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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | April 2005 
Mayor Says He'll Petition Rights Group
 Wire services
| | Andrés Manuel López Obrador says he shouldn't be barred from the 2006 presidential race unless he is convicted. |
Mexico City Mayor Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who was stripped of his immunity from prosecution last week, said Sunday he would take his case to the Inter-American Human Rights Commission.
López Obrador said he wants to avoid losing his political rights if he is prosecuted, which could prevent him from running for president next year.
"The Inter-American Human Rights Commission, of which Mexico is a signatory, has established that political rights are lost only if there is a conviction," the mayor said.
"Therefore, we are going to appeal to this body and see what happens," López Obrador said.
The head of the congressional panel that recommended stripping the mayor of his immunity, Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) Congressman Horacio Duarte backed the mayor's efforts. Duarte was the lone member of the panel to vote against the measure, known as the desafuero.
Duarte said that if López Obrador, also a PRD member, were to be prosecuted, he would push for a hearing to prevent the suspension of his political rights and, if necessary, take the case to the rights commission.
He said Mexico and El Salvador were the only countries in the Americas whose laws called for the suspension of political rights once an indictment was issued. In all the other countries, Duarte said, individuals can only be stripped of their political rights if they are convicted of a crime.
Under Mexican law, López Obrador will not lose his political rights if an arrest warrant is issued for him, only if he is indicted. However, he is unable to run while there is a case against him.
If he is found innocent by Jan. 15 of next year, he will be able to run. If a judge rules he is guilty, or if the case is ongoing at that point, he will be barred from the race.
Legislators voted 360-127 last Thursday that López Obrador should face the federal charges related to allegations he ignored a court order to halt construction of a hospital access road on disputed land.
The vote removes him from the post of mayor, though it is unclear as to when that suspension takes effect. The desafuero has left the mayor exposed to possible arrest in coming days.
The mayor, Mexico's most popular politician, has vowed to continue his quest for the presidency from jail, if necessary. He contends that the legal case against him is politically motivated.
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