| | |  Editorials | Issues | August 2009 
Mexico Working on Human Rights Issues
 William Booth - Washington Post
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August 19, 2009
| | The State Department had planned to send its positive report to Congress in advance of President Obama's visit to Mexico earlier this month. (Cuartoscuro/Alfredo Guerrero) | |
The Obama administration has concluded that Mexico is working hard to protect human rights while its army and police battle the drug cartels, paving the way for the release of millions of dollars in additional federal aid.
The Merida Initiative, a three-year, $1.4 billion assistance program passed by Congress to help Mexico fight drug trafficking, requires the State Department to state that the country is taking steps to protect human rights and to punish police officers and soldiers who violate civil guarantees. Congress may withhold 15 percent of the annual funds - about $100 million so far - until the Obama administration offers its seal of approval for Mexico's reform efforts.
The State Department had planned to send its positive report to Congress in advance of President Obama's visit to Mexico earlier this month. But aides to Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), chairman of the Appropriations foreign operations subcommittee, told State Department officials that they were not presenting a strong case that Mexico was improving its efforts to fight drug trafficking.
State Department officials withdrew and then announced that the often secretive Mexican military had provided additional information on cases that it had prosecuted against abuse.
The 16-page report was delivered to Congress without fanfare on Thursday, after lawmakers began their summer recess. A State Department spokesman mentioned it Monday in a briefing. The document, Philip J. Crowley said, focuses on Mexico's needs "and its efforts to professionalize security forces and the justice system in order to strengthen the rule of law in Mexico."
Mexican Army critic Luis Arriaga, director of the Miguel Agustin Pro Juarez Human Rights Center, said: "In a context of escalating human rights violations by the Mexican military, all three branches of the Mexican government have missed the opportunity to rein in impunity." |
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