Latin American Herald Tribune: The June 2009 fire at a daycare facility in the northern Mexican city of Hermosillo that left 49 children dead might have been deliberately set, Reporte Indigo newspaper said Monday, citing documents from the investigation.
The federal Attorney General’s Office has had in its hands for several months the statements of three people who implicate the senior aide to the then-governor of Sonora state, Eduardo Bours, the daily said. 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 rule of law - justice system. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rule of law - justice system. Show all posts
Jan 24, 2013
Mexican Court Frees Woman Imprisoned in Kidnapping
The NY Times
By Elisabeth Malkin
Published: January 23, 2013
MEXICO CITY — A Supreme Court panel in Mexico voted Wednesday to free a French woman serving a 60-year sentence for kidnapping, ending a case that has become emblematic of problems in the country’s opaque justice system and that has strained relations with France.
In voting 3-2 to free the woman, Florence Cassez, 38, the magistrates did not address whether she was guilty or innocent. What was clear, they said, was that her rights had been violated by a televised broadcast of what appeared to be her arrest and the liberation of three kidnapping victims at a ranch outside Mexico City in December 2005.
Authorities later acknowledged that the raid was staged, and that Ms. Cassez and her boyfriend at the time, Israel Vallarta, had been arrested the day before on a highway. They were held while the police set up the supposed raid, which was broadcast on national television. Read more.
Nov 23, 2012
Mapping the Unidentified Victims of Mexico's Drug War
InSight Crime, Written by Geoffrey Ramsey Sunday, 18 November 2012
An investigative report by Milenio suggests that of the 60,000 people killed in the last six years in Mexico's fight against organized crime, nearly half have not been identified by the government. It also finds evidence that state officials may be tampering with the public record of these deaths.
The months-long investigation published in October found that at least 24,102 of the 60,000 Mexicans that have died in circumstances related to the fight against organized crime since 2006, have yet to be identified, and are classified by officials as "NN," ("ningun nombre," or no name). Below is a map compiled by the paper of the states with the highest reported concentrations of these unidentified victims.
Even more alarming, this is a conservative estimate. State officials were extremely uncooperative with the investigation. The state of Tamaulipas, for example, simply refused to release any data on the number of NNs to the newspaper, saying that it was a federal matter and not the state's responsibility.
The government of Veracruz also put up a fight against releasing the data to Milenio, arguing that to do so would put its officials "at risk" and potentially violate the privacy of the victims. While a freedom of information request filed by the paper was approved in Mexican courts, the state has yet to provide a comprehensive list of cases of unidentified murder victims. The local governments 30 of 212 municipalities in Veracruz did provide information to Milenio, however; according to this data, it was the state with the most unidentified victims in the country, with 5,245. Read more.
An investigative report by Milenio suggests that of the 60,000 people killed in the last six years in Mexico's fight against organized crime, nearly half have not been identified by the government. It also finds evidence that state officials may be tampering with the public record of these deaths.
The months-long investigation published in October found that at least 24,102 of the 60,000 Mexicans that have died in circumstances related to the fight against organized crime since 2006, have yet to be identified, and are classified by officials as "NN," ("ningun nombre," or no name). Below is a map compiled by the paper of the states with the highest reported concentrations of these unidentified victims.
Even more alarming, this is a conservative estimate. State officials were extremely uncooperative with the investigation. The state of Tamaulipas, for example, simply refused to release any data on the number of NNs to the newspaper, saying that it was a federal matter and not the state's responsibility.
The government of Veracruz also put up a fight against releasing the data to Milenio, arguing that to do so would put its officials "at risk" and potentially violate the privacy of the victims. While a freedom of information request filed by the paper was approved in Mexican courts, the state has yet to provide a comprehensive list of cases of unidentified murder victims. The local governments 30 of 212 municipalities in Veracruz did provide information to Milenio, however; according to this data, it was the state with the most unidentified victims in the country, with 5,245. Read more.
Nov 15, 2012
End police abuse in Juarez
El Diario de Juarez November 11, 2012
Translated by Borderland Beat
[Translator's note: There have been numerous news reports of police abuse in Juarez this past year, to the point that Police Chief Leyzaola recently pulled some surprise inspections in several police districts and ordered the release of dozens of detainees who had been arrested because of their physical appearance or because they did not have official identification on them when stopped by a cop. Although the number of homicides has declined measurably in Juarez, extortion, robbery and kidnapping appear to have increased. A big problem is that the police agencies have not earned the public's trust. --un vato] .
Trust in police agencies, an essential element if one wants to talk about consolidating advances in the area of public safety, will never be possible so long as its agents -- especially municipal police in their current phase-- abuse the citizen they were supposed to protect and become the criminals they are supposed to fight.
Any statistical gain from a decrease in criminal matters will be of little use if in the collective imagination an intervention by police generates fear instead of security.
It's no longer a matter of isolated cases. The complaints, the stories that have developed with police officers as antagonists of law-abiding citizens are a constant that does not allow any minimizing or dissimulation. Read more.
Translated by Borderland Beat
[Translator's note: There have been numerous news reports of police abuse in Juarez this past year, to the point that Police Chief Leyzaola recently pulled some surprise inspections in several police districts and ordered the release of dozens of detainees who had been arrested because of their physical appearance or because they did not have official identification on them when stopped by a cop. Although the number of homicides has declined measurably in Juarez, extortion, robbery and kidnapping appear to have increased. A big problem is that the police agencies have not earned the public's trust. --un vato] .
Trust in police agencies, an essential element if one wants to talk about consolidating advances in the area of public safety, will never be possible so long as its agents -- especially municipal police in their current phase-- abuse the citizen they were supposed to protect and become the criminals they are supposed to fight.
