico — and reshape how the criminal justice system in the state of Baja California assesses gender-based violence.
Both Narciso and Juarez were police officers: They met through work when Narciso was only 22.
But from the very beginning, Narciso said Juarez was extremely controlling: “He wanted us to be together all the time.” He also could be violent: According to Narciso, he had sexually abused her and threatened her life on multiple occasions.
Narciso had tried to leave several times, but Juarez always promised to change. He would stop drinking and seek psychological help, she remembers him telling her in a bid to make her stay.
She said they had been discussing those broken promises on December 12. To avoid an argument, Narciso decided to go to sleep. Juarez had been drinking for hours that day.
But the barrel of the gun jolted her awake. Narciso said she tried to escape, but Juarez would not let her. He holstered his weapon and began to beat her furiously, pulling her hair, smashing her face against a door frame and grabbing her by the neck.
In the struggle, Narciso said she managed to grab the firearm.
“There was no chance of me getting out of there alive,” she remembers thinking. As Juarez came towards her, she closed her eyes and fired six shots.
A lengthy sentence
Socorro Tehuaxtle, Narciso’s mother, lived next door. Hearing the gunshots and her daughter’s cries, she ran over to see what the trouble was.
But when she arrived, Juarez was already dead. Tehuaxtle told her daughter to call the police.
Some of the officers who arrived were colleagues, and at first, Narciso thought they would understand her situation. It quickly became clear, however, that they did not see her as a victim forced to defend herself. Rather, she was a suspect.
One even asked her why she had fired so many bullets, Narciso later testified. He reminded her that Juarez had been a friend.
Narciso spent the next three years in pre-trial detention. When her case finally came before the court of Judge Daniel Aguilar Patino, she tried to explain her history of abuse.
While Narciso had never filed a formal police report, she had told colleagues about Juarez’s violence and even enlisted a police unit once to protect her while she attempted to move out.
But even then, she told the judge, Juarez had managed to get past the blockade and inside the house. The police, Juarez indicated, were on his side.
“That guy down there is my friend,” she remembers him saying, referencing the police guard. “Do you think he is going to help you?”
Other officers, however, testified during the trial that Juarez had acted violently with suspects. The defence also presented evidence that Narciso had been bruised in her altercations with Juarez.
But in October 2022, the judge rejected the allegation that Narciso’s life had been in danger. In his ruling, Patino found Narciso’s reaction to Juarez’s attack “excessive”. He said the evidence her lawyer presented was not enough “to cast doubt” on her guilt.
Patino ultimately sentenced Narciso to 45 years in prison for aggravated homicide, a term much longer than some sentences in Baja California for femicide.
‘A circle of violence’
Researchers have found that powerful biases can shape the outcome of self-defence cases, particularly when women allege intimate partner violence.
Many misconceptions revolve around the belief that women can simply leave the relationship to avoid violence. Narciso herself has had to address that belief.
“You don’t realize that you are in a circle of violence,” she explained. “Your brain normalises the situation.”
Other misconceptions downplay how imminent or serious the threat of intimate partner violence can be.
One 2012 study from the United States found that, in a mock trial, 62 percent of participants said they would convict a “battered woman” in a self-defence case because they felt she should have found alternatives to homicide.
Courtroom biases against women can also be amplified when other factors are involved, Tijuana-based researcher Melina Amao told Al Jazeera.
“The criminal justice system has a racial and social class bias,” she said. “The burden in the justice system falls on the most vulnerable people, as exemplary sentences are given to people who have the least possibility of defending themselves.”
Narciso’s mother, Tehuaxtle, remembers feeling intimidated by the judge and some of the jargon he used. “I could not answer some of his questions because I didn’t understand. He repeated them using the same words. He was supposed to speak to me clearly, with an easy vocabulary.”
In Mexico, the prevalence of gender-based violence is high. A survey from the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), a government agency, found that 70 percent of all women had experienced violence, whether physical or psychological.
A campaign for freedom
Faced with the prospect of her daughter being imprisoned for decades, Tehuaxtle began to campaign for her release.
Tehuaxtle talked to the media, women’s organisations, and human rights lawyers including Meritxell Calderon, who started to volunteer on the case.
Calderon believes Judge Patino’s actions speak to a larger lack of awareness among judges and prosecutors. “Many of the people who train public servants are the same people who have not updated their knowledge on women’s human rights issues,” she said.
Ultimately, Narciso and her lawyer filed an appeal on October 25, 2022, on the basis that the court had not taken into account her history of abuse with Juarez.
Narciso’s lawyer argued that her claim of self-defence needed to be evaluated through the lens of gender-based violence.
