Photo: Wikimedia Commons

04/22/12 (written by cmolzahn) – According to a story published in the New York Times, Wal-Mart covered up a case of widespread corruption involving its largest subsidiary, Wal-Mart de México. The story, which can be read in full here, claims that in 2005 a Wal-Mart attorney alerted company executives to a practice of offering bribes to officials throughout Mexico in exchange for construction permits for new stores, which company executives deliberately concealed, fearing the repercussions of tarnishing its Mexico operations, which then represented the company’s largest growth potential, and a model for further expansion. Wal-Mart currently employs 209,000 people in Mexico, making that the country’s largest private employer. An internal investigation by Wal-Mart’s Bentonville, Arkansas central office revealed bribes paid out to Mexican authorities totaling $24 million, as well as an effort by top Wal-Mart officials to conceal them through fraudulent accounting.

The primary source named in the article, former Wal-Mart attorney Sergio Cicero Zapata, described organizing bribes paid to Mexican authorities prior to his resigning in 2004. His subsequent declarations to Wal-Mart’s internal control department sparked the investigation that revealed that payments of the alleged bribes were made by two company attorneys, Pablo Alegría Con Alonso and José Manuel Aguirre Juárez, who acted as “gestores,” individuals routinely employed by companies– in many cases legitimately– to maneuver through Mexico’s often labyrinthine bureaucracy. Moreover, the payments would have been approved by top company executives, including legal director of Wal-Mart de México y Centroamérica José Luis Rodríguez Macedo, who recently resigned from his position. Maritza Munoch, Wal-Mart’s international legal director, launched an independent investigation that found that the bribes from Wal-Mart de México began in 2002, when Eduardo Castro-Wright assumed control of the subsidiary. Castro-Wright was considered for president of Wal-Mart in 2009, largely due to the rapid growth Wal-Mart de México experienced during his tenure. In the end, he was promoted to global vice-president, and later became president of Wal-Mart Stores in the United States. Cicero alleged that Castro-Wright himself encouraged payments to Mexican authorities for circumventing bureaucratic obstacles, such as zoning maps and environmental regulations, in order to outpace competitors.

The investigation was initially to be carried out with a team of U.S. lawyers in the under-resourced Corporate Investigations Unit, which set up operations in Mexico to pursue the allegations. Beginning in November 2005, the investigation quickly found that the two “gestores,” Alegria and Aguirre, had alone received $8.5 million in payments since 2003, and that such payments ended in 2005, when Cicero Zapata blew the whistle on the bribery web. As the investigation uncovered indications that top Wal-Mart de México executives were complicit in the bribes, it moved up the chain of command, and drew criticism from Eduardo Solórzano, then the president and general director of Wal-Mart de México, who criticized the process for being too secretive and accusatory. In early 2006, despite Maritza Munoch’s plea to expand the Mexico investigation, Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott changed protocols to stipulate that senior Wal-Mart executives would have more control over internal investigations, saying that Joseph R. Lewis, lead investigator in the case and also a former Federal Bureau of Investigation agent, had employed “overly aggressive” tactics. This change allowed control of the investigation to pass to José Luis Rodríguez Macedo, legal director of Wal-Mart de México, who himself had been one of the investigation’s earliest targets. Rodríguez Macedo closed the investigation two weeks later, concluding in his six-page report that there was no clear evidence that the payments to the “gestores” were made with any criminal intent. The Times report also alleged that Michael T. Duke, Wal-Mart’s current CEO, was also kept apprised of the developments of the investigation. Duke was then in charge of Wal-Mart International, thus responsible for all foreign subsidiaries.

In response to the New York Times report, Wal-Mart stated in a press release that, “[They] take compliance with the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) very seriously and are committed to having a strong and effective global anti-corruption program in every country in which [they] operate.” It went on to state that, “Many of the alleged activities in the New York Times article are more than six years old. If these allegations are true, it is not a reflection of who we are or what we stand for. We are deeply concerned by these allegations and are working aggressively to determine what happened.” According to the press release, the company is working voluntarily with the U.S. Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission regarding the matter, and filed a 10-Q (quarterly report) in December to inform shareholders of the investigation. It also detailed several measures it has taken with its Mexican operations to ensure adherence to FCPA regulations.