Any statistical gain from a decrease in criminal matters will be of little use if in the collective imagination an intervention by police generates fear instead of security.
It's no longer a matter of isolated cases. The complaints, the stories that have developed with police officers as antagonists of law-abiding citizens are a constant that does not allow any minimizing or dissimulation. Read more.
Oct 9, 2012
Imprisoned without trial; guilty until you can prove your innocence
Borderland Beat: October 7, 2012
They accuse them without proof, try them without a judge and convict almost all of them.
After court proceedings that lasted two years, Julio Vasquez Leon obtained a verdict of "not guilty." The 4th Unitary Tribunal of the 2nd Circuit in the State of Mexico, through Ruling 297-07, gave him absolute freedom because it did not find evidence of guilt for organized crime and drug possession with intent to sell, the offenses he was accused of. The sentence came too late, since he had already endured two years of incarceration, although he was innocent.
They accuse them without proof, try them without a judge and convict almost all of them.
After court proceedings that lasted two years, Julio Vasquez Leon obtained a verdict of "not guilty." The 4th Unitary Tribunal of the 2nd Circuit in the State of Mexico, through Ruling 297-07, gave him absolute freedom because it did not find evidence of guilt for organized crime and drug possession with intent to sell, the offenses he was accused of. The sentence came too late, since he had already endured two years of incarceration, although he was innocent.
Contrary to the principle that "a person is innocent until there is proof to the contrary," Julio entered the Altiplano maximum security prison on October 5, 2007. From that date, he had lived in a bureaucratic tangle, with amplified statements from police agents and factual witnesses, the testimonies of relatives and friends, physical and psychological examinations, ballistics and laboratory tests, and hundreds of court documents that swelled his court files.
Julio was arrested and accused by four Federal Preventive Police (PFP; Policia Federal Preventiva) agents, who, in their expanded statements, contradicted themselves in their narratives about securing the drugs, and who also manipulated the original arrest report, according to File No. 57/2007, filed in the Third District Court on matters involving federal criminal proceedings in the State of Mexico, of which Rio Doce has a copy. Read more.
Sep 20, 2012
U.S. Shifts Mexico Drug Fight
On Tuesday, the U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with the Mexican Chancellor Patricia Espinosa in the fourth meeting of the High-Level Consultative Group on the Merida Initiative. The meeting was used to endorse the relationship between the two countries, and recommend the new Mexican presidency to continue the strategy against transnational organized crime. This article below, published before their meeting, highlights changes in this U.S.-Mexico strategy over time, however, toward strengthening institutions of justice.
Wall Street Journal. Sept. 17, 2012. By Nicholas Casey. MEXICO CITY—Secretary of State Hillary Clinton meets her Mexican counterparts at a security summit in Washington Tuesday to discuss the next phase in the drug war: how to train the judges and prosecutors that will be trying suspected drug lords.
The Merida Initiative, the U.S.'s $1.9 billion assistance program to Mexico, began mostly as a means to buy military hardware like Black Hawk helicopters for Mexico. But over the past two years, it has entered a new phase, in which purchases for the Mexican military are taking a back seat to measures to mend the branches of Mexico's civilian government.
The former director of Colorado's penitentiary system has trained more than 5,000 Mexican prison officials in recent years. Mexican jurists are running mock trials with visiting American judges to prepare for a transition to oral hearings that will replace Mexico's enigmatic closed-door meetings where sentences are handed down.
"Different things have come to the fore at different times, but strengthening the rule of law in Mexico is the area that's crucial right now," says Roberta Jacobson, the Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs.
Officials in both countries increasingly believe the root of Mexico's problem lies in creating an honest police force, professional judges and a prison system comparable with that in the U.S. Read more.
Wall Street Journal. Sept. 17, 2012. By Nicholas Casey. MEXICO CITY—Secretary of State Hillary Clinton meets her Mexican counterparts at a security summit in Washington Tuesday to discuss the next phase in the drug war: how to train the judges and prosecutors that will be trying suspected drug lords.
The Merida Initiative, the U.S.'s $1.9 billion assistance program to Mexico, began mostly as a means to buy military hardware like Black Hawk helicopters for Mexico. But over the past two years, it has entered a new phase, in which purchases for the Mexican military are taking a back seat to measures to mend the branches of Mexico's civilian government.
The former director of Colorado's penitentiary system has trained more than 5,000 Mexican prison officials in recent years. Mexican jurists are running mock trials with visiting American judges to prepare for a transition to oral hearings that will replace Mexico's enigmatic closed-door meetings where sentences are handed down.
"Different things have come to the fore at different times, but strengthening the rule of law in Mexico is the area that's crucial right now," says Roberta Jacobson, the Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs.
Officials in both countries increasingly believe the root of Mexico's problem lies in creating an honest police force, professional judges and a prison system comparable with that in the U.S. Read more.
Mexico detains 16 guards in border prison break
AP: PIEDRAS NEGRAS, Mexico (AP) — A judge ordered the detention Wednesday of 16 officials and guards at a prison near the U.S. border where the brutal Zetas drug cartel orchestrated a mass escape of 131 inmates.
The judge ruled that the prison director, two top aides and 13 other prison employees be held for 40 days under a form of house arrest pending possible charges. The judge said there was credible evidence prison employees aided the escape.
Jorge Luis Moran, public safety secretary for the northern border state of Coahuila, told the Milenio television news channel that authorities had determined that not all the escapees got away through the tunnel. Some left through the main door, he said.