The case gained widespread attention, thanks in no small part to Tehuaxtle’s advocacy work. The state governor of Baja California, Marina del Pilar, and congresswoman Michel Sanchez Allende both offered their support, and feminist groups helped raise awareness for Narciso’s appeal.
Six months later, in May, the appeals court ruled in Narciso’s favour. It declared that she had indeed acted in self-defence, calling her actions “necessary” for her safety.
In addition, the court sanctioned the judge who originally sentenced her to prison, Patino. He was ordered to take training courses in “gender perspective”, a term used in Mexico for the consideration and study of gender discrimination and social roles.
Pushing for systemic change
After years in detention, Narciso was finally free. But her fight did not end there.
Since her appeal, Narciso has continued to combat the legal system — to push for intimate partner violence to be considered in cases of lethal self-defence.
On August 24, a law named in her honour passed unanimously in the Baja California legislature, with 22 votes in favour and one abstention.
Sponsored by congresswoman Sanchez, the Alina Law reforms the state’s penal code, requiring judges and prosecutors to take into account gender, abuse and intimate partner violence when weighing self-defence cases.
But there is still a long way to go to combat stereotypes around intimate partner violence, according to Miguel Mora, the president of the Human Rights Commission of Baja California.
“We cannot yet speak of a process of institution building, nor the application of justice, with a true gender perspective,” Mora said.
He believes a more holistic reform is required to address bias throughout the criminal justice system: from the police on the street up to the highest judges.
As for Narciso and her family, they are still recovering from the trauma of their ordeal.
“The state caused us irreversible damage,” Tehuaxtle said. “We are still suffering the consequences.”
The Israeli military claimed responsibility for a series of airstrikes in Yemen on Thursday that hit Sana’a International Airport and other targets in the Houthi-controlled capital.
The Israel Defense Forces said the strikes targeted military infrastructure used by the Houthis to conduct acts of terrorism.
“The Houthi terrorist regime has repeatedly attacked the State of Israel and its citizens, including in UAV and surface-to-surface missile attacks on Israeli territory,” the IDF said in a statement.
“The targets that were struck by the IDF include military infrastructure used by the Houthi terrorist regime for its military activities in both the Sana’a International Airport and the Hezyaz and Ras Kanatib power stations. In addition, the IDF struck military infrastructure in the Al-Hudaydah, Salif, and Ras Kanatib ports on the western coast.”
PROJECTILE FROM YEMEN STRIKES NEAR TEL AVIV, INJURING MORE THAN A DOZEN: OFFICIALS
Black smoke rises near Sana’a International Airport in Yemen after reported Israeli airstrikes. (Reuters)
The strikes come days after Israel’s defense minister promised retaliation against Houthi leaders for missile strikes launched at Israel from Yemen.
Houthi rebels, who control most of northern Yemen, have fired upon Israel for more than a year to support Hamas terrorists at war with the Jewish State. The Houthis have attempted to enforce an embargo on Israel by launching missiles and drones at cargo vessels crossing the Red Sea – a major shipping lane for international trade.
US NAVY SHIPS REPEL ATTACK FROM HOUTHIS IN GULF OF ADEN
This photo released by the European Union’s Operation Aspides naval force shows the oil tanker Sounion burning in the Red Sea following a series of attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, on Saturday Sept. 14, 2024. (European Union’s Operation Aspides via AP)
Overall, the Houthis have launched over 200 missiles and 170 drones at Israel since Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre of 1,200 people. Since then, the Houthis have also attacked more than six dozen commercial vessels – particularly in the Bab-el-Mandeb, the southern maritime gateway to Egypt’s Suez Canal.
On Saturday, a projectile launched into Israel from Yemen struck Tel Aviv and caused mild injuries to 16 people, Israeli officials said. The incident was a rare occasion where Israeli defense systems failed to intercept an attack.
NETANYAHU WARNS HOUTHIS AMID CALLS FOR ISREAL TO WIPE OUT TERROR LEADERSHIP AS IT DID WITH NASRALLAH, SINWAR
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz looks on, amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, in Jerusalem, November 7, 2024. (REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun)
Israel retaliated by striking multiple targets in areas of Yemen under Houthi control, including power plants in Sana’a.
Israeli leaders have vowed to eliminate Houthi leadership if the missile and drone attacks do not cease.
On Monday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said, “We will strike their strategic infrastructure and decapitate their leaders. Just as we did to [former Hamas chief Ismail] Haniyeh, Sinwar and Nasrallah, in Tehran, Gaza and Lebanon – we will do in Hodeidah and Sanaa.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also urged Israelis to be “patient” and suggested that soon the military will ramp up its campaign against the Houthis.
