A piece on Mexico`s war on drugs from BBC (we have added some hyper links for context and further info on work by Mexican/ US Organizations)
It is Worthy noting that a ruling based upon human rights violations claims brought before courts during the "dirty war" waged by the Mexican Armed Forces in the 60- 70`s is to be implemented in the midst of the "War on drugs" waged by the same Armed Forces presumably under orders of President Calderon:
Mexico's Supreme Court has said that soldiers accused of human rights
abuses against civilians should be tried in civilian - not military -
courts.
Rights groups say violations by army personnel have risen sharply
since troops were deployed against the drug gangs in late 2006.
Until now, soldiers have been tried by military tribunals.
Activists hailed the decision but highlighted shortcomings in
Mexico's civilian courts.
The Supreme Court set out restrictions on the extent of the
military code of justice in Mexico.
"Whenever a civilian's human rights have been violated by the
armed forces, jurisdiction will be in civil courts," said Supreme Court
Justice Arturo Zaldivar.
The justices agreed that "Mexican judges should apply the
criteria of restricting military justice in future cases", a court
statement said. Over the last few years, allegations of abuses by soldiers
have become more frequent. In many cities in Mexico, the army has
policing powers and direct contact with the population.
Soldiers have been accused of opening fire on civilians at
checkpoints in areas where drug gangs operate, and of carrying out
illegal arrests and searches.
“We can transfer all the cases
currently in military courts to civilian courts, but if civilian justice
doesn't function, this won't amount to much "
Alberto Herrera
Amnesty International
The National Human Rights Commission says it has received more than 5,000 complaints about alleged
abuses by the military since President Felipe Calderon launched his
offensive against the drug gangs in December 2006. Activists say few soldiers have been prosecuted for abuses
and even fewer convicted by the military courts.
Impunity
Human rights groups broadly welcomed Tuesday's decision, while
saying they would watch to see how it is implemented. "We like it, and we hope that it begins to be applied soon,"
human rights lawyer Andres Diaz told the Associated Press.
Alberto Herrera, head of Amnesty International in Mexico,
said that this was a first step but that "scandalous impunity" was not
only found in the military but the civilian judiciary. "We can transfer all the cases currently in military courts
to civilian courts, but if civilian justice doesn't function, this won't
amount to much," he told Mexican media.
The government said it would work to implement the Supreme
Court's findings. A statement said efforts would continue to strengthen
military courts and thereby military discipline, "an indispensable
element to allow the armed forces to fulfil the duties assigned to
them".
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights called last year for
Mexico to reform its military justice system.
This was based on the case of a left-wing activist, Rosendo Radilla, who was detained in the 1970s by the army and never seen again.
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| Mexican troops operating in a random checkpoint. |
More info:
- Asociación de Familiares de Detenidos Desaparecidos,Victimas de Violaciones de Derechos humanos en Mexico (AFADEM )-who brought the case of Rosendo Radilla before the IACHR
- Peace Brigades International presence and work in Mexico. Good article on the Radilla case by Dr Peter Watt, University of Sheffield
- Abused and Afraid in Ciudad Juarez 2010 WOLA report on human rights violations documented during the Joint Operation Chihuahua
- Rosendo Radilla Case: An Open Wound from Mexico's Dirty War A short video by the Hub Witness Platform
- Human Rights Watch release on the ruling
- BBC on the Mexico`s war on drugs forced disappearances
- Wikipedia has a good section on Mexican Drug War
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