The family of Daniel, a seven-year-old boy who was discriminated against when he was expelled from a swimming class he regularly attended because he has Down syndrome, condemned the appointment of Fátima Lorena Baños Pérez as head of the Institute of Professionalization and Legal Research of the Judicial Branch of the State of Hidalgo. Baños was the official in charge of the agency that violated the child’s rights, a case that reached the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN).
Fátima Baños was the director of the Hidalgo Institute of Sports (Inhide) when Daniel was not allowed to continue in a swimming group because “disabled people have to be with disabled people”—as the family reported they were told when the boy was separated from his classmates.
Due to the legal process initiated by the parents, three years later – in 2021 – they were granted an injunction that compelled the Human Rights Commission of the State of Hidalgo (CDHEH) to issue a ruling. Although this ruling was negative, supposedly because it found no elements that violated the child’s dignity, the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) overturned this decision and issued a recommendation to then-Governor Omar Fayad Meneses. This recommendation set a precedent for children with disabilities by acknowledging harm caused by public institutions and officials.
Although Baños – daughter of Eduardo Javier Baños Gómez, who headed the Tourism Secretariat in Fayad’s administration – was formally charged along with other state officials for discrimination, she obtained an alternative resolution. However, Daniel’s family alleges that she failed to acknowledge the harm done and issue a public apology. The apology she did issue was delivered in a private hearing and, according to the parents, without fully understanding the extent of the offense against Daniel.
“As the father of my youngest son with Down syndrome, I maintain that human dignity is inviolable and should not be subject to political negotiations. The appointment of a person with a proven history of discrimination against a minor with a disability is not only an administrative offense, it is an ethical contradiction that invalidates the moral authority of the agency responsible for training those who administer justice in our state,” Neptalí Reyes Bolaños, the father of the child discriminated against at the Inhide (Institute for the Protection of Children and Adolescents), told Proceso.
The events date back to 2018, when Daniel was enrolled in the class because his parents wanted the child to develop his abilities through interaction with other children. The family says they saw that the child, who has an intellectual disability due to trisomy 21, was progressing in his social and psychomotor development, until he was separated from the others.
For Neftalí Reyes, the new judicial official’s career “is linked to events that have tarnished Hidalgo’s human rights record,” and he cited Recommendation 81/2020 from the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH), which, in one of its sections, requires that Fátima Baños’s employment and professional file include a record of the human rights violations she committed.
“Ignoring this history in her hiring violates the principle of transparency and due diligence for public servants,” he asserted.
He also mentioned that in the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) ruling (amparo 162/2021), the country’s highest court determined that under Baños Pérez’s administration, “reasonable adjustments” for inclusive sports were omitted, “violating the right to inclusion.”
Regarding criminal liability, Daniel’s father stated that case 225/2020 is the first instance of a public official being prosecuted for the crime of discrimination, another precedent in the record of the new Judicial Branch employee.
“The Institute of Professional Development should be the guide for ethics and the updating of human rights. It is alarming that the person selected to dictate the pedagogical guidelines on vulnerable groups is precisely the one who generated national jurisprudence for failing to protect them,” the father of the discriminated minor criticized, while also calling on civil society organizations and society in general to question the suitability of this appointment.
“A position that demands the utmost integrity cannot be held by someone with a proven history of discrimination and human rights violations against a minor with a disability,” he insisted.
The former head of Inhide and now in charge of the Institute of Professionalization and Legal Research of the Judicial Branch of Hidalgo was also required to complete training in human rights and non-discrimination.
Source: proceso
