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Mexican Armed Forces and Security in Mexico

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Mexican Armed Forces and Security in Mexico ISSUE BRIEF 05.31.16 Mexican Armed Forces and Security in Mexico Tony Payan, Ph.D., Françoise and Edward Djerejian Fellow for Mexico Studies and Director, Mexico Center, Baker Institute Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Public Affairs and Security Studies, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley security? What are the armed forces’ rules INTRODUCTION of engagement in such activities? When and For nearly 40 years now, the Mexican armed how will they be held accountable if they forces have been engaged in tasks that are exceed their mandated duties? more closely aligned with public safety than The Mexican armed forces have a long national security. Mexico’s armed forces tradition of loyalty to the government, have in fact been asked to contribute to and their participation in what they call the national well-being through a wide “solidary and subsidiary activities” is largely range of activities, such as dealing with the motivated by their sense of duty. When they aftermath of natural disasters, running health have been called to act, they have done so campaigns, managing anti-hunger facilities, with little resistance. But the Mexican public safeguarding national strategic facilities, is increasingly uneasy with the armed forces’ patrolling Mexico’s exclusive economic zones, role and participation in security, particularly and helping in public safety and security because they operate in a regulatory limbo operations, particularly against organized and have recently been accused of human crime. In addition, they are now being asked rights abuses, abductions, torture, forced 1 to lead national efforts on cyber defense and disappearances, and sexual assaults. participate in international peace operations. Even though there have been some This is a broad agenda for a relatively small efforts to hold the armed forces accountable There is indeed 2 military—around 270,000 active personnel. for their performance, the main problem a growing debate Of these responsibilities, none is more is that no one really knows exactly what in Mexico on the controversial than efforts to utilize the armed the armed forces are supposed to do, even armed forces’ role in if everyone can cite a long list of activities forces in public safety and internal security. fighting drug trafficking There is indeed a growing debate in Mexico that the armed forces engage in. The lack on the armed forces’ role in fighting drug of clarity on their role in public safety and and organized crime, trafficking and organized crime, and taking internal security has brought them into close and taking on public on public safety and internal security duties contact with civilians without clear rules safety and internal or adequate training on engaging citizens in cities and states around the country. security duties in Engaging the armed forces in these types on a day-to-day basis. This has opened the of responsibilities is even more contentious military to accusations of due process and cities and states because their precise role in such tasks is human rights violations, allegations that the around the country. unclear and their participation remains largely armed forces have exceeded their stated unregulated. Vis-à-vis this lack of regulatory institutional capacity, and concerns that the definition, key questions have emerged. What limits of their involvement in terms of time, are the terms and limits of the armed forces’ territory, jurisdictional authority, etc. have involvement in public safety and internal been set arbitrarily. RICE UNIVERSITY’S BAKER INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY // ISSUE BRIEF // 05.31.16 Based on the maintenance of public order A LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR ARMED clause, for decades, the armed forces have FORCES ENGAGEMENT IN PUBLIC been involved in an unconventional strategy SAFETY AND INTERNAL SECURITY to combat organized crime. To achieve this Mexico’s armed forces do not act in aim, the armed forces have participated in a vacuum. There is a constitutional public safety and security operations, but framework that outlines their role.3 But by without a clear mandate, well-established design, the constitution is vague and does operating procedures, or even legal not provide operational guidance. The 1986 protections for themselves or citizens The lack of clarity Law of the Army and the Air Force and the while performing these duties. Since 2007, 2002 Law of the Navy are two enabling acts their involvement has become even more on their role in public controversial, as evidence has emerged of safety and internal (Leyes Orgánicas) that attempt to shape the role of the armed forces in Mexico.4 incidents of extra-judicial executions, torture, security has brought And although both laws call on the armed rape, and numerous violations of Mexican them into close contact forces to participate in “internal security” citizens’ constitutional rights. Since 2006, the with civilians without activities, there is no additional regulation National Commission of Human Rights (CNDH, for its acronym in Spanish5) has “received clear rules or adequate defining what this means or the terms, limits, and conditions of their engagement. approximately 9,000 complaints of abuse training on engaging Also, neither law makes a clear distinction by the armed forces, and issued reports in citizens on a day-to- between public safety, internal security, over 100 cases in which it found that army or national defense, conflating them all personnel had committed serious human day basis. 6 into a vague concept of “internal security.” rights violations.” There also have been To illustrate this confusion, the armed allegations of major human rights abuses, like forces are tasked with duties (enumerated the military’s massacre of disarmed gunmen 7 above), that in the United States would be in Tlatlaya, State of Mexico, in June 2014. The separated into law enforcement, homeland Federal Police, however, has been accused security, and national defense. of these same human rights abuses, as in 8 The absence of clearer legislation and Tanhuato, Michoacán, on May 22, 2015. regulations on the operations of the armed forces, particularly when exercising law enforcement duties, has left the armed SELF-REGULATION AND THE NEED forces open to allegations of illegal actions FOR A NEW LAW and of due process and human rights abuses In response to a new reality in Mexico in when interacting with the civilian population. The armed forces terms of security, President Enrique Peña have designed Nieto instructed the armed forces to create their own strategic a National Defense Policy document. In this FUNCTIONS OF THE ARMED FORCES document, named the “2013–2018 Sectorial documents without IN THE LAW Program for National Defense,” the armed effective legal limits According to Mexico’s Organic Law on the forces attempt to outline their strategy and on their operations. Army and the Air Force (Title I, Article 1), create guidelines for their operations in the general missions of the army and air public safety and security engagement in a force are: 1) to defend the nation’s integrity, complicated domestic security environment. independence, and sovereignty; 2) to Unfortunately, this document is not guarantee internal security; 3) to attend to regulatory or even compulsory but merely the public needs of the civilian population; declarative in nature. It was also largely 4) to advance the country’s progress written by consultants, with relatively little through civic actions and social projects; participation of the armed forces themselves. and 5) in the case of a disaster, to maintain Similarly, the armed forces also established public order, help people in need and the Joint National Defense Plan, which protect their possessions, and reconstruct outlines how the two military departments— affected zones. the Department of National Defense and the Department of the Navy—will coordinate their 2 MEXICAN ARMED FORCES AND SECURITY IN MEXICO actions in public safety and internal security. urgent in Mexico. New legislation, however, These plans are not legislation, however, and would require a national debate on the the armed forces have maintained that most meaning of and agents for public safety and of the content is confidential, arguing that internal security. Conflating these two with releasing the information would compromise national defense may no longer make sense their mission. Unfortunately, such secrecy for the armed forces as Mexico transitions also limits democratic accountability. to a functioning democracy. There needs It is also worth noting that the Mexican to be a clear distinction among all three armed forces have in fact argued for concepts. Moreover, although it is true the need for legislation to regulate their that state-to-state wars are diminishing activities since at least as far back as the in number and that non-state actors have Calderón administration, and President acquired the capability to threaten states, Calderón himself had a bill drafted, but there may no longer be a reason to involve he failed to send it to Congress and the the military in fighting organized crime or Mexican congress has refused to debate the providing internal security, if better suited issue. Clearly, neither President Calderón law enforcement organizations have not nor President Peña has made it a legislative first been given a chance. It may be better priority.9 Thus, much of the problem is to reorganize the entire domestic security The armed forces related to legislative inaction.
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