“We will take forceful, determined and sophisticated action. Even if it takes time, the result will be the same,” he said. “Just as we have acted forcefully against the terror arms of Iran’s axis of evil, so too will we act against the Houthis.”
Fox News Digital’s Amelie Botbol contributed to this report.
United States President Joe Biden’s administration is facing criticism after a US-backed report on famine in the Gaza Strip was retracted this week, drawing accusations of political interference and pro-Israel bias.
The report by the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET), which provides information about global food insecurity, had warned that a “famine scenario” was unfolding in northern Gaza during Israel’s war on the territory.
A note on the FEWS NET website, viewed by Al Jazeera on Thursday, said the group’s “December 23 Alert is under further review and is expected to be re-released with updated data and analysis in January”.
The Associated Press news agency, quoting unnamed American officials, said the US asked for the report to be retracted. FEWS NET is funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID).
USAID did not immediately respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment on Thursday afternoon.
Israel’s war in Gaza has killed more than 45,300 Palestinians since early October 2023 and plunged the coastal enclave into a dire humanitarian crisis as access to food, water, medicine and other supplies is severely curtailed.
An Israeli military offensive in the northern part of the territory has drawn particular concern in recent months with experts warning in November of a “strong likelihood” that famine was imminent in the area.
“Starvation, malnutrition, and excess mortality due to malnutrition and disease, are rapidly increasing” in northern Gaza, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification said in an alert on November 8.
“Famine thresholds may have already been crossed or else will be in the near future,” it said.
The report
The FEWS NET report dated December 23 noted that Israel has maintained a “near-total blockade of humanitarian and commercial food supplies to besieged areas” of northern Gaza for nearly 80 days.
That includes the Jabalia, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoon areas, where rights groups have estimated thousands of Palestinians are trapped.
“Based on the collapse of the food system and worsening access to water, sanitation, and health services in these areas … it is highly likely that the food consumption and acute malnutrition thresholds for Famine (IPC Phase 5) have now been surpassed in North Gaza Governorate,” the FEWS NET report had said.
The network added that without a change to Israeli policy on food supplies entering the area, it expected that two to 15 people would die per day from January to March at least, which would surpass the “famine threshold”.
The report had spurred public criticism from the US ambassador to Israel, Jack Lew, who in a statement on Tuesday said FEWS NET had relied on “outdated and inaccurate” data.
Lew disputed the number of civilians believed to be living in northern Gaza, saying the civilian population was “in the range of 7,000-15,000, not 65,000-75,000 which is the basis of this report”.
“At a time when inaccurate information is causing confusion and accusations, it is irresponsible to issue a report like this,” he said.
— Ambassador Jack Lew (@USAmbIsrael) December 24, 2024
‘Bullying’
But Palestinian rights advocates condemned the ambassador’s remarks. Some accused Lew of appearing to welcome the forced displacement of Palestinians in Gaza.
“To reject a report on starvation in northern Gaza by appearing to boast about the fact that it has been successfully ethnically cleansed of its native population is just the latest example of Biden administration officials supporting, enabling and excusing Israel’s clear and open campaign of genocide in Gaza,” the Council on American-Islamic Relations said in a statement.
The group urged FEWS NET “not to submit to the bullying of genocide supporters”.
Huwaida Arraf, a prominent Palestinian American human rights lawyer, also criticised Lew for “relying on Israeli sources instead of your own experts”.
“Do you work for Israel or the American people, the overwhelming majority of whom disapprove of US support for this genocide?” she wrote on X.
Polls over the past year have shown a high percentage of Americans are opposed to Israel’s offensive in Gaza and want an end to the war.
A March survey by Gallup found that 55 percent of people in the US disapproved of Israel’s actions in Gaza while a more recent poll by the Pew Research Center, released in October, suggested about three in 10 Americans believed Israel’s military offensive is “going too far”.
While the Biden administration has said it is pushing for a ceasefire in Gaza, it has rebuffed calls to condition US assistance to Israel as a way to bring the war to an end.
Washington gives its ally at least $3.8bn in military assistance annually, and researchers at Brown University recently estimated that the Biden administration provided an additional $17.9bn to Israel since the start of the Gaza war.
The US is required under its own laws to suspend military assistance to a country if that country restricts the delivery of American-backed humanitarian aid, but Biden’s administration has so far refused to apply that rule to Israel.
“We, at this time, have not made an assessment that the Israelis are in violation of US law,” Department of State spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters in November despite the reports of “imminent” famine in northern Gaza.
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