Sources:

Barstow, David. “Vast Mexico Bribery Case Hushed Up by Wal-Mart After Top-Level Struggle.” New York Times. April 21, 2012.

Pacheco, Rodrigo and Eréndira Espinosa. “Soborna Walmart México por 24 millones de dólares, revela NYT.” Excélsior. April 21, 2012.

 “Wal-Mart Statement in Response to Recent New York Times Article About Compliance with the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.” Wal-Mart Pressroom. April 21, 2012.

General Mario Arturo Acosta Chaparro. Photo: Excélsior

04/22/12 – On Friday, April 20, retired military General Mario Arturo Acosta Chaparro Escápite (70) died in an ambulance after being shot by a firearm at close range on the streets of Mexico City, the nation’s capital. According to witnesses and security videos that captured the incident, the assailant, who has yet to be identified, was talking with someone inside a car when General Acosta Chaparro walked by. The gunman then shot the general three times in the head before fleeing the scene, where an accomplice on a get-away motorcycle picked him up nearby. Authorities collected three 9-milimeter bullet casings, finger prints, and eye witness testimonies from the crime scene, which they have used to put together a profile of the suspect. The Federal District’s Attorney General’s Office (Procuraduría General de Justicia del Distrito Federal, PGJDF) is handling the case.

Despite serving in the military for 45 years, Acosta Chaparro’s career was marred with allegations of corruption and wrongdoing. He was accused of being involved in a 1970′s massacre of 22 peasants when the military and government suppressed the leftist guerrilla movements during the “Dirty War.” 30 years later he was arrested and sentenced to 15 years in military prison for alleged ties to drug trafficking and protecting members of the Juárez Cartel. He only served seven years of his sentence, being released “after a federal court threw out his conviction, citing lack of evidence,” reported the Latin American Herald Tribune. Despite regaining his rank and title, which were stripped at his sentence, Acosta Chaparro retired in 2008, only a year after he was released from prison. Given his history of possible connections with drug trafficking, the PGJDF has suggested his murder was related.

Following the killing Friday, Acosta Chaparro’s body was sent to the Medical Forensic Services (Servicio Médico Forense, Semefo) for an autopsy. A service was held the day after at the Ministry of National Defense (Secretaría de Defensa Nacional, Sedena), where he was buried “without official distinction,” reported Excelsior. Nevertheless, family, friends, and colleagues remembered him as an honorable and hardworking man. “He was a man they wanted to demonize… but he always served his country,” said Aurelio de la Vega, who served under Acosta Chaparro in the Federal Security Office (Dirección Federal de Seguridad). Added a retired colonel at the service, “We only wish all generals could be like him.” In addition, many of Acosta Chaparro’s old colleagues adorned his grave with medals and military insignia in honor of his life and work.

Sources:

Notimex. “Afinan retrato hablado del presunto agresor de Acosta Chaparro.” La Jornada. April 21, 2012.

“Retired General Killed in Mexico City.” Latin American Herald Tribune. April 21, 2012.

Becerril, Andrés. “Militares recuerdan al general Mario Arturo Acosta Chaparro.” Excélsior. April 22, 2012.

Jímenez, Benito. “Rinde el Ejército honores a General Acotsa Chaparro.” Terra México. April 22, 2012.

Redacción. “Elaboran retrato de asesino de Acosta Chaparro.” El Debate Inicio. April 22, 2012.

Seen here, the Mexican Senate unanimously approved a constitutional amendment on March 13 that classifies a crime against a journalist as a federal offense. Photo Credit: El Economista

03/20/12 – The past week has been a roller coaster of sorts for members of the media in Mexico. On the one hand, a historical constitutional amendment was approved with the goal of better protecting journalists, their human rights, and the freedom of expression while simultaneously targeting the impunity that exists when journalists are victimized. However, one week after the amendment passed, an attack occurred against a newspaper agency in Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas. Although no one was killed during the car bombing, the incident has kept the national spotlight on the need to increase safety for media outlets.

