| | |  Editorials | Issues 
A Proposal to Address Rights Abuse in Mexico
 Randal C. Archibold - New York Times
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October 20, 2010
| | Mr. Calderón in recent months has rolled out several proposals, pending in Congress, intended to overhaul institutions that facilitate organized crime. | |
Mexico City — Facing international pressure over abuses by his nation’s military, President Felipe Calderón has put forward a range of proposals to transform military justice here, including civilian trials for soldiers accused of some serious crimes like rape or torture.
The proposals, sent to Mexico’s Congress on Monday night, have the backing of the military, the institution Mr. Calderón has used during the nearly four years of his administration to chase, capture and kill drug traffickers threatening public order in vast stretches of the country.
But some human rights groups called the changes too modest to make a difference, contending that Mr. Calderón’s strong-arm tactics, while popular with a public lacking faith in police agencies, have yielded scores of disappearances, unlawful killings and other abuses at the hands of the military. At least some of those crimes, possibly even murder, would not be handled by civilian courts under the proposal.
The country’s human rights commission has more than 4,000 complaints pending against the military. But they are rarely prosecuted and, when they are, the proceedings are controlled by the military behind closed doors with results seldom made public.
The State Department last month withheld some money intended for Mexico in the drug fight over complaints that Mexico had not gone far enough to investigate abuse and make the military, which has strongly resisted civilian intrusion in its affairs, publicly accountable.
Members of the United States Congress have also questioned whether more aid should be sent to Mexico, given the human rights complaints.
The cornerstone of Mr. Calderón’s plan would be civilian trials for soldiers accused of “forced disappearances,” rape or torture. It would allow anonymous complaints — even by fax or e-mail — for the first time and would include protection for witnesses and other figures in the cases.
Soldiers and marines convicted in civilian trials would serve their sentences in military prisons, both for their protection and to keep them from the influence of organized-crime syndicates, which are known to have broad sway in civilian jails and prisons.
Civilian courts have their share of complaints of justice delayed or denied, but Mexico has embarked on a long process to make trials speedier and more open.
Mr. Calderón made no mention of the State Department concerns; a United States Embassy spokesman said it welcomed Mr. Calderón’s effort but had no other comment. Indeed, Mr. Calderón’s proposal did not mention accusations against the military in the drug war. Instead, Mr. Calderón cast his plan as a way to comply with a promise to abide by a ruling last year from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, which found the military to blame in the disappearance of a human rights advocate, Rosendo Radilla-Pacheco, in 1974.
He also said it meant “the Mexican state will be harmonizing its internal laws with those expected by” international human rights accords. The office of the United Nations’ High Commissioner for Human Rights in Mexico, however, said the plan fell short by limiting the categories of crime that could be sent to civilian courts.
That sentiment was echoed by human rights organizations, which noted that accusations of arbitrary killings and beatings that were not considered torture would remain under the jurisdiction of the military authorities. The military would remain the initial investigator of all accusations, raising questions over whether cases would be turned over to civilian prosecutors.
Nik Steinberg, a researcher with Human Rights Watch, said the plan did not fully comply with the Inter-American Court, which said “military jurisdiction cannot operate in any circumstances” where civilian human rights have been violated.
“It is a positive to see any cases out of military jurisdiction, but it leaves a huge amount of cases still in military jurisdiction,” Mr. Steinberg said.
Leonel Rivero, a Mexican human rights lawyer investigating several cases of disappearances, said that having members of the military serve their sentences in military prisons would make it difficult to verify that they complied with the punishment.
“Impunity will remain in force,” Mr. Rivero said.
Mr. Calderón in recent months has rolled out several proposals, pending in Congress, intended to overhaul institutions that facilitate organized crime. |
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