Authorities on Wednesday captured one of the inmates who fled, identified as Pablo Sanchez Campos, who was in prison on an auto-theft charge. Investigators were questioning him about how one-fifth of the prison population was able to escape.
Two escapees were detained Tuesday following a shootout with police.
The federal police, army and navy were mounting a wide search in the northern Mexico region for the missing inmates.
The Associated Press
The judge ruled that the prison director, two top aides and 13 other prison employees be held for 40 days under a form of house arrest pending possible charges. The judge said there was credible evidence prison employees aided the escape.
Jorge Luis Moran, public safety secretary for the northern border state of Coahuila, told the Milenio television news channel that authorities had determined that not all the escapees got away through the tunnel. Some left through the main door, he said.
Authorities on Wednesday captured one of the inmates who fled, identified as Pablo Sanchez Campos, who was in prison on an auto-theft charge. Investigators were questioning him about how one-fifth of the prison population was able to escape.
Two escapees were detained Tuesday following a shootout with police.
The federal police, army and navy were mounting a wide search in the northern Mexico region for the missing inmates.
The Associated Press
Sep 19, 2012
Mexico to Purge State, Local Police of 65,000 Officers
InSight Crime: by Edward Fox, Tuesday, 18 September 2012
Mexico's government announced it will remove some 65,000 police officers from state and municipal ranks, a move which might boost the ranks of criminal groups seeking new recruits.
Interior Secretary Alejandro Poire stated during a visit to Washington D.C. that of the 180,000 state and municipal police who have had background checks, 65,000 (36 percent) were found to be unfit to serve, reported Informador.
There are currently a total of 430,000 state and municipal officers serving throughout Mexico. Poire added that the aim is to have carried out checks on every one by some point next year.
The reasons for the officers' pending dismissals were not given, nor were details on where they are currently based.
Though the announcement of a mass purge of state and municipal police is nothing new in Mexico, this latest round far exceeds the numbers and scale of similar actions taken in the past year. Much of them have been carried out at the local level, with Veracruz alone for example, seeing two rounds of dismissals last year, one of 980 officers and another of 800.
State and municipal officers are often regarded as the most vulnerable link in Mexico's fight against organized crime. Officers among these ranks are poorly paid, more so than their federal counterparts, thus increasing the chance that they will collude with criminal gangs as a way of supplementing their incomes.
Purging the forces of these corrupt elements, however, is a risky move. If these officers indeed have ties to gangs then removing them from paid work could push them further into the hands of criminal organizations. Jalisco state had to suspend a purge of its forces in May because gangs had posted recruitment ads for some 900 cops about to become unemployed. Read more.
Interior Secretary Alejandro Poire stated during a visit to Washington D.C. that of the 180,000 state and municipal police who have had background checks, 65,000 (36 percent) were found to be unfit to serve, reported Informador.
There are currently a total of 430,000 state and municipal officers serving throughout Mexico. Poire added that the aim is to have carried out checks on every one by some point next year.
The reasons for the officers' pending dismissals were not given, nor were details on where they are currently based.
Though the announcement of a mass purge of state and municipal police is nothing new in Mexico, this latest round far exceeds the numbers and scale of similar actions taken in the past year. Much of them have been carried out at the local level, with Veracruz alone for example, seeing two rounds of dismissals last year, one of 980 officers and another of 800.
State and municipal officers are often regarded as the most vulnerable link in Mexico's fight against organized crime. Officers among these ranks are poorly paid, more so than their federal counterparts, thus increasing the chance that they will collude with criminal gangs as a way of supplementing their incomes.
Purging the forces of these corrupt elements, however, is a risky move. If these officers indeed have ties to gangs then removing them from paid work could push them further into the hands of criminal organizations. Jalisco state had to suspend a purge of its forces in May because gangs had posted recruitment ads for some 900 cops about to become unemployed. Read more.
Jun 23, 2012
Oops! DEA and Mexican Authorities Admit Man Arrested is Not "Little Chapo"
On June 22 we posted a story that was all over the news in Mexican and U.S. sources, regarding the Mexican Navy's triumphant claim to have captured the son of "Most Wanted" drug kingpin, Joaquin Guzman "El Chapo". The announcement stated that the alleged son named Jesus Alfredo Guzman Salazar-- a wanted criminal in his own right--was nabbed thanks to U.S. intelligence in a wealthy neighborhood in Guadalajara.
Turns out it the announcement was wrong. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) came out with the announcement, forcing the Mexican government to eat its words--an act that causes severe indigestion, especially eating words right before elections--in this statement from the Federal Attorney General's Office:
“The past June 21 elements of the Ministry of the Navy presented two persons, one of which they considered could be Jesús Alfredo Guzmán Salazar (…) after carrying out the necessary tests for identity, we have determined that the individuals presented are Félix Beltrán León and Kevin Daniel Beltrán Ríos, 23 and 19 years of age, respectively.”
Representatives from both governments did some very public back patting before having to own up to the error. Rusty Payne of the DEA called the capture "a victory in the battle against drug traffickers throughout the world" and congratulated the Mexican government.
The Mexican and U.S. governments have been looking for a way to bolster the shared drug war before the presidential elections July 1. President Felipe Calderon's party runs a distant third in the polls, partly due to the political cost of the war on drugs that has sparked widespread violence that has taken the lives of more than 50,000 people in the country, with tens of thousands more disappeared. The bust of the son of El Chapo was just the break they could use to tell a skeptical public that the governments are making headway in the war on organized crime. When it became known it was false, skepticism deepened.
The families of the two young men detained are demanding justice, stating that they fear their sons are the victims of a media stunt by the Federal Government. The governments, incredibly, after admitting their mistake still insist that the arrest of the two young men is a serious blow to organized crime--indicating that the families' contentions that their sons are being railroaded have some merit in the presumption of guilt.
