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Peace in Mexico? Security and Human Rights Discusses the Tion and a Proliferation of Non-State Armed in the Production of Firearms4

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Peace in Mexico? Security and Human Rights Discusses the Tion and a Proliferation of Non-State Armed in the Production of Firearms4 PEACE BRIGADES INTERNATIONAL MEXICO PROJECT making space for peace “Peace in Mexico?” Security Strategies and Human Rights Mexico Project Bulletