Reuters: Mexico's Federal Police is open to an investigation into its possible use of excessive force, particularly in two incidents this year that claimed the lives of dozens of people, police chief Enrique Galindo said on Thursday.
Mexico's National Human Rights Commision (CNDH) on Wednesday said six people died unlawfully after police were excessive in their efforts to restrain a group of protesters in the violence-wracked city of Apatzingan in Michoacan state. Read more.
The MexicoBlog of the Americas Program, a fiscally sponsored program of the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), is written by Laura Carlsen. I monitor and analyze international press on Mexico, with a focus on security, immigration, human rights and social movements for peace and justice, from a feminist perspective. And sometimes I simply muse.
Showing posts with label Mexico human rights - justice. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mexico human rights - justice. Show all posts
Oct 30, 2015
Mexico Military Responds to Human Rights Scandals with Helmet Cameras
InSight Crime: Mexico's military is to introduce body cameras for soldiers as part of efforts to rebuild a human rights record tarnished by recent scandals, but experiences elsewhere suggest such measures alone will not be enough to end abuse and impunity.
Mexico's National Defense Secretary (Sedena) has announced a plan to install 2,245 video cameras on the helmets of military personnel, reported Milenio. The initiative stems from recommendations made by the National Human Rights Commission (CDNH) in response to the Tlatlaya massacre in 2014, in which 22 people were allegedly executed by military officers. Read more.
Mexico's National Defense Secretary (Sedena) has announced a plan to install 2,245 video cameras on the helmets of military personnel, reported Milenio. The initiative stems from recommendations made by the National Human Rights Commission (CDNH) in response to the Tlatlaya massacre in 2014, in which 22 people were allegedly executed by military officers. Read more.
Oct 29, 2015
Mexican police accused of shooting demonstrators point-blank in the head
World News Report: Mexican police shot unarmed protesters in the head as they were cowering on the ground, according to a hard-hitting report compiled by Human Rights Watch.
Demonstrators against the government were beaten with metal pipes, dragged to the ground and shot. A 20-year-old pregnant woman, Rosa Isela Orozco Sandoval, said she was punched, kicked and dragged across the ground. One witness told HRW that a policeman put a gun against his head, and only refrained from pulling the trigger when another policeman warned his colleague that locals were filming the confrontation.
Demonstrators against the government were beaten with metal pipes, dragged to the ground and shot. A 20-year-old pregnant woman, Rosa Isela Orozco Sandoval, said she was punched, kicked and dragged across the ground. One witness told HRW that a policeman put a gun against his head, and only refrained from pulling the trigger when another policeman warned his colleague that locals were filming the confrontation.
Oct 12, 2015
UN agency says Mexican soldiers tortured 4 crime suspects
World News Report: The United Nations Committee Against Torture has found that Mexican soldiers tortured four men they detained as crime suspects in a northern state in 2009.
A Mexican human rights group, which announced the ruling Friday, said it was the first time the U.N. committee issued a decision on an individual case in Mexico. Read more.
A Mexican human rights group, which announced the ruling Friday, said it was the first time the U.N. committee issued a decision on an individual case in Mexico. Read more.
Oct 7, 2015
Mexican Judge Orders Release of Four Soldiers Accused of Killing Civilians
Latin American Herald Tribune: A Mexican judge ordered the release of four soldiers accused of killing 22 civilians in Tlatlaya in the central Mexico state on Jun. 30, 2014, court officials told EFE on Monday.
The judge said there was enough evidence to revoke the arrest warrant against the four, issued last November, as the Federal Public Ministry, or MPF, was unable to explain the circumstances during the hearing, which led to the accusations. Read more.
The judge said there was enough evidence to revoke the arrest warrant against the four, issued last November, as the Federal Public Ministry, or MPF, was unable to explain the circumstances during the hearing, which led to the accusations. Read more.
Nov 8, 2013
Journalist: Drugs destroying Mexico
CNN
November 8th, 2013
Becky Anderson talks with Mexican investigative journalist Anabel Hernández about the country's war on drugs who also wrote an Op-ed for CNN.com. You can read it below:
Since December 2010, I have lived with death threats because I have documented and revealed corruption at the highest levels in the Mexican government. My family has been attacked, I have to live with bodyguards and some of my sources have been killed or are in jail.