The mainstream media is trying to spin its way out of the confusion sowed by the false claims. This McClatchy article reports on the mistake and then bends over backwards to assert out of nowhere,
The case of mistaken identity just weeks before the presidential elections made "Confirma la DEA" (the DEA confirms) the instant favorite hashtag among Mexican tweeters. A sample of the hundreds of tweets under tag include: "The DEA confirms... El Chapo is laughing his head off at 'government intelligence'", "The DEA confirms... El Chapo has almost as many illegitimate children as Peña Nieto" , "The DEA confirms... the Mexican authorities are idiots", "The DEA confirms... I am REALLY hungry", etc.
Laura Carlsen
Turns out it the announcement was wrong. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) came out with the announcement, forcing the Mexican government to eat its words--an act that causes severe indigestion, especially eating words right before elections--in this statement from the Federal Attorney General's Office:
“The past June 21 elements of the Ministry of the Navy presented two persons, one of which they considered could be Jesús Alfredo Guzmán Salazar (…) after carrying out the necessary tests for identity, we have determined that the individuals presented are Félix Beltrán León and Kevin Daniel Beltrán Ríos, 23 and 19 years of age, respectively.”
Representatives from both governments did some very public back patting before having to own up to the error. Rusty Payne of the DEA called the capture "a victory in the battle against drug traffickers throughout the world" and congratulated the Mexican government.
The Mexican and U.S. governments have been looking for a way to bolster the shared drug war before the presidential elections July 1. President Felipe Calderon's party runs a distant third in the polls, partly due to the political cost of the war on drugs that has sparked widespread violence that has taken the lives of more than 50,000 people in the country, with tens of thousands more disappeared. The bust of the son of El Chapo was just the break they could use to tell a skeptical public that the governments are making headway in the war on organized crime. When it became known it was false, skepticism deepened.
The families of the two young men detained are demanding justice, stating that they fear their sons are the victims of a media stunt by the Federal Government. The governments, incredibly, after admitting their mistake still insist that the arrest of the two young men is a serious blow to organized crime--indicating that the families' contentions that their sons are being railroaded have some merit in the presumption of guilt.
The mainstream media is trying to spin its way out of the confusion sowed by the false claims. This McClatchy article reports on the mistake and then bends over backwards to assert out of nowhere,
While the latest arrest remained a puzzle, it’s clear that U.S. and Mexican authorities are tightening a noose around Guzman and his family.The only proof offered for this supposedly "clear" factoid, is that arrest orders have been issued for Guzman's other sons and that El Chapo was "nearly captured" in Los Cabos last February. As we reported here, the near capture (he apparently escaped through the basement door of a private residence) looked more like another case of El Chapo thumbing his nose (or winking his eye) at authorities, since it took place in Los Cabos when the entire area was heavily militarized due the visit of Hillary Clinton and other foreign ministers for a run-up meeting to the G20 summit.
The case of mistaken identity just weeks before the presidential elections made "Confirma la DEA" (the DEA confirms) the instant favorite hashtag among Mexican tweeters. A sample of the hundreds of tweets under tag include: "The DEA confirms... El Chapo is laughing his head off at 'government intelligence'", "The DEA confirms... El Chapo has almost as many illegitimate children as Peña Nieto" , "The DEA confirms... the Mexican authorities are idiots", "The DEA confirms... I am REALLY hungry", etc.
Laura Carlsen
Mar 5, 2012
Mexican prisons: Forgotten by government and society
CNN Mexico: "The Mexican penitentiary model is obsolete; it fails to punish and deter criminals and also leaves the rehabilitation of prisoners in oblivion, said a panel held by Mexico Voices, a program broadcast by CNN.
"Society has spent 47 years forgetting prisoners, because they are our 'monsters', our forgotten children," said Jose Luis Musi, prison affairs specialist. According to the analyst, the prison crisis is due to the little attention that the three levels of government have given to this issue for several years. He noted that without reform, the prisons will continue to have riots and corruption.
"There is a lot of money for law enforcement: crime prevention, training of federal police, the war on drugs (...) but for this, no one spends money."
Of the 230,943 prisoners that are in the prison system throughout the country, 47,816 are under federal jurisdiction, but only 38% of these are in federal prisons. The remainder live in state prisons, according to the federal Public Security Secretariat (SSP).
For the journalist Nadia Sanders a major problem is that faced by families of prisoners. "Those who visit their realtives are mothers, wives and children. They suffer abuses and violations of their human rights, the environment is negative." She noted that torture and ill-treatment have been documented for years, as well as the impunity that exists within the prisons, "but neither society nor the government pay attention until riots or prison breaks occur."
In February, 44 people were killed and 30 prisoners escaped from the Social Rehabilitation Center (Cereso) in Apodaca, Nuevo Leon. Since the beginning of President Felipe Calderon's term, similar tragedies have occurred in prisons in the states of Baja California, Tamaulipas, Durango and Chihuahua.
Musi regretted that the legislature does not study the effectiveness of penalties or new strategies to be implemented in rehabilitation centers. ... Musi said that if the prison crisis is not given attention, the problem will become uncontrolable. "Corruption will persist if the prisons directors are not prepared, if they don't think about clear objectives to reintegrate prisoners into society."" Spanish original
"Society has spent 47 years forgetting prisoners, because they are our 'monsters', our forgotten children," said Jose Luis Musi, prison affairs specialist. According to the analyst, the prison crisis is due to the little attention that the three levels of government have given to this issue for several years. He noted that without reform, the prisons will continue to have riots and corruption.