The Mexican Senate unanimously passed the law to better protect journalists on March 13, nearly four months after the initiative was originally proposed to Congress back in November 2011. The amendment, which targets article 73 of the Constitution, states that any crime against journalists is now considered to be a federal offense and will therefore be investigated by the Federal Attorney General’s Office (Procuraduría General de la República, PGR), the Ministry of Public Security (Secretaría de Seguridad Pública, SSP), the Center of Investigation and National Security (Centro de Investigación y Seguridad Nacional, CISN), the Secretary of National Defense (Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional, SEDENA), and/or the Mexican Navy (Secretaría de Marina, SEMAR). As various news outlets reported, by moving such cases out of the hands of state police and authorities, “the legislation establishes accountability at senior levels of the national government, evading the more corrupt and less effective state law enforcement officials,” argues the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).  Senators from all major political parties expressed their hope that by doing this, it would decrease the levels of impunity that surround criminals who target journalists.

The executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, Joel Simon, congratulated Mexico for the historic amendment, noting, “This is a legislative milestone that has been years in the making.” However, he also offered caution in his support, recognizing the long journey still ahead for Mexico and the protection of journalists and media in the country. “At the same time,” continued Simon, “we note that it is only one step in the fight against impunity, a fight that will not be won until the killers of journalists are tried and sentenced.” Senator Alejandro Zapata Perogordo of the National Action Party (Partido de Acción Nacional, PAN) reiterated Simon’s comment, emphasizing that “this is not a fully finished reform,” yet it still represents a significant step in the right direction towards “guaranteeing freedom of expression.”

The amendment is nevertheless much needed in Mexico given the incredibly high numbers of journalists killed, kidnapped, or disappeared over the years – 74 since 2000, 40 of which have occurred since 2006 when the Calderón administration took office. Mexico is also consistently ranked as one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists to work, with CPJ ranking it in fifth place for 2011 only behind Pakistan, Iraq, and Libya, and tied with Brazil. Indeed, not one week after the amendment passed in the Senate, a car bomb was detonated the night of March 19 outside of newspaper agency Expreso in Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas. Authorities reported only minor injuries to a few people in the area at the time of the explosion. In response to the attack, Expreso released the following statement: “We will not give up in our demand for security and justice. Words continue being our only resource and best bet. We profoundly refuse to be silent as an alternative to surviving.” The Federal Attorney General’s Office (PGR) will take the lead on the investigation with assistance from the State Attorney General’s Office in Tamaulipas (Procuraduría General de la Justicia del Estado, PGJE).

Sources:

“47 Journalists Killed in 2011/Motive Confirmed.” Committee to Protect Journalists. Website last visited March 20, 2012.

“CPJ welcomes Mexican anti-press crimes legislation.” Committee to Protect Journalists. March 13, 2012.

Monroy, Jorge. “Federaliza Senado ataques a periodistas.” El Economista. March 13, 2012.

“México dice Sí a reforma para proteger el derecho a la información.” El Universal. March 15, 2012.

 “Atacan diario de Ciudad Victoria; no hay víctimas.” El Universal. March 20, 2012.

“Medios exigen justicia para Expreso de Tamaulipas.” El Universal. March 20, 2012.

“Se mantiene la alerta en Tamaulipas por la violencia.” Excelsior. March 20, 2012.

At the conference, Secretary General Insulza also agreed with Mexican President Felipe Calderón in the need to address transnational crime from an international organized front. He thanked all the organizers and especially the authorities of Mexico for the example they are setting for the rest of the world.

The center will begin operating immediately. Experts in different organized crime areas will come together and give input on how to professionalize police forces and how to strengthen institutions and judicial systems in the region. Adam Blackwell, Director of Multidimensional Security of the OAS, explained that the center will provide feedback in all areas related to combating organized crime, such as decreasing drug use, reintegration of ex-convicts into society, and the professionalism of security institutions.

