Human Rights Violations: HRW report does not reflect real situation in Mexico: Interior Ministry

Milenio: "The federal government said that the report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) on the status of Human Rights in the World, contains categorical and generalized statements about the country that do not reflect the real situation in Mexico. The Secretary of the Interior (Interior Ministry) said in a statement that "the number of complaints (in the HRW annual report) does not represent in any way the number of acts that violate human rights."

In response to the HRW report content, the agency said that of the 98 recommendations issued by the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) and the Ministry of National Defense (SEDENA), 266 soldiers have been indicted or subject to legal process and  29 convictions have been issued.

The statement further highlighted that on December 9, 2011, President Felipe Calderón instructed the Federal Executive Counsel and Secretary of the Interior, Alejandro Poire, to coordinate efforts with the legislature to move forward an initiative by the President that seeks to amend the Code of Military Justice, in order to meet the criteria of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) and the Mexican Supreme Court of Justice (SCJN).

In addition, both the armed forces and the Attorney General's Office (PGR) are exploring mechanisms for find ing a way--without violating the law--to transfer jurisdiction from military prosecutors in favor the Public Ministry and civil judges when military personnel participate in human rights violations.

... The statement clarified that Alejandro Poire sent a formal response to the HRW report regarding Mexico, which was presented on the November 9, 2011, and that "for various methodological reasons discussed at length there, (the report) does not reflect the real situation in Mexico."

He said that only in this administration, the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) has received 6,065 complaints about operations of the Department of Defense, of which only 98, i.e., 1.61 percent of the total resulted in recommendations. One hundred percent of the recommendations have been adopted by the National Defense and are in process of being fulfilled.

The statement also referred to the President´s commitment to freedom of expression and ensuring protection of journalists who have reported threats to the Committee to Protect Journalists. He said that in 100 percent of the cases of which the Committee is aware, security measures have been implemented  that ensure the security and integrity of journalists." Spanish original