But my case is just one of many. A large number of journalists and human rights activists - as well as those who denounce corruption in Mexico - receive similar threats or have been killed. And the biggest danger is not in fact the drug cartels, but rather the government and business officials that work for them and fear exposure.
My new book "Narcoland" is the result of five grueling years of research. Over this time I gradually became immersed in a shadowy world full of traps, lies, betrayals, and contradictions. Read more.
November 8th, 2013
Becky Anderson talks with Mexican investigative journalist Anabel Hernández about the country's war on drugs who also wrote an Op-ed for CNN.com. You can read it below:
Since December 2010, I have lived with death threats because I have documented and revealed corruption at the highest levels in the Mexican government. My family has been attacked, I have to live with bodyguards and some of my sources have been killed or are in jail.
But my case is just one of many. A large number of journalists and human rights activists - as well as those who denounce corruption in Mexico - receive similar threats or have been killed. And the biggest danger is not in fact the drug cartels, but rather the government and business officials that work for them and fear exposure.
My new book "Narcoland" is the result of five grueling years of research. Over this time I gradually became immersed in a shadowy world full of traps, lies, betrayals, and contradictions. Read more.
Jun 24, 2013
Mexico: Conduct Federal Investigation Into Activists’ Killings
Human Rights Watch
June 20, 2013
(Washington, D.C.) – Mexico’s federal prosecutors should conduct a thorough and impartial investigation into the killing of three political activists in Guerrero state, including examining allegations against government officials, Human Rights Watch said today. The government should offer robust protection for survivors of the attack and their families.
The victims, all members of an organization that campaigns on behalf of peasant farmers and marginalized communities, were abducted along with five fellow activists on May 30, 2013. The previous day, 11 members of the organization had filed a formal complaint with the Guerrero state prosecutor’s office, expressing the fear that the mayor and the police chief of Iguala municipality might have them killed in retaliation for their activities, according to documents obtained by Human Rights Watch. Read more.
June 20, 2013
(Washington, D.C.) – Mexico’s federal prosecutors should conduct a thorough and impartial investigation into the killing of three political activists in Guerrero state, including examining allegations against government officials, Human Rights Watch said today. The government should offer robust protection for survivors of the attack and their families.
The victims, all members of an organization that campaigns on behalf of peasant farmers and marginalized communities, were abducted along with five fellow activists on May 30, 2013. The previous day, 11 members of the organization had filed a formal complaint with the Guerrero state prosecutor’s office, expressing the fear that the mayor and the police chief of Iguala municipality might have them killed in retaliation for their activities, according to documents obtained by Human Rights Watch. Read more.
Mar 6, 2013
Mexico's disappeared
LA Times
Editorial
March 5, 2013
The full human cost of Mexico's bloody drug war during the last six years is only now becoming apparent. Nearly 70,000 people died and more than 26,000 went missing between 2006 and 2012. A scathing new report by Human Rights Watch casts substantial blame for the problem on the country's security forces, which it says have not only been implicated in many of the underlying crimes but have failed to adequately investigate claims by friends and family members of the victims. The result, the report says, is the "most severe crisis of enforced disappearances in Latin America in decades."
Human Rights Watch researchers looked into a few hundred cases and confirmed 149 examples of enforced disappearances by security forces. They described a pattern in which uniformed soldiers or police detain people without arrest orders or probable cause — at their homes, in front of family members, at checkpoints or in public settings. The arrests are almost never officially registered and the arrestees are not turned over to the prosecutor's office, as required by law. When relatives arrive to ask about the detainees, the report said, "they are told that the detentions never took place."
These are familiar allegations. But Human Rights Watch also shows how the authorities fail to follow up or investigate — declining to trace cellphones or obtain footage from security cameras or track the bank transactions of the disappeared. Read more.