"There is a lot of money for law enforcement: crime prevention, training of federal police, the war on drugs (...) but for this, no one spends money."
Of the 230,943 prisoners that are in the prison system throughout the country, 47,816 are under federal jurisdiction, but only 38% of these are in federal prisons. The remainder live in state prisons, according to the federal Public Security Secretariat (SSP).
For the journalist Nadia Sanders a major problem is that faced by families of prisoners. "Those who visit their realtives are mothers, wives and children. They suffer abuses and violations of their human rights, the environment is negative." She noted that torture and ill-treatment have been documented for years, as well as the impunity that exists within the prisons, "but neither society nor the government pay attention until riots or prison breaks occur."
In February, 44 people were killed and 30 prisoners escaped from the Social Rehabilitation Center (Cereso) in Apodaca, Nuevo Leon. Since the beginning of President Felipe Calderon's term, similar tragedies have occurred in prisons in the states of Baja California, Tamaulipas, Durango and Chihuahua.
Musi regretted that the legislature does not study the effectiveness of penalties or new strategies to be implemented in rehabilitation centers. ... Musi said that if the prison crisis is not given attention, the problem will become uncontrolable. "Corruption will persist if the prisons directors are not prepared, if they don't think about clear objectives to reintegrate prisoners into society."" Spanish original
Feb 23, 2012
Rule of Law - Mexico prison riot: Mexico Human Rights Commission opens investigation
La Jornada: "The National Commission on Human Rights (CNDH) has opened an investigation into the murder of 44 prisoners and the escape of 30 others from the prison of Apodaca, Nuevo Leon, which occurred on Sunday, February 19.
In a statement, the agency headed by Raul Plascencia Villanueva reported that, exercising its power to analyze gross violations of human rights--previously the sole prerogative of the Supreme Court of Justice--the Commission will begin an inquiry into the incident Apodaca, which is now a national and international issue. CNDH staff... will monitor what local authorities do, and then make a recommendation.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International (AI) added itself to the call which various organizations in Mexico and abroad have made to Mexican authorities to conduct a thorough and impartial investigation into what happened in Apodaca and in the Topo Chico prison where, last Tuesday, three more inmates were killed..
... In the same vein, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) expressed its "concern" about what happened in Apodaca, and called upon the Mexican State "to adopt appropriate measures to prevent the recurrence of similar incidents and to investigate and punish those responsible."
As guarantors of the rights of inmates, governments "have a fundamental duty to ensure control and internal security of prisons and can in no way waive this inherent duty," the subsidiary of the Organization of American States stressed." Spanish original
In a statement, the agency headed by Raul Plascencia Villanueva reported that, exercising its power to analyze gross violations of human rights--previously the sole prerogative of the Supreme Court of Justice--the Commission will begin an inquiry into the incident Apodaca, which is now a national and international issue. CNDH staff... will monitor what local authorities do, and then make a recommendation.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International (AI) added itself to the call which various organizations in Mexico and abroad have made to Mexican authorities to conduct a thorough and impartial investigation into what happened in Apodaca and in the Topo Chico prison where, last Tuesday, three more inmates were killed..
... In the same vein, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) expressed its "concern" about what happened in Apodaca, and called upon the Mexican State "to adopt appropriate measures to prevent the recurrence of similar incidents and to investigate and punish those responsible."
As guarantors of the rights of inmates, governments "have a fundamental duty to ensure control and internal security of prisons and can in no way waive this inherent duty," the subsidiary of the Organization of American States stressed." Spanish original
Rule of Law - Mexico prison riot: Apodaca boss and guards arrested
BBC News: "The director of a Mexican prison and 28 guards have been arrested on suspicion of helping a mass breakout and massacre by gang members on Sunday. Thirty inmates with links to the Zetas drugs cartel escaped from the Apodaca jail during the unrest and 44 prisoners from a rival gang were killed.
Investigators say they have evidence that guards helped plan the killings." read more
Investigators say they have evidence that guards helped plan the killings." read more
Feb 22, 2012
Rule of Law: Pre-Trial Detention Brews Crisis in Latin America Prisons
InSight Crime: "Recent prison disasters, with a deadly fire in Honduras and a massacre in Mexico, point to the misuse of pre-trial detention in those countries' justice systems, stuffing penal facilities with people who haven't been charged with a crime.
... Both prisons were severely overcrowded, and filled with inmates who had not yet been convicted or charged. The Mexican prison ... was at 180 percent capacity. In Honduras, two-thirds of the inmate population were being held without a charge, or were awaiting trial. The prison, designed to hold 400 inmates, housed twice that number.
Both Mexico and Honduras have employed pre-trial detention as a core part of the national strategy against organized crime. In a functioning justice system, only those deemed to be high-risk or likely to flee the country are held in prison before trial. Instead, in these countries, suspected first-offense muggers and drug dealers are locked up alongside more serious offenders, with no chance of bail.
Not only has this filled prisons beyond capacity, but it has helped to foster corruption among prison guards, who are unable to exert control over the huge inmate population. The lack of a strong government penal authority further strengthens the networks of corruption and bribery found within the system." read more
Both Mexico and Honduras have employed pre-trial detention as a core part of the national strategy against organized crime. In a functioning justice system, only those deemed to be high-risk or likely to flee the country are held in prison before trial. Instead, in these countries, suspected first-offense muggers and drug dealers are locked up alongside more serious offenders, with no chance of bail.
