| | |  News Around the Republic of Mexico | July 2009 
Alarm Raised on Mexico's Drug War
 Dudley Althaus - Houston Chronicle
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July 14, 2009
 |  | Gangland violence has killed some 12,000 people since the crackdown began when Calderon took office in December 2006 |  | | |
Mexico City With both gangland violence and security forces' alleged abuses of civilians climbing, human rights groups Monday called on President Felipe Calderon and the Obama administration to reboot Mexico's war on its narcotics traffickers.
The calls for reforming the anti-gang campaign come amid increasing complaints of abuses in Ciudad Juarez, across from El Paso, as well as the southern states of Michoacan and Guerrero, where the army and federal police are heavily deployed.
Here there is evidently something that isn't working, Jose Luis Soberanes, the human rights commission head, told reporters. I think now would be a good time to change the strategy.
Calderon has deployed more than 40,000 soldiers and federal police in the areas controlled by or hardest pressed by drug trafficking gangs, who are battling for control of Mexican street sales and control of smuggling routes to U.S. consumers. Gangland violence has killed some 12,000 people since the crackdown began when Calderon took office in December 2006.
No real accountability'
Human Rights Watch, the U.S.-based advocacy group, also called Monday on the U.S. State Department to not certify Mexico's human rights record until concern about army abuses are addressed.
The group said it's particularly concerned that civilian accusations against soldiers continue being tried by military, rather than civilian, courts. All charges of serious abuses in the past decade have been dismissed by the military tribunals, Human Rights Watch said.
So long as there is no real accountability the army in Mexico will continue to commit abuses, said a letter sent to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
15% of funds at issue
The Obama administration's certification on Mexico's human rights record is required by Congress for full disbursement of the $1.4 billion worth of military equipment and training for the drug war promised Mexico under the so-called Merida Initiative.
But Mexico has the resources to fight its drug war without the 15 percent of initiative funds that can be held up on human rights concerns.
Soberanes' commission, an autonomous government body created in the early 1990s, has reported a three-fold increase in civilian complaints against the army since 2006. Many more complaints have been lodged with state's human rights agencies as well as a local office.
dudley.althaus(at)chron.com |
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