Inter-American Commission on Human Rights holds important hearing on implications of Mexico’s new Internal Security Law
Enacted on December 21st, 2017, theInternal Security Law gives broad and superseding authority to the Mexicanmilitary to engage in domestic law enforcement, including criminalinvestigative powers, but does not include specific measures for accountabilityor civilian oversight of military operations.
Members of the International Observatory,which includes 10 international human rights and justice groups, have warnedthat the Law could only add to the current climate of impunity in Mexico, giventhe Mexican military’s repeated failure to hold its personnel accountable forgross human rights violations, including forced disappearances, torture and extra-judicialkillings.
Indeed, only last week the UNHigh Commissioner for Human Rights concluded that, in the investigation intothe disappearance of 43 students from Ayotzinapa in 2014, “there are stronggrounds to believe” that some of the people apprehended and accused in the casewere arbitrarily detained and tortured by federal officials. It furtherhighlights “an almost uniform modus operandi” of arbitrarily detaining andtorturing people to extract information or confessions, and of significantdelays in bringing them before a public prosecutor.
On March 2nd, the IACHR held a hearingduring its recent session in Bogota, Colombia, and included testimony fromMexican human rights defenders and responses from representatives of Mexico’sgovernment. Prior to the Law’s passage, the IACHR had expressed its concernabout the human rights risks posed by the Law and warned that it includesprovisions that are contrary to international human rights standards. In fact,the IACHR urged Mexico to “develop a concrete plan for the gradual withdrawalof the Armed Forces from public security tasks and for the recovery of suchtasks by the civilian police force,” while strengthening the capacity of thepolice to carry out public security tasks.
These concerns were restated by a numberof commissioners during the hearing. They expressed concern that the armedforces not only lack the appropriate training to deal with citizen security,but that the Law also threatens other core rights, including the right to protestand the right to access information.
The members of the InternationalObservatory welcomed the IACHR’s continued interest in this issue, but weredisappointed by the response of the Mexican government, which included:
1) Arguingthat the Law was justified because civilian law enforcement agencies had beencompromised by ties to criminal gangs in several cases. This claim ignoresother factors, including the fact that the deployment of the armed forces hasincreased violence in parts of the country and that soldiers and marinesfrequently commit human rights abuses with impunity, or the fact that the armedforces are far from immune of being influenced by organized crime.
2) Citingexamples of troops being deployed in counter-terrorism operations in severalEuropean countries. This claim again ignores the armed forces’ dismal record ofinvolvement in abuse and the government’s failure to hold those responsible toaccount.
On March 13th, theIACHR expressed "deep concern" over the presidential decree that authorizesa federal intervention regarding matters of public order in the state of Rio deJaneiro, Brazil, as it grants extensive powers to the armed forces to restoreorder and places the police forces under the command of an Army general. Thesimilarities with the Mexican case are evident and we expect a reaction just asstrong.
The International Observatory on HumanRights in Mexico was established in December 2017 by 10 international humanrights and justice groups to monitor the country’s human rights situation andto support national civil society partners in the face of growing threats.
The International Observatory’s inauguralmembers include: Amnesty International, the Center for Justice andInternational Law, the Due Process of Law Foundation, the German Network forHuman Rights in Mexico, Latin America Working Group, Peace BrigadesInternational, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, Washington Office on LatinAmerica, the Open Society Justice Initiative and the World Organisation AgainstTorture.