Not only has this filled prisons beyond capacity, but it has helped to foster corruption among prison guards, who are unable to exert control over the huge inmate population. The lack of a strong government penal authority further strengthens the networks of corruption and bribery found within the system." read more
Rule of Law: Grave situation in prisions is responsibility of states: Mexico Interior Secretary
La Jornada: "The head of the Ministry of the Interior, Alejandro Poiré Romero, acknowledged that about 70 percent of federal inmates are currently in state prisons.
Two days after the escape and death of inmates at the prison in Apodaca, Nuevo Leon, the official stressed the responsibility of state governments in such prison incidents. While he implicitly recognized that the federal government is lagging on the issue, he said that, regarding the states' prison issue, the Calderon administration has already done its part.
"Throughout the Calderon administration, there has not been one of these incidents in any of the federal prisons, not one," he said. He also emphasized that there are very dangerous inmates in federal prisons, such as kidnappers. "We are assuming our responsibility to reverse the historical pattern. We are doing it very quickly and without incident in federal prisons," he said.
He noted that at the end of his term (within nine months) eight new prisons will be ready, which will solve the problem of having thousands of inmates prosecuted for federal crimes being held in state prisons. However, he immediatley admitted that the building of more prisons "does not remove the problem of corruption in prisons."
Poiré also stated that the federal government provides resources to states for the maintenance of federal prisoners and for prison infrastructure development.
"Today, the total number of prisoners under federal jurisdiction is 47 thousand and, of these, more than 18,000 are in federal facilities, i.e., we have thirty-something percent of all federal inmates in federal custody," he said.
... In 2006, he claimed, there were six federal facilities and, in December 2011, there were 12 functioning. That is, at the beginning of this administration were only 3,164 inmates in prisons under federal jurisdiction and currently there are 18,283, up almost five times." Spanish original
Two days after the escape and death of inmates at the prison in Apodaca, Nuevo Leon, the official stressed the responsibility of state governments in such prison incidents. While he implicitly recognized that the federal government is lagging on the issue, he said that, regarding the states' prison issue, the Calderon administration has already done its part.
"Throughout the Calderon administration, there has not been one of these incidents in any of the federal prisons, not one," he said. He also emphasized that there are very dangerous inmates in federal prisons, such as kidnappers. "We are assuming our responsibility to reverse the historical pattern. We are doing it very quickly and without incident in federal prisons," he said.
He noted that at the end of his term (within nine months) eight new prisons will be ready, which will solve the problem of having thousands of inmates prosecuted for federal crimes being held in state prisons. However, he immediatley admitted that the building of more prisons "does not remove the problem of corruption in prisons."
Poiré also stated that the federal government provides resources to states for the maintenance of federal prisoners and for prison infrastructure development.
"Today, the total number of prisoners under federal jurisdiction is 47 thousand and, of these, more than 18,000 are in federal facilities, i.e., we have thirty-something percent of all federal inmates in federal custody," he said.
... In 2006, he claimed, there were six federal facilities and, in December 2011, there were 12 functioning. That is, at the beginning of this administration were only 3,164 inmates in prisons under federal jurisdiction and currently there are 18,283, up almost five times." Spanish original
Feb 21, 2012
Rule of Law: Mexico Judicial Police seek to improve their image
Milenio: "The Federal Judicial Police are seeking to renew their image with the launching of a new policing model.
After the dismissal of more than 700 police, nearly 20 percent of its staff, the agency now seeks to improve the expertise of nearly 4,000 agents that work in this division of the PGR (federal Attorney General's office), said the Commissioner of the federal ministerial (judicial or investigative) police, Vidal Díaz Leal Ochoa.
In addition to the purging of staff, there is now a program for national rotation of staff and a strategic model for the evaluation of institutional management that measures the efficiency of each police agent.
Diaz Leal also announced that its officers will be trained by U.S. agents in May as part of the package of support included in the Merida Initiative." Spanish original
After the dismissal of more than 700 police, nearly 20 percent of its staff, the agency now seeks to improve the expertise of nearly 4,000 agents that work in this division of the PGR (federal Attorney General's office), said the Commissioner of the federal ministerial (judicial or investigative) police, Vidal Díaz Leal Ochoa.
In addition to the purging of staff, there is now a program for national rotation of staff and a strategic model for the evaluation of institutional management that measures the efficiency of each police agent.
Diaz Leal also announced that its officers will be trained by U.S. agents in May as part of the package of support included in the Merida Initiative." Spanish original
Rule of Law: Calderon says government is addressing prison crisis
Milenio: " President Felipe Calderon said that in some states of the Republic, such as Tamaulipas and Nuevo Leon, "where their prison systems are in crisis", new prisons are being built. ...The president said that the majority of a dozen of these new prisons will be nearly ready this year." Also, we are building new institutions, revising the police, the Public Ministry (investigative police), modernizing, applying controls to improve confidence (in the police), creating the Federal Police." Spanish original
Feb 20, 2012
Drug War: Mexico Says Prison Riot Masked Escape of Drug-Gang Members
Wall Street Journal—A day after 44 inmates died in Mexico's worst prison riot, authorities said they believed the massacre was a cover for the escape of 30 drug-gang members.
Nuevo León Gov. Rodrigo Medina said that 30 inmates, all members of the Zetas drug cartel, used the massacre on Sunday as cover for an escape from Apodaca state prison, a few miles from the state capital of Monterrey. "Without a doubt there was premeditation," said Mr. Medina, speaking at a news conference. "This was planned."
Mr. Medina said all the dead prisoners were members of the rival Gulf Cartel. The Zetas and the Gulf Cartel have been warring for two years for control of drug routes and lucrative drug markets, especially in the northeastern Mexican states of Nuevo León and Tamaulipas.