Editorial
March 5, 2013
The full human cost of Mexico's bloody drug war during the last six years is only now becoming apparent. Nearly 70,000 people died and more than 26,000 went missing between 2006 and 2012. A scathing new report by Human Rights Watch casts substantial blame for the problem on the country's security forces, which it says have not only been implicated in many of the underlying crimes but have failed to adequately investigate claims by friends and family members of the victims. The result, the report says, is the "most severe crisis of enforced disappearances in Latin America in decades."
Human Rights Watch researchers looked into a few hundred cases and confirmed 149 examples of enforced disappearances by security forces. They described a pattern in which uniformed soldiers or police detain people without arrest orders or probable cause — at their homes, in front of family members, at checkpoints or in public settings. The arrests are almost never officially registered and the arrestees are not turned over to the prosecutor's office, as required by law. When relatives arrive to ask about the detainees, the report said, "they are told that the detentions never took place."
These are familiar allegations. But Human Rights Watch also shows how the authorities fail to follow up or investigate — declining to trace cellphones or obtain footage from security cameras or track the bank transactions of the disappeared. Read more.
Feb 21, 2013
Mexico's 'Crisis Of Disappearance': Families Seek Answers
NPR by Carrie Kahn
February 21, 2013
Maximina Hernandez says she begged her 23-year old son, Dionicio, to give up his job as a police officer in a suburb of Monterrey. Rival drug cartels have been battling in the northern Mexican city for years.
But he told her being a police officer was in his blood, a family tradition. He was detailed to guard the town's mayor.
In May 2007, on his way to work, two men wearing police uniforms stopped Dionicio on a busy street, pulled him from his car and drove him away. That same day, the mayor's other two bodyguards were also abducted. Witnesses say the kidnappers wore uniforms of an elite anti-drug police unit. The three men haven't been seen since. Read more.
February 21, 2013
Maximina Hernandez says she begged her 23-year old son, Dionicio, to give up his job as a police officer in a suburb of Monterrey. Rival drug cartels have been battling in the northern Mexican city for years.
But he told her being a police officer was in his blood, a family tradition. He was detailed to guard the town's mayor.
In May 2007, on his way to work, two men wearing police uniforms stopped Dionicio on a busy street, pulled him from his car and drove him away. That same day, the mayor's other two bodyguards were also abducted. Witnesses say the kidnappers wore uniforms of an elite anti-drug police unit. The three men haven't been seen since. Read more.
Mexico: Crisis of Enforced Disappearances
Human Rights Watch
February 20, 2013
(Mexico City) – Mexico’s security forces have participated in widespread enforced disappearances, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Virtually none of the victims have been found or those responsible brought to justice, exacerbating the suffering of families of the disappeared, Human Rights Watch found.
The 176-page report, “Mexico’s Disappeared: The Enduring Cost of a Crisis Ignored,”documents nearly 250 “disappearances” during the administration of former President Felipe Calderón, from December 2006 to December 2012. In 149 of those cases, Human Rights Watch found compelling evidence of enforced disappearances, involving the participation of state agents. Read more.
February 20, 2013
(Mexico City) – Mexico’s security forces have participated in widespread enforced disappearances, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Virtually none of the victims have been found or those responsible brought to justice, exacerbating the suffering of families of the disappeared, Human Rights Watch found.
The 176-page report, “Mexico’s Disappeared: The Enduring Cost of a Crisis Ignored,”documents nearly 250 “disappearances” during the administration of former President Felipe Calderón, from December 2006 to December 2012. In 149 of those cases, Human Rights Watch found compelling evidence of enforced disappearances, involving the participation of state agents. Read more.
Feb 14, 2013
Mesoamerican Migrant Movement Press Release
Mesoamerican Migrant Movement
Original Americas Program Translation
Mexico City, January 21, 2013. – Forty-four years since his assassination, we remember Martin Luther King’s dream of a day when his four children would be judged not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. Today more than 11 million undocumented migrants will have to wait for a tortuously slow legislative process to recognize their contributions, from political to fiscal, in the United States.