Sources:

“Anuncia OEA Centro para el Combate del Crimen Organizado.” La Jornada. March 2, 2012.

“Centro para el Combate del Crimen Organizado.” El Imparcial. March 2, 2012.

“Centro para el Combate del Crimen Organizado.” La Informacion. March 3, 2012.

“Crean centro de cooperación continental contra el crimen.” Excelsior. March 3, 2012.

“OAS Secretary General calls to ‘Stand Firm, and Make no Concessions to the Problem of Transnational Organized Crime.’” OAS, March 2, 2012.

The alleged leader of La Mano con Ojos, "El Comandante," was arrested on February 29, 2012. Photo: Terra Noticias

03/01/12- Around mid-day on March 1, 2012, the Attorney General of Mexico City (Procuraduría General de Justicia del Distrito Federal, PGJDF) publicly announced the capture of the alleged successor to “La Mano con Ojos” (The Hand with Eyes), a prevalent crime group in the region that broke from the Beltran-Leyva Organization in 2010. The alleged current leader of the group, Marco Antonio Hernández García, “El Comandante,” was captured by members of the PGJDF’s investigative unit, along with two other suspected members of the organized crime group. El Comandante had assumed his role at the top following the arrest last August of then leader Óscar Osvaldo García Montoya, “El Compayito,” who was involved in more than 900 homicides– 300 of which he committed himself.

The operation that led to Hernández García’s arrest this week was carried out by around 20 personnel from the DF’s Attorney General’s Office and the DF’s Ministry of Public Security (Secretaría de Seguridad Pública). No shots were fired, and, according to Excelsior, the three suspects were taken immediately to the PGJDF’s central offices in town.

Under the direction of Hernández García, La Mano con Ojos has been responsible for a number of violent killings in the state of Mexico (Estado de México, Edomex) and the Federal District (Distrito Federal, DF). El Comandante was specifically involved in the gruesome decapitation and mutilation of ten bodies, two of which were found burned in a truck in January in the DF. To read more about La Mano con Ojos, click here.

Sources:

“Cae el presunto sucesor de La Mano con Ojos”. Excelsior. March 1, 2012.

“‘El Comandante’, presunto líder de ‘La Mano con Ojos’, confesó decapitaciones en México”. Univision Noticias. March 1, 2012.

“‘El Comandante’ ordenó 10 decapitaciones en el DF.” La Voz de Michoacán. March 1, 2012.

In mid-January, the Yucatán judiciary swore in a new president of the Bar Association (Colegio de Abogados de Yucatán), José Ignacio Puerto Gutiérrez. The state bar association has participated actively in the state’s justice reform, which is part of the 2008 national constitutional reform efforts, as it has participated in committees that that have sent 72 legislative proposals to Congress in the past four years, 69 of which were approved, resulting in an overhaul of 60% of the state’s laws governing judiciary functions. At his first public event as president, Puerto Gutiérrez addressed the attorneys of Yucatán, emphasizing the importance of their role in ensuring respect for justice and the law, in serving the community at large, and in promoting high ethical standards.

The state also inaugurated its new Institute for Security in Legal and Property Rights (Instituto de Seguridad Jurídica y Patrimonial, Insejupy). Insejupy is designed to facilitate and accelerate all transactions that involve registration with state authorities. It does this by bringing every state notary services under one umbrella, streamlining the procedure for transactions recorded in the public and property registries, and in the notarial archives. The government hopes the new system will incentivize business and construction in the state, as well as home ownership, given that these activities have long been slowed and discouraged by the burdensome legal requirements surrounding them, particularly those that made it difficult to transact legal business remotely from outside the state.

