No justice for victims of racism in Puerto Rico

A family that has been racially harassed in the town of Canóvanas is left unprotected by the Justice system once again, denounces Colectivo Ilé, Étnica and Amnesty International

Chanelly Cortés and Luis Ramírez Walker are victims of racism (Photo provided)

Various civic organizations once again denounced the systemic racism that prevails in Puerto Rico and that is evidenced in the fact that the victims do not get justice in their claims before the courts, that rule in favor of the harassers, all white people.

On Friday, August 18, Judge Joaquín Peña Ríos of the Carolina Court determined that Luis Espinet, a dentist who threatened to kill the young mother Chanelly Cortés with a firearm, is not guilty of such act.

Carmen García in court hidding her feace (left) and her son, dentist Luis Espinet, harrasing the Ramírez family. (Photos provided)

Luis Espinet is the son and accomplice of Carmen García, who has racially harassed Luis Ramírez Walker, his wife Chanelly Cortés, and their family for almost four years in the Haciendas de Canóvanas sector, on the northern coast of the island.  The harassment has never stopped.

García faces several lawsuits for playing loud music in the direction of the Ramírez Cortés family's house for entire days and nights. In addition, he faces cases for placing drawings of black dolls with phrases such as "ugly", "monkey" and epithets towards his neighbors for being Black. Garcia's lawyer, former prosecutor Michael Corona, has said on television that the black dolls his client places constitute her "freedom of expression."

Some of the racially motivated insults towards the Ramirez family (Photo Provided)

Civic organizations such as Amnesty International, Ilé Collective, and Étnica magazine, among many others, issued a joint statement denouncing the injustice and claiming that Judge Peña Ríos did not exercise his ministerial duty to discern and deliver justice. The judge decided contrary to what the people who were at the trial witnessed.

“We denounce the verdict of Judge Joaquín Peña Ríos as biased in favor of Dr. Luis Espinet. His decision endangers Chanelly Cortés, her family, and the entire Haciendas de Canóvanas community. The pattern of harassment to which the Ramírez-Cortés family has been subjected by their neighbors, Carmen García and her son, Luis Espinet, was not considered,” said María Reinat of the Ilé Collective, Liza Gallardo of Amnesty International and Gloriann Sacha Anotnetty of Ethnic.

“Luis Espinet and his family are used to impunity and, once again, the justice system became a participant in the pattern of abuse and racist crime and gender violence. We are concerned about the safety of Luis and Chanelly, their daughters, and the community. After Judge Peña Ríos' decision, we hold the justice system responsible for any harm that this family or any other member of the community may suffer, who have been raising the alarm about the criminal and racist behavior of their neighbors for almost four years," they added in the statement.

In his verdict, Judge Peña Ríos stated: “What happened there? Neither the prosecution, the defense nor this court know it”, taking away the credibility of the claims of the injured family.

The activists alleged that the judge gave the defense expert credibility in terms of a video used to claim that the events never occurred.

Chanelly Cortés and Luis Ramírez Walker.

The analysis of such an expert was countered by the analysis of an expert from the Institute of Forensic Sciences, with formal studies and proven credentials in the handling of these types of videos. He questioned that the video presented in court was not properly analyzed. In addition, on several occasions, the Forensic Sciences expert said that the video provided to him was provided by the defense, and thus, he does not know if it was manipulated or not.

According to the activists, the place where the events occurred could not have been captured by any of the cameras installed in Carmen García's house. The judge expressed that he did not make his decision based on the video, where Luis Espinet does not appear; however, in his final expressions, he gave great weight to the video as the basis for his decision. Undoubtedly, the word of a male dentist was given more weight than the denunciation of a woman threatened with death.