Barak Obama, thanks to the Latino vote, will be sworn in for the second time as President. The Latino vote was the pointer on the scale that weighed in Obama’s favor and granted him victory after a dead heat election. During his inauguration, thousands of voters will be protesting in Chicago, demanding an immediate moratorium on deportations and separation of families: While Obama orates promises of immigration reform, undocumented migrants in the United States are being harassed by a new wave of attacks, raids on workplaces, arrests and deportations carried out in the days and weeks subsequent to his reelection.
During Obama’s first administration, the numbers of deportations add up to more than 1.5 million in four years. From now until the long awaited immigration reform materializes, an estimated half a million more people will be deported unless Obama changes the current policy. It is therefore urgent to establish the moratorium on deportations and separation of families meanwhile the immigration reform law is approved and regulated for its implementation. It is difficult to understand why the President is deporting the hundreds of thousands of people he wants to legalize. The unconstitutional mass deportations have caused the painful separation of hundreds of thousands of families whose children are citizens and have lived in the United States for years.
Original Americas Program Translation
Mexico City, January 21, 2013. – Forty-four years since his assassination, we remember Martin Luther King’s dream of a day when his four children would be judged not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. Today more than 11 million undocumented migrants will have to wait for a tortuously slow legislative process to recognize their contributions, from political to fiscal, in the United States.
Barak Obama, thanks to the Latino vote, will be sworn in for the second time as President. The Latino vote was the pointer on the scale that weighed in Obama’s favor and granted him victory after a dead heat election. During his inauguration, thousands of voters will be protesting in Chicago, demanding an immediate moratorium on deportations and separation of families: While Obama orates promises of immigration reform, undocumented migrants in the United States are being harassed by a new wave of attacks, raids on workplaces, arrests and deportations carried out in the days and weeks subsequent to his reelection.
During Obama’s first administration, the numbers of deportations add up to more than 1.5 million in four years. From now until the long awaited immigration reform materializes, an estimated half a million more people will be deported unless Obama changes the current policy. It is therefore urgent to establish the moratorium on deportations and separation of families meanwhile the immigration reform law is approved and regulated for its implementation. It is difficult to understand why the President is deporting the hundreds of thousands of people he wants to legalize. The unconstitutional mass deportations have caused the painful separation of hundreds of thousands of families whose children are citizens and have lived in the United States for years.
3rd National Meeting Of Women Human Rights Defenders: Public Statement
National Network of Women Human Rights Defenders*
January 30, 2013
On the 25th and 26th of January, the National Network of Women Human Rights Defenders (WHRDs) convened a meeting of more than 60 indigenous, rural and mestiza WHRDs. Dedicated to the defense and promotion of the human rights of women, they gathered from diverse regions of the country for the Third National Meeting of Women Human Rights Defenders.
Together we recalled that to date in Mexico there have been more than 70 000 assassinated, 20 000 disappeared, more than 250 000 displaced, and that up to five women are assassinated daily. We also remembered the past election, marked by unlawfulness, a lack of legitimacy, and the repression of protesters on December 1, 2012. Far from respecting and protecting our human rights, security forces at the state and federal level continue to be involved in acts of corruption, impunity, authoritarianism, and state terrorism.
This violent reality has cost at least 25 WHRDs their lives, among them 8 journalists. Mexico’s rate of death threats to WHRDs is the second highest in the Americas, exceeded only by Colombia, according to the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders.
January 30, 2013
On the 25th and 26th of January, the National Network of Women Human Rights Defenders (WHRDs) convened a meeting of more than 60 indigenous, rural and mestiza WHRDs. Dedicated to the defense and promotion of the human rights of women, they gathered from diverse regions of the country for the Third National Meeting of Women Human Rights Defenders.
Together we recalled that to date in Mexico there have been more than 70 000 assassinated, 20 000 disappeared, more than 250 000 displaced, and that up to five women are assassinated daily. We also remembered the past election, marked by unlawfulness, a lack of legitimacy, and the repression of protesters on December 1, 2012. Far from respecting and protecting our human rights, security forces at the state and federal level continue to be involved in acts of corruption, impunity, authoritarianism, and state terrorism.
This violent reality has cost at least 25 WHRDs their lives, among them 8 journalists. Mexico’s rate of death threats to WHRDs is the second highest in the Americas, exceeded only by Colombia, according to the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders.
