Mexico & Nafta - November 2013 (ISSN 1741-444X)

The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) has conducted its Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Mexico’s progress on the human rights front. The Mexican government says it believes that it has “done very well” in the review. But many local and international rights advocacy groups beg to differ and have renewed their calls for the Mexican government to do a lot more to improve human rights in the country.

Following the conclusion of the UPR (which was conducted at the United Nations headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland), Juan Manuel Gómez Robledo, the deputy minister for human rights and multilateral affairs at Mexico’s foreign ministry, remarked that “The common denominator has been the recognition of the great strides that have been made in the past couple of years in the different aspects of this subject area”. According to Gómez, all 89 delegations that took to the floor in the process “without exception” recognised the “enormous progress” made by the country in recent years, particularly from the “juridical-institutional point of view”. Gómez said that in particular Mexico’s efforts to overhaul its legislation and public policies so as to address some of the relevant human rights issues affecting the country were recognised.

These efforts, which Gómez said included: the reform of the penal code to more heavily punish the crime of forceful disappearance as per international standards; the 2011 constitutional reform which amended 11 articles so as to recognise the universality of human rights and the international treaties that uphold them; and the January approval of the law of victims, which also required minor constitutional changes, and which for the first time establishes the Mexican State’s obligation to compensate the victims of human rights violations committed in the country, all appear to be significant. It is no wonder that Gómez concluded that the latest UPR “greatly contrasted” with the first one four years ago. when the UNHRC presented Mexico with 91 recommendations aimed at strengthening human rights in the country.

Foreign Minister José Antonio Meade Kuribreña, who also attended the UPR, made the point that Mexico had accepted and addressed 83 of the previous recommendations by providing increased assistance to the victims of crime and human rights violations, all of which he put forward as “proof that Mexico is addressing its public security problems with a new focus”. Nevertheless, Meade also recognised that “an important” number of delegations also pointed to the significant challenges faced by Mexico in “perfecting the foundations which we now put down”. After analysing the results of the UPR, the UNHRC will issue its verdict on Mexico’s progress and propose more recommendations if necessary.

Not enough

While the government is keen to portray itself as responsive to the concerns over the human rights situation in the county expressed by the international community, the efforts made by Mexico are largely considered insufficient by prominent human rights advocacy groups both inside and outside the country. Many claim that while positive, the various efforts pursued by the Mexican government don’t go far enough in ensuring the effective implementation of some of the recent institutional changes made in order to promote the defence of human rights [RM-13-10].

In fact in the run-up to the UPR, Amnesty International (AI) issued a statement on 21 October in which it called on the Mexican government to “do more” to defend human rights in the country and not limit itself to resorting to “fine words” to present itself as an example to follow. According to AI’s Mexico researcher, Rupert Knox, “While the Mexican government is unrivalled in its rhetorical commitment to human rights, it continues to fail to take the decisive measures it committed to”. Knox adds that the government continues to ‘turn a blind eye’ to many of the human rights violations in Mexico: “The new government, like the previous one, claims that protection of human rights is at the heart of its public security operations. However, arbitrary detentions, torture and ill treatment and disappearances continue to impact the lives of thousands of Mexicans”.

Knox accuses the Mexican government of failing to fulfil all the recommendations made by the UNHCR after the last UPR, concluding that “If the Mexican government is serious about human rights, it has to do more than come out with bold proclamations… it must fully implement the recommendations set out by the United Nations”.

Token gesture?

On 29 October Mexico’s congress approved anther addenda to the federal penal code, giving the executive the power to pardon any prisoners whose rights had been “seriously” violated. Deputy Ricardo Anaya, one of the main proponents of the change, explained that it will allow congress to request a pardon for anyone convicted of a federal or common crime whenever there is sufficient evidence of serious violations of the accused’s rights, including due process. Anaya said that the new legislation could be used to free Alberto Patishtán Gómez, a Tzotzil tribesman and teacher who was given a 60-year prison sentence after he was found to be the sole person responsible for  ambush and murder of seven police officers in Chiapas state in 2000.  In August, AI released a report into Patishtán’s case which found a series of irregularities in the due process, leading AI to denounce his sentence as “unjust”.  President Enrique Peña Nieto has already signalled that he intends to pardon Patishtán as soon as the new law is published in the official gazette

• Peña Nieto meets with SCJN

On 29 October President Peña Nieto attended a working lunch with the 11 members of the Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación (SCJN), Mexico’s supreme court. According to a presidential statement, the purpose of the meeting was to address a number of issues including “the promotion and defence of human rights and the administration of justice and due process” in the country. The meeting was also attended by Interior Minister Miguel Angel Osorio Chong, Attorney General Jesús Murillo Karam, and the presidential legal adviser, Humberto Castillejos Cervantes.