CONFRONTING CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY IN MEXICO Copyright © 2016 Open Society Foundations. This publication is available as a pdf on the Open Society Foundations website under a Creative Commons license that allows copying and distributing the publication, only in its entirety, as long as it is attributed to the Open Society Foundations and used for noncommercial educational or public policy purposes. Photographs may not be used separately from the publication. ISBN: 9781940983622 Published by: Open Society Foundations 224 West 57th Street New York, New York 10019 USA www.OpenSocietyFoundations.org For more information contact: Eric Witte Senior Project Manager, National Trials of Grave Crimes Open Society Justice Initiative [email protected] Design and layout by Ahlgrim Design Group Printing by GHP Media, Inc. Cover photo © Gael Gonzalez/Reuters UNDENIABLE ATROCITIES 3 CONFRONTING CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY IN MEXICO TABLE OF CONTENTS 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 3 ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THIS REPORT 6 METHODOLOGY 10 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS 21 I. THE ROOTS OF CRISIS: AUTHORITARIANISM, ORGANIZED CRIME, AND MILITARIZATION 30 II. DIMENSIONS OF THE CRISIS 46 III. CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY 96 IV. POLITICAL OBSTACLES TO CRIMINAL ACCOUNTABILITY 132 V. BUILDING ON A MIXED RECORD OF REFORM 156 VI. CONCLUSION 159 ENDNOTES UNDENIABLE ATROCITIES 4 CONFRONTING CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY IN MEXICO SECTION NAME ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This is a report of the Open Society Justice Initiative, in partnership with the Mexican Commission for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights (Comisión Mexicana de Defensa y Promoción de los Derechos Humanos), the Diocesan Center for Human Rights Fray Juan de Larios (Centro Diocesano para los Derechos Humanos Fray Juan de Larios), I(dh)eas Human Rights Strategic Litigation (I(dh)eas Litigio Estratégico en Derechos Humanos), Foundation for Justice and Rule of Law (Fundación para la Justicia y el Estado Democrático de Derecho), Citizens for Human Rights (Ciudadanos en Apoyo a los Derechos Humanos, CADHAC). Eric A. Witte, Senior Project Manager for National Trials of Grave Crimes at the Open Society Justice Initiative, was the principal author of this report. Substantial segments were written by Christian De Vos, Advocacy Officer at the Justice Initiative. David Berry edited the report. Susana SáCouto and Katherine Cleary Thompson, Director and Assistant Director of the War Crimes Research Office at American University Washington College of Law (WCL), contributed legal research and drafting on crimes against humanity, with the support of WCL students Maria Cecilia Herrera, Arturo Esteve, and Rashad Abelson. Adriana Greaves, Adi Assouline, and Glenis Perez at the Cardozo Law Human Rights and Atrocity Prevention Clinic provided research on Mexico’s federal legal framework for witness protection, under the supervision of Jocelyn Getgen Kestenbaum. Additional research was provided by Mario Patrón, and Sopio Asatiani. The Justice Initiative is grateful for input and feedback on drafts from individuals including María Luisa Aguilar, Santiago Aguirre, Ernesto Cárdenas, Michael W. Chamberlin, Ana Lorena Delgadillo, Juan Carlos Gutiérrez, Marina Patricia Jiménez, Diego Osorno, Tatiana Rincón-Covelli, Juan Manuel Solalinde, Carlos Treviño, Paulina Vega González, Jorge Verástegui. The report also benefitted from the review and input from Justice Initiative staff members Ina Zoon, Erika Dailey, James Goldston, Robert Varenik, Jonathan Birchall, Rachel Neild, Alison Cole, Emi MacLean, Betsy Apple, Marion Isobel, Martin Schönteich, and Mariana Pena. Ina Zoon oversaw the project, with indispensable support from Edit Turcsan Bain. Arturo Ávila Salazar provided outreach and audience development. The Justice Initiative wishes to thank the many individuals who provided information for the report, including government officials in federal institutions and several states, representatives of Mexican civil society, and members of the diplomatic community. The Justice Initiative also thanks the many individuals who contributed to this report but wish to remain unnamed. Above all, the Justice Initiative wishes to thank those who have been touched by atrocity crimes and were willing to share their stories. The Open Society Justice Initiative bears sole responsibility for any errors or misrepresentations. UNDENIABLE ATROCITIES 5 CONFRONTING CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY IN MEXICO ABBREVIATIONS ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THIS REPORT AFI Federal Agency of Investigation AIC Criminal Investigation Agency ASP Assembly of States Parties CADHAC Citizens in Support of Human Rights, A.C. CAPUFE Mexico’s Highway and Bridge Agency CAT UN Committee Against Torture CCDH Citizens’ Commission of Human Rights of the Northeast CDHDF Mexico City Human Rights