Jan 22, 2013
In Mexico, self-defense squads are springing up against drug-fueled violence
The Washington Post: January 21, 2013
AYUTLA, Mexico — The young man at the roadside checkpoint wept softly behind the red bandanna that masked his face. At his side was a relic revolver, and his feet were shod in the muddy, broken boots of a farmer.
Haltingly, he told how his cousin’s body was found in a mass grave with about 40 other victims of a drug gang. Apparently, the cousin had caught a ride with an off-duty soldier and when gunmen stopped the vehicle, they killed everyone on the car.
“There isn’t one of us who hasn’t felt the pain ... of seeing them take a family member and not being able to ever get them back,” said the young civilian self-defense patrol member, who identified himself as “just another representative of the people of the mountain.”
Now he has joined hundreds of other men in the southern Mexico state of Guerrero who have taken up arms to defend their villages against drug gangs, a vigilante movement born of frustration at extortion, killings and kidnappings that local police are unable, or unwilling, to stop.
Vigilantes patrol a dozen or more towns in rural Mexico, the unauthorized but often tolerated edge of a growing movement toward armed citizen self-defense squads across the country. Read more.
AYUTLA, Mexico — The young man at the roadside checkpoint wept softly behind the red bandanna that masked his face. At his side was a relic revolver, and his feet were shod in the muddy, broken boots of a farmer.
Haltingly, he told how his cousin’s body was found in a mass grave with about 40 other victims of a drug gang. Apparently, the cousin had caught a ride with an off-duty soldier and when gunmen stopped the vehicle, they killed everyone on the car.
“There isn’t one of us who hasn’t felt the pain ... of seeing them take a family member and not being able to ever get them back,” said the young civilian self-defense patrol member, who identified himself as “just another representative of the people of the mountain.”
Now he has joined hundreds of other men in the southern Mexico state of Guerrero who have taken up arms to defend their villages against drug gangs, a vigilante movement born of frustration at extortion, killings and kidnappings that local police are unable, or unwilling, to stop.
Vigilantes patrol a dozen or more towns in rural Mexico, the unauthorized but often tolerated edge of a growing movement toward armed citizen self-defense squads across the country. Read more.
Dec 1, 2012
Mexico’s crime wave has left about 25,000 missing, government documents show
Washington Post: by William Booth
November 29, 2012
MEXICO CITY — Mexico’s attorney general has compiled a list showing that more than 25,000 adults and children have gone missing in Mexico in the past six years, according to unpublished government documents.
The data sets, submitted by state prosecutors and vetted by the federal government but never released to the public, chronicle the disappearance of tens of thousands of people in the chaos and violence that have enveloped Mexico during its fight against drug mafias and crime gangs.
Families have been left wondering whether their loved ones are alive or among the more than 100,000 victims of homicides recorded during the presidency of Felipe Calderon, who leaves office Saturday. Read more.
November 29, 2012
MEXICO CITY — Mexico’s attorney general has compiled a list showing that more than 25,000 adults and children have gone missing in Mexico in the past six years, according to unpublished government documents.
The data sets, submitted by state prosecutors and vetted by the federal government but never released to the public, chronicle the disappearance of tens of thousands of people in the chaos and violence that have enveloped Mexico during its fight against drug mafias and crime gangs.
Families have been left wondering whether their loved ones are alive or among the more than 100,000 victims of homicides recorded during the presidency of Felipe Calderon, who leaves office Saturday. Read more.
Oct 29, 2012
Mexico Drug War: Missing Immigrants From Central America Sought By Caravan Of Mothers
Huff Post, By Christopher Sherman 10/23/12
GENERAL ESCOBEDO, Mexico -- Even before the tour bus comes to a stop, the women rise from their seats and wait in the aisle to exit. In their arms rest rolled-up flags of the Central American countries they come from. Large laminated photographs of missing loved ones hang by lanyards from their necks.
They descend the stairs to a gaggle of waiting press photographers. This is their moment of hope, stirring once again the possibility of putting to rest years of uncertainty and desperation.