Finally, Yucatán hosted a nationwide contingent of Bar Associations[1], educators, private attorneys, and public defenders, as the working group Strengthening the Legal Profession in Mexico (Fortalecimiento de la Profesión legal en México) held its fifth meeting in January. Canada’s Department of Justice attended to provide support. The working group aims to draft a national code of ethics that would apply to all of Mexico’s lawyers. Its aspirations are currently focusing toward achieving mandatory national bar association membership, establishing sanctions for attorney misconduct, and requiring continuing education, both generally, and to promote the new accusatory criminal justice system.

[1] Note that Colegios de Abogados as well as Colegios de Notarios are both translated as Bar Associations, as notarios, in Mexico, are full-fledged lawyers who have also obtained a higher level of professional accreditation to become notarios.

Sources:

“Llaman a los abogados a mantener la evolucíon juridical de Yucatán.” Consejería Jurídica, Gobierno del Estado de Yucatán. January 13, 2012.

“Insejupy dará certidumbre a operaciones inmobiliarias y ordenamiento al territorio estatal.” Hola Yucatán. January 15, 2012.

“Instalan Instituto de Seguridad Jurídica Patrimonial de Yucatán.” Vanguardia. January 16, 2012.

“Elaboran un código de ética para abogados.” Consejería Jurídica, Gobierno del Estado de Yucatán. January 18, 2012.

“Capacitan a funcionarios judiciales en justicia para adolescentes.” Reporteros Hoy. Feburary 8, 2012.

“Nuevo curso en vispera de entrada en vigor de una ley.” Candela 92.7 FM Valladolid. February 9, 2012.

In the criminal case 279/2011 of the First Military Court in Mexico City, there is testimony recorded from Pedro Toga Lara, “El Gaucho”, an operator of the Zetas, who was arrested by the Mexican Military (Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional, SEDENA) on March 12, 2011, in Saltillo, Coahuila. According to the testimony, El Gaucho stated that he was responsible for making payments to those listed on the Zetas’ payroll, which included dozens of soldiers, and that money had been paid to a General whose name was not released, but who has been identified as the Chief of Staff (Jefe del Estado Mayor) of the Military Zone of Saltillo, as well as to another unidentified SEDENA official. The General’s explicit role in Saltillo, according to orders given by the Zetas, was to calm the environment and reduce military patrolling in the zone. The military court declined its jurisdiction on the case and sent it to a District Court in Coahuila.

The investigation into members of the military being on the Zetas’ payroll began in March 2011 under the lead of the PGJM and the Special Prosecutor for Organized Crime (Subrocuraduría de Investigación Especializada en Delincuencia Organizada, SIEDO). It has since led to arrest the former sub-delegate of the PGR in Coahuila, Claudia González, and the former Chief of Operations Police (Policía Operativa de Coahuila), Manuel Cicero, on February 15 and 16, 2012, respectively, for their links to the Zetas. After their arrests, the head of the PGR, Marisela Morales Ibáñez, applauded the campaign, Operación Limpieza, that helped bring them down, which is a nationwide operation that seeks to clean up federal offices and rid agencies of corruption, like González’s and Cicero’s ties to the Zetas. 16 members of the Sixth Military Zone based in Coahuila were also arrested by the Army on March 16 and 17, 2011, for working with Los Zetas. All of the investigations, including the current one unfolding against the General in Saltillo, stemmed from the March 2011 captures of El Gaucho– considered the second in command of the Zetas in Coahuila– and Emanuel Castillo, “Mickel,” who is the brother of Commander Carlos Alberto Oliva, “La Rana,” who was the regional chief of the Zetas in Coahuila and Nuevo León before being arrested in October 2011. After El Gaucho was arrested last year and started to name those on the Zetas’ payroll, the investigations began.

Sources:

“Cae ex mando policiaco de QR y Coahuila.” Terra México. February 17, 2012.

“PGR detiene a funcionaria ligada a Los Zetas.” Excelsior. February 17, 2012.

Redacción. “Pagaba a General narco en Coahuila”. Reforma. February 18, 2012.

SIPSE/Agencia Reforma. “Un General, también en la nómina del narco en Coahuila”. Vanguardia. February 18, 2012.