Commission CDJI Center for the Development of International Justice CEAV Executive Commission for Attention to Victims CED Committee on Enforced Disappearances CEDAW Convention of Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women CENAPI Center for Planning, Analysis and Information for the Fight Against Crime CGI Unit for the General Coordination of Investigations CIA Central Intelligence Agency CIDE Center for Economic Research and Teaching CISEN Research and National Security Center or Federal Intelligence Agency CMDPDH Mexican Commission for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights CNDH National Human Rights Commission CNPP National Criminal Procedure Code CNS National Security Commission CONAGO National Conference of Governors DAC Development Assistance Committee DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid EAAF Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team ENVIPE National Poll of Victimization and Perception on Public Security FEMOSPP Special Prosecution for Political and Social Movements from the Past FEVIMTRA Special Prosecutor for Violence against Women and Human Trafficking FGR Federal Attorney General’s Office (Fiscalia) FIDH International Federation of Human Rights FJEDD Foundation for Justice and Democratic Rule of Law CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE UNDENIABLE ATROCITIES 6 CONFRONTING CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY IN MEXICO ABBREVIATIONS ABBREVIATIONS (CONTINUED) FUNDAR Center for Analysis and Research FUNDEM Coalition in Search of the Disappeared in Mexico FUUNDEC-M Coalition in Search of the Disappeared in Coahuila GAFES Military Special Operations Force GAN General Archive of the Nation GAT Autonomous Working Group GATE Specialized Weapons and Tactics Group GEBI Group Specialized for the Immediate Search GIEI Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts HRW Human Rights Watch IACHR Inter-American Commission on Human Rights IACtHR Inter-American Court of Human Rights IAP International Association of Prosecutors ICC International Criminal Court ICCPR International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ICRC International Committee of the Red Cross ICTJ International Center for Transitional Justice ICTR International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda ICTY International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia IFAI Federal Institute of Access to Information INEGI National Institute of Statistics and Geography INSYDE Institute for Security and Democracy ITAM Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico MPJD Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity NAFTA North American Free Trade Agreement NGO Non-Governmental Organization NSJP New Criminal Justice System OAS Organization of American States OECD Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development OMCT World Organization Against Torture OTP Office of the Prosecutor (ICC) PAN National Action Party PEMEX Mexican national petroleum company PF Federal Police UNDENIABLE ATROCITIES 7 CONFRONTING CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY IN MEXICO ABBREVIATIONS PFM Federal Ministerial Police PFP Federal Preventative Police PGR Federal Attorney General’s Office PRD Party of the Democratic Revolution PRI Institutional Revolutionary Party PROVÍCTIMA Social Prosecution for Attention to Victims of Crimes RNDDHM National Network of Human Rights Defenders in Mexico RNPED National Registry of Information of Missing or Disappeared Persons RTI right-to-information SCJN Supreme Court of Justice SEDATU Ministry for Land, Territory and Urban Development SEDENA Ministry of Defense SEGOB Ministry of the Interior SEIDO Federal Specialized Prosecution Office against Drug Trafficking SEMAR Department of the Navy SRE Ministry of Foreign Affairs SERAPAZ Services and Counseling for Peace SETEC Technical Secretariat for Justice Sector Reform SIEDO Special Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime SNSP National System of Public Security SSP Department of Public Security UN United Nations UNAM National Autonomous University of Mexico UNHCR United Nations Human Rights Council UNODC United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime UPR Universal Periodic Review WGEID UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances UNDENIABLE ATROCITIES 8 CONFRONTING CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY IN MEXICO METHODOLOGY METHODOLOGY THE OPEN SOCIETY JUSTICE INITIATIVE has been working on justice sector reform in Mexico for more than a decade. The Justice Initiative’s international and Mexican staff has worked with Mexican government entities and civil society on issues of arbitrary and excessive pretrial detention, personal liberty, and the rights to information and truth. At the end of 2006, Mexico’s federal government ordered the large-scale domestic deployment of security forces to combat organized crime, and rates of killing, disappearance, torture, and other atrocities shot up. In 2012, after it became evident that Mexico was in crisis, the Justice Initiative