Maybe someone has seen a missing son or father making his way to the United States in search of work. Maybe someone knows a daughter is OK.
"The goal is to come to look for them," said Virginia Olcot, 42, of Chimaltenango, Guatemala, who last heard from her husband in September 2009 when he arrived at the U.S. border in Sonora. "This is our intention: to not get tired, to persevere and get the government to help us." Read more.
GENERAL ESCOBEDO, Mexico -- Even before the tour bus comes to a stop, the women rise from their seats and wait in the aisle to exit. In their arms rest rolled-up flags of the Central American countries they come from. Large laminated photographs of missing loved ones hang by lanyards from their necks.
They descend the stairs to a gaggle of waiting press photographers. This is their moment of hope, stirring once again the possibility of putting to rest years of uncertainty and desperation.
Maybe someone has seen a missing son or father making his way to the United States in search of work. Maybe someone knows a daughter is OK.
"The goal is to come to look for them," said Virginia Olcot, 42, of Chimaltenango, Guatemala, who last heard from her husband in September 2009 when he arrived at the U.S. border in Sonora. "This is our intention: to not get tired, to persevere and get the government to help us." Read more.
Oct 17, 2012
Time to End Impunity in Mexico
Huffington Post, The Blog: October 17, 2012
Valentina Rosendo was just 17 years old when she was raped by members of the Mexican Army in February 2002 near her home in the Mexican state of Guerrero. A month later, Inés Fernández was raped by soldiers in a nearby community in the same state. Although the women reported the rapes, civilian and military authorities never carried out a full and transparent investigation of the crimes. Ten years later, Valentina and Inés are still waiting for justice.
In December 2009, Shohn Huckabee and Carlos Quijos were arrested by members of the Mexican army in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua state, near the border Mexico shares with the United States. According to Shohn Huckabee, soldiers reportedly planted drugs in their vehicle and took them to a military barracks where they were beaten, given electric shocks and subjected to mock executions in order to obtain information on their supposed links to drug gangs. But the Mexican government never held anyone accountable for the alleged mistreatment of Shohn and Carlos.
These separate incidents are illustrative of a human rights and public security crisis that continues to plague many regions of Mexico. While this situation predates President Felipe Calderón's administration, it has grown more acute on his watch. The next president, Enrique Peña Nieto, will inherit an unenviable security challenge. He has pledged to address it, but he should do so in a way consistent with rule of law and while respecting the basic human dignity of every person in Mexico. Read more.
Valentina Rosendo was just 17 years old when she was raped by members of the Mexican Army in February 2002 near her home in the Mexican state of Guerrero. A month later, Inés Fernández was raped by soldiers in a nearby community in the same state. Although the women reported the rapes, civilian and military authorities never carried out a full and transparent investigation of the crimes. Ten years later, Valentina and Inés are still waiting for justice.
In December 2009, Shohn Huckabee and Carlos Quijos were arrested by members of the Mexican army in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua state, near the border Mexico shares with the United States. According to Shohn Huckabee, soldiers reportedly planted drugs in their vehicle and took them to a military barracks where they were beaten, given electric shocks and subjected to mock executions in order to obtain information on their supposed links to drug gangs. But the Mexican government never held anyone accountable for the alleged mistreatment of Shohn and Carlos.
These separate incidents are illustrative of a human rights and public security crisis that continues to plague many regions of Mexico. While this situation predates President Felipe Calderón's administration, it has grown more acute on his watch. The next president, Enrique Peña Nieto, will inherit an unenviable security challenge. He has pledged to address it, but he should do so in a way consistent with rule of law and while respecting the basic human dignity of every person in Mexico. Read more.
Oct 16, 2012
Mothers search for missing CentAm migrants in Mexico
EFE. Oct. 14: A caravan made up of Central American women whose children went missing in Mexico while trying to reach the United States has set out to try to find out what happened to the migrants.
The caravan - made up of 10 women from Guatemala, 19 from Nicaragua, three from El Salvador and 28 from Honduras - set out Saturday on the 4,600-kilometer (2,858-mile) journey on the so-called "route of the immigrant" in southeast and central Mexico.
