05/22/13 (written by tianacarriedo) – On April 25, one week ahead of U.S. President Barack Obama’s visit to Mexico, a bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers called on the Obama administration to make the defense of human rights a “central part” of the U.S.-Mexico bilateral agenda. The letter they delivered to the president, signed by two dozen representatives from both the Republican and Democratic parties, argues that now is the time to work with the Mexican government on human rights concerns, citing that incidents of abuses and disappearances committed by Mexican security forces have dramatically increased over the past six years. It is also timely, it argues, as Mexico ushered in a new president, Enrique Peña Nieto, in December 2012 who pledged to make the “rights established on paper become reality.” (To read the full letter, click here.) Nevertheless, reports suggest that human rights were not a major discussion during the meetings between President Peña Nieto and President Obama in early May; rather talks focused on immigration, security, and strengthening bi-national relations.
In the letter, the U.S. lawmakers identified four major human rights concerns in Mexico: the failure to reform Mexico’s Military Code of Justice to ensure that military officers and personnel accused of human rights abuses against civilians are tried in civilian courts; a 400% increase in reports of torture by the Mexican security forces; the failure to fully implement the Law for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists; and over 2,000 enforced disappearances involving federal authorities, almost 8% of the total of 26,000 disappearances throughout Mexico since 2006. Also highlighted is the alarmingly high rate of impunity and lack of urgency regarding these human rights violations. As the lawmakers note, between January 1994 and June 2010, only two federal agents were convicted for torture. There is also no database of unidentified bodies and remains though critics have argued for its creation.
The letter comes as the U.S. State Department withholds $18 million (USD) from the Mérida Initiative funds appropriated for security assistance to Mexico pending improvements on human rights issues. The lawmakers urged U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, to whom the letter is addressed, to continue to withhold these funds until there is a “measurable increase in the number of cases of abuses that are investigated and prosecuted in civilian jurisdiction.” The funds are part of the bi-national Mérida Initiative that, since its 2008 enactment, has seen the United States provide $1.9 billion (USD) to Mexico to assist its fight against organized crime, and to strengthen human rights and rule of law.
Congressmen James Moran (D – VA) and Ted Poe (R – TX) sponsored the letter. Read more about the Mexican military’s human rights violations in the Justice in Mexico Project’s 2012 report, “Armed With Impunity: Curbing Military Human Rights Abuses in Mexico.”
Sources:
“Preocupa a congresistas de EU crisis de derechos humanos en México.” El Proceso. April 26, 2013.
Notimex. “Visita de Obama a México arrojó beneficios mutuos: expertos.” El Universal. May 6, 2013.
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