Mr. Medina said prison personnel appeared to have been involved in the massacre and escapes. He said four top prison officials had been fired from their jobs, as had 18 guards on duty at the time of the incident. All were being investigated for complicity, he said. As police and soldiers combed the state searching for the escaped prisoners, Mr. Medina said the state was offering a reward of about $800,000 for information leading to their capture. read more
Nuevo León Gov. Rodrigo Medina said that 30 inmates, all members of the Zetas drug cartel, used the massacre on Sunday as cover for an escape from Apodaca state prison, a few miles from the state capital of Monterrey. "Without a doubt there was premeditation," said Mr. Medina, speaking at a news conference. "This was planned."
Mr. Medina said all the dead prisoners were members of the rival Gulf Cartel. The Zetas and the Gulf Cartel have been warring for two years for control of drug routes and lucrative drug markets, especially in the northeastern Mexican states of Nuevo León and Tamaulipas.
Mr. Medina said prison personnel appeared to have been involved in the massacre and escapes. He said four top prison officials had been fired from their jobs, as had 18 guards on duty at the time of the incident. All were being investigated for complicity, he said. As police and soldiers combed the state searching for the escaped prisoners, Mr. Medina said the state was offering a reward of about $800,000 for information leading to their capture. read more
Rule of Law: Politicized Attorney General
John Ackerman is a U.S. born and trained scolar (Ph.D. in political science, University of California, Santa Cruz) who is also a Mexican citizen. He is a researcher in the Institute of Judicial Research of the National Autonomous University of Mexico and editorial director of the Mexican Law Review. He is a columist for La Jornada newspaper and Proceso magazine. He maintains a blog of his articles in Spanish, as well as some in English.
La Jornada: "The most serious cases of politicization of law enforcement are not the ones known to us, but those that we don't know. The Michoacan cases (in which thirty-some mayors belonging to the PRI--Institutional Revolutionary Party--were arrested on drug corruption charges just before the mid-term congressional elections in 2009 but subsequently released for lack of evidence) and the cases of Greg Sanchez (Cancún area politician charged with, but absolved of ties to drug trafficking) and Jorge Hank Rohn (former PRI mayor of Tijuana), and the ongoing criminal investigations (of Humberto Moreira, former PRI governor of) Coahuila and (three former PRI governors of) Tamaulipas, are only the tip of the iceberg. The real scandal is not that the PGR (Attorney General of Mexico) has decided to investigate and make a show of these politicians, but that it has not done so earlier and in a more systematic and widespread manner.
How many times will Felipe Calderon, for political reasons, order that a criminal case be filed against a high-level official? Why do none of the political front line investigations by the PGR have to do with PAN (National Action Party, the party of President Calderon)? The politicization of justice has been the rule throughout the country's recent history. More serious than the current attempts by Calderon to intimidate his present-day opponents are his pacts of complicity and impunity with his friends of yesterday.
... Mexico needs more, not less, serious investigation of the probable complicity of senior officials and business leaders with organized crime and drug trafficking. The levels of impunity and infiltration that remain in the country today are not just a result of actions by individual police, prosecutors and corrupt judges. Instead, they reflect government policies and systems of complicity that are fostered and tolerated at the highest levels.
Last week, General Guillermo Galván confessed that, in many parts of the country, public safety agencies are completely overrun and that in some regions organized crime has appropriated state institutions. This is not just the responsibility of the PRI, but also of the party that now rules the federal level.
The audit by the Supreme Audit Office of the Federation (ASF) for FY 2010 helps us to understand the reasons for such a monumental failure in public safety. During 2010, for every 100 criminal investigations opened by the Federal Public Ministry (MPF) only 34 were presented before a judge. In other words, 66 percent of investigations were completely without substance, either because the persons being investigated or arrested had nothing to do with the crimes under investigation or because of the total ineptitude of the agents of the MPF to prove the crime or who was responsible. Also during the same year, nearly 7,000 injunctions were canceled because their time limits had expired and the authorities had not acted.
The ASF also found that the PGR simply does not have a reliable record of the arrests and dispositions before the Federal Public Ministry for all of 2010. It turns out that during the process of a change in the systems for recording this information the data was lost or never recorded.
The auditor, Juan Manuel Portal, also certified what many already suspected: the PGR simply does not have an anti-drug strategy. The National Drug Control Program of 2007-2012, which was drafted early in the presidential term, was never properly approved or given institutional follow-up. The PGR also now operates with completely outdated and unworkable rules that do not correspond to the new Organic Law of the institution, published on May 29, 2009.
The recent firing of the special prosecutor for electoral crimes, Jose Luis Vargas, and of the inspector general of the PGR, Cesar Chavez, are not, then, a turn toward greater politicization of the institution, but are just the latest examples of the large institutional weakness have eaten away at the state agency from the beginning of the current administration. While the case of Vargas has received more media attention, the Chavez case is also serious. In 2011 he had achieved a 300 percent increase in the number of observations issued to PGR officials regarding administrative and criminal irregularities. Apparently, this effort to implement a more energetic internal purge made the attorney general, Marisela Morales, uncomfortable.
The good news, however, is that the temporary breakdown of the pact of complicity and impunity between PRI and PAN has allowed important information about political corruption in the country to come to light. The result could be positive if society succeeds in transforming its new knowledge into specific demands for greater accountability by the entire political class." Spanish original
La Jornada: "The most serious cases of politicization of law enforcement are not the ones known to us, but those that we don't know. The Michoacan cases (in which thirty-some mayors belonging to the PRI--Institutional Revolutionary Party--were arrested on drug corruption charges just before the mid-term congressional elections in 2009 but subsequently released for lack of evidence) and the cases of Greg Sanchez (Cancún area politician charged with, but absolved of ties to drug trafficking) and Jorge Hank Rohn (former PRI mayor of Tijuana), and the ongoing criminal investigations (of Humberto Moreira, former PRI governor of) Coahuila and (three former PRI governors of) Tamaulipas, are only the tip of the iceberg. The real scandal is not that the PGR (Attorney General of Mexico) has decided to investigate and make a show of these politicians, but that it has not done so earlier and in a more systematic and widespread manner.