"They started today in Guatemala (and) in 24 days they will cover 14 states in southeastern and central Mexico, as well as 23 specific locations in that country identified on the route of the immigrant," a National Roundtable for Migration in Guatemala, or Menamig, spokeswoman told reporters Saturday. Read more.
Sep 25, 2012
Report shows most Mexican prisons controlled by inmates
Reuters: By Lizbeth Diaz. MEXICO CITY - Six out of 10 Mexican prisons are "self-governed" by prison gangs or drug cartels, according to a report issued Monday by the country's human rights commission.
Commission representative Andres Aguirre said at a news conference that Mexico's prisons also are plagued by overcrowding, a shortage of guards and corrupt employees who sometimes help with breakouts.
Aguirre said 60 percent of the country's 430 prisons or jails are controlled by criminal elements.
He added that the escape of 521 inmates over 14 incidents since 2010 - often with the help of corrupt prison officials - constitutes a grave problem for the country.
Earlier this month, more than 130 inmates escaped from a prison near the U.S. border in Piedras Negras, Coahuila, one of numerous mass breakouts tied to organized crime in the past few years. Read more.
Commission representative Andres Aguirre said at a news conference that Mexico's prisons also are plagued by overcrowding, a shortage of guards and corrupt employees who sometimes help with breakouts.
Aguirre said 60 percent of the country's 430 prisons or jails are controlled by criminal elements.
He added that the escape of 521 inmates over 14 incidents since 2010 - often with the help of corrupt prison officials - constitutes a grave problem for the country.
Earlier this month, more than 130 inmates escaped from a prison near the U.S. border in Piedras Negras, Coahuila, one of numerous mass breakouts tied to organized crime in the past few years. Read more.
Aug 21, 2012
Mexico court backs civil trials for military rights abuses
Reuters: By Gabriel Stargardter. Mexico's top court ruled on Tuesday that military officials who committed crimes against civilians should be tried in civil courts, possibly clearing the way for sterner prosecutions against military misconduct in the country's drug war.
In an 8-2 decision, the Supreme Court deemed unconstitutional a section of the military code of justice the armed forces have relied on to argue that cases should be tried in their own courts.
The justices ruled that an article of the code failed to offer victims of military human rights abuses recourse to federal justice.
However, other similar rulings will be needed to set a precedent that would change the law. Read more.
In an 8-2 decision, the Supreme Court deemed unconstitutional a section of the military code of justice the armed forces have relied on to argue that cases should be tried in their own courts.
The justices ruled that an article of the code failed to offer victims of military human rights abuses recourse to federal justice.
However, other similar rulings will be needed to set a precedent that would change the law. Read more.
Aug 17, 2012
Mexico journalists' killings solved? Critics doubt it.
LA Times: Veracruz state authorities say drug cartel members responsible for killing five news workers have been arrested or slain. An advocacy group doesn't buy it.
By Tracy Wilkinson. MEXICO CITY — With rare speed, authorities in the violence-plagued coastal state of Veracruz say they have solved the killings of five journalists and news media workers, pinning the slayings on two notorious drug cartels.
But press freedom advocates Thursday questioned what they considered a too facile resolution of one of the most alarming strings of journalism attacks in a country where such bloodshed has become all too familiar.
"The government of Veracruz is trying to shelve its worst-ever crisis of violence against the press," the advocacy group Article 19 said in a statement. It criticized Veracruz authorities for blaming all the slayings on a group of detainees who supposedly confessed but have yet to go before a court. Read more. Read more.
By Tracy Wilkinson. MEXICO CITY — With rare speed, authorities in the violence-plagued coastal state of Veracruz say they have solved the killings of five journalists and news media workers, pinning the slayings on two notorious drug cartels.
But press freedom advocates Thursday questioned what they considered a too facile resolution of one of the most alarming strings of journalism attacks in a country where such bloodshed has become all too familiar.
"The government of Veracruz is trying to shelve its worst-ever crisis of violence against the press," the advocacy group Article 19 said in a statement. It criticized Veracruz authorities for blaming all the slayings on a group of detainees who supposedly confessed but have yet to go before a court. Read more. Read more.
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