Maribel Cervantes Guerrero was appointed to Federal Chief of Police, making her the first woman ever to hold the title in Mexico. Photo: Generacción.com

02/13/12 – For the first time ever in Mexico, a woman holds the title of Federal Chief of Police (Policía Federal, PF), an announcement that follows the previous appointments of two other females to high ranking positions in Mexico within the past year. Named on February 10, 2012, Maribel Cervantes Guerrero (41) replaced former chief of police Facundo Rosas Rosas, who held the role since 2009. Rosas Rosas was allegedly sent back to serving as an undersecretary in the Ministry of Public Security (Secretaría de Seguridad Pública, SSP), a position he had before becoming chief of police. Although the SSP did not further elaborate on Rosas Rosas’ removal earlier this week, news source Milenio did highlight that the Federal Police has been the target of late of the National Commission of Human Rights (Comisión Nacional de Derechos Humanos, CNDH), which has argued that members of the PF –along with the Mexican military– have violated human rights as part of its struggle to quell drug-related violence and drug trafficking.

According to the Mexican government and as stated in the new Federal Police Law (Ley de la Policía Federal), as head of the Federal Police, Cervantes Guerrero is tasked with the responsibility of “overseeing and implementing the Federal Government’s strategy to prevent and combat federal crime throughout the country.” The government’s current public security strategy has been highly criticized during President Felipe Calderón’s time in office, as more than 47,000 people have been killed in drug-related violence (ejecuciones) since 2006. Cervantes comes to the position with significant experience and training, and with the hopes of addressing the dire public security situation. She previously served as the director of the Intelligence Division (Titular de la División de Inteligencia) where she “was responsible for establishing cooperation, training, and exchange of information with the Police Community of the Americas (AMERIPOL) and with the European Police Office (EUROPOL),” emphasized the SSP. Among other positions, Cervantes also spent time with the Center for Investigation and National Security (Centro de Investigación y Seguridad Nacional, CISEN) and was later named as the Technical Secretary of Intelligence Coordination for Prevention (Secretaría Técnica de la Coordinación de Inteligencia para la Prevención) within the Federal Preventative Police (Policía Federal Preventativa, PFP). She  graduated from the Universidad del Valle de México with her degree in Communication Sciences, and then received her Masters in Military Administration from the military’s Universidad del Ejército y Fuerzas Aérea.

Josefina Vázquez Mota (right) celebrating her presidential nomination following the February 5 internal PAN election. Photo Credit: Informador

Cervantes Guerrero’s appointment to chief of Federal Police came but one week after Mexico saw the nomination of the first woman candidate for president by a major national party. On February 5, Josefina Vázquez Mota won the National Action Party (Partido de Acción Nacional, PAN) primaries for the upcoming July 2012 presidential election with almost 54% of the votes, nearly 15% higher than the runner up, Ernesto Cordero. Following the win, Vázquez Mota confidently claimed, “I will be the next president of Mexico,” despite her party (PAN) trailing in the polls to election favorite Enrique Peña Nieto of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (Partido Revolucionario Institucional, PRI) by nearly 16 points. Nevertheless, the PRI’s lead has narrowed from a 25-point gap it once enjoyed, according to a Consulta Mitofsky poll, as reported in Informador. Riding the momentum of her victory and the closing window between the PAN and PRI, albeit still at a 16 point difference with Peña Nieto at 40% and Vázquez Mota at 24%, the new PAN nominee exclaimed, “This is the moment of [PAN] reunification. Together we will see the first female president of Mexico.”

Finally, it has been almost a year since the first female federal attorney general was appointed in Mexico. In April 2011, Marisela Morales Ibáñez assumed the role of Attorney General (Procuraduría General de la República, PGR) and has since made headlines with the PGR’s tough and aggressive stance on drug trafficking and drug-related violence, in general, and in particular with the purge of 21 top federal prosecutors in August 2011, and the extradition of the notorious and high-ranking cartel leader, Benjamin Arellano Félix, in May 2011. Arellano Félix pled guilty to his charges in January of this year. Read more about his case here.

Sources:

Becerril, Andrés and Héctor Figueroa. “Gana Josefina Vázquez Mota candidatura del PAN a la Presidencia.” February 6, 2012.

Alzaga, Ignacio. “Remueven a Facundo Rosas como comisionado de la PF.” Milenio. February 10, 2012.

“Vázquez Mota se consolida como segunda en las encuestas.” Informador.com.mx. February 10, 2012.

Comunicado 070/12. La Secretaría de Seguridad Pública Informa, Presidencia de la República. February 10, 2012. 

Graham, Dave. “Mexico picks first female chief of federal police.” Reuters. February 11, 2012.

Two days after the publication of the “World Report,” the Mexican Federal Government reported that the Interior Ministry had sent a response to HRW regarding the accusations made in the November report highlighting the discrepancies in the publication. It was also pointed out that HRW neglected to include the Mexican government’s response to the November report when it discussed the current state of Mexican human rights in the “World Report.” In its defense, Segob reiterated that the Army (Secretaría de Defensa Nacional, Sedena) and Navy (Secretaría de Marína, Semar) both “put the security and the integrity of the people” above all else when fighting against narco trafficking groups. Additionally, as Grupo Fórmula reported, the Mexican government stressed the following points in its recent response to HRW: that the number of complaints registered with the National Commission on Human Rights (Comisión Nacional de Derechos Humanos, CNDH) does not reflect the actual number of human rights violations committed; that of the 6,065 complaints received against Sedena, only 98 (1.61%) of them were turned into recommendations, which have been adopted and consistently followed by Sedena; and that 17 out of the 800 (2.12%) complaints against Semar were adopted as recommendations. Thus, the government has tried to show the difference in the number of complaints of violations being filed versus the actual number of cases of human rights violations that have been proven.

At a recent press conference, the director of the Human Rights Watch’s Americas division, José Miguel Vivanco, challenged Segob’s response by asking them to prove their claim that the majority of the 47,000 deaths that have occurred as a result of narco trafficking violence in Mexico are a direct result of crime and violence between the cartels themselves.  Miguel Vivanco questioned how 90% of these crimes fall into this category when investigations are not properly conducted into these deaths. He added that he hopes the “next administration revises its security strategy” and is willing to “examine conducts and accept criticisms and suggestions” from international organizations.

Sources:

Associated Press.  “HRW: México debe investigar mejor 47.000 por drogas desde 2006.”  Univisión.  January 23, 2012.

“Texto. La Secretaría de Gobernación responde al informe presentado por HRW.” Grupo Fórmula. January 23, 2012.

E-Consulta.  “Desacredita gobierno informe de HRW sobre derechos humanos.”  E-Consulta.  January 24, 2012.

On the January 17, another decapitated head belonging to Harvey Medellin was found beneath the famed Hollywood sign in California. Hands and feet were also discovered, but Medellin’s body has yet to be found. An investigation is currently being conducted and authorities are reluctant to provide information to the media, fearing it would hinder the investigation. A friend of Medellin has gone on record stating that he was a former employee of the Mexicana Airlines implicating close ties to Mexico although his nationality has not been revealed.

Although both bodies were found in the same month, authorities do not believe the two cases are related.

Spillover violence, although not as prevalent as many believe, is not unique or isolated. Many concerns of spillover violence were also raised in the death of an Arizonan rancher in May 2010.

Sources:

Cruz, Veronica M. “Decapitated Body found west of Tucson.” Arizona Daily Star. January 6, 2012.

“Agentes Policiacos Localizan a Decapitado en Arizona.”Periodico Expreso. January 8, 2012.

Rogers, John. “Human Body Parts Near Hollywood Sign Identified; Name Released (UPDATED).” Huffington Post. January 20, 2012.

LM/AN. Víctima de Misterioso Crimen en Hollywood Trabajaba en Aerolínea Mexicana. January 21, 2012.