How many times will Felipe Calderon, for political reasons, order that a criminal case be filed against a high-level official? Why do none of the political front line investigations by the PGR have to do with PAN (National Action Party, the party of President Calderon)? The politicization of justice has been the rule throughout the country's recent history. More serious than the current attempts by Calderon to intimidate his present-day opponents are his pacts of complicity and impunity with his friends of yesterday.
... Mexico needs more, not less, serious investigation of the probable complicity of senior officials and business leaders with organized crime and drug trafficking. The levels of impunity and infiltration that remain in the country today are not just a result of actions by individual police, prosecutors and corrupt judges. Instead, they reflect government policies and systems of complicity that are fostered and tolerated at the highest levels.
Last week, General Guillermo Galván confessed that, in many parts of the country, public safety agencies are completely overrun and that in some regions organized crime has appropriated state institutions. This is not just the responsibility of the PRI, but also of the party that now rules the federal level.
The audit by the Supreme Audit Office of the Federation (ASF) for FY 2010 helps us to understand the reasons for such a monumental failure in public safety. During 2010, for every 100 criminal investigations opened by the Federal Public Ministry (MPF) only 34 were presented before a judge. In other words, 66 percent of investigations were completely without substance, either because the persons being investigated or arrested had nothing to do with the crimes under investigation or because of the total ineptitude of the agents of the MPF to prove the crime or who was responsible. Also during the same year, nearly 7,000 injunctions were canceled because their time limits had expired and the authorities had not acted.
The auditor, Juan Manuel Portal, also certified what many already suspected: the PGR simply does not have an anti-drug strategy. The National Drug Control Program of 2007-2012, which was drafted early in the presidential term, was never properly approved or given institutional follow-up. The PGR also now operates with completely outdated and unworkable rules that do not correspond to the new Organic Law of the institution, published on May 29, 2009.
The recent firing of the special prosecutor for electoral crimes, Jose Luis Vargas, and of the inspector general of the PGR, Cesar Chavez, are not, then, a turn toward greater politicization of the institution, but are just the latest examples of the large institutional weakness have eaten away at the state agency from the beginning of the current administration. While the case of Vargas has received more media attention, the Chavez case is also serious. In 2011 he had achieved a 300 percent increase in the number of observations issued to PGR officials regarding administrative and criminal irregularities. Apparently, this effort to implement a more energetic internal purge made the attorney general, Marisela Morales, uncomfortable.
The good news, however, is that the temporary breakdown of the pact of complicity and impunity between PRI and PAN has allowed important information about political corruption in the country to come to light. The result could be positive if society succeeds in transforming its new knowledge into specific demands for greater accountability by the entire political class." Spanish original
Drug War vs. the Rule of Law: Gang war leads to death of prison inmates in Mexico
sydneymorningherald: "A riot in a northern Mexican prison left 44 people dead on Sunday, providing yet another sign of the violence and crowding overwhelming Latin American prisons... The authorities in Mexico's Nuevo Leon state said a confrontation among inmates in two cell blocks broke out about 2am on Sunday and lasted a few hours before the state and federal police could bring the prison, in Apodaca, under control.
Jorge Domene, a spokesman for the state government, said it appeared members of Los Zetas and the Gulf Cartel, two of Mexico's most powerful criminal groups, started the fight as part of a power struggle, using sharp objects, stones and clubs. He said firearms were not used. ... Local news reports said the prison in Apodaca held 3000 inmates but was built for 1500." read more
Jorge Domene, a spokesman for the state government, said it appeared members of Los Zetas and the Gulf Cartel, two of Mexico's most powerful criminal groups, started the fight as part of a power struggle, using sharp objects, stones and clubs. He said firearms were not used. ... Local news reports said the prison in Apodaca held 3000 inmates but was built for 1500." read more
Feb 19, 2012
Rule of Law: Lynching in Mexico highlights mistrust of institutions, advancements in oral trials
Justice in Mexico: "A mob lynching in the State of Mexico (Estado de México, aka "Edomex") last week has exposed some of the strengths and weaknesses in Mexico’s public security and criminal justice system. The lynching took place on the night of Friday, February 10, when over 20 people from the town of Chalco, which is about 15 miles from Mexico City, rallied around a youth who was threatened to be kidnapped the day before, and subsequently killed the three alleged kidnappers.
... On the one hand, citizens turning to privatized justice and settling matters on their own highlights the mistrust and lack of confidence many Mexicans have in their police forces and judicial system to adequately handle the problem. ... this is not necessarily a surprise when one considers that the failure to report a crime is very common in Mexico, as the readily accepted figures show that only 25% of crimes are reported, and that only one out of every 1,000 crimes is sentenced.
... Yet at the same time, the legal action that has actually followed from the lynching is a testament to the work being done in Mexico to strengthen the criminal justice and judicial system. Not six days after the lynching, Edomex state police had already arrested the alleged leader of the mob... read more
... Yet at the same time, the legal action that has actually followed from the lynching is a testament to the work being done in Mexico to strengthen the criminal justice and judicial system. Not six days after the lynching, Edomex state police had already arrested the alleged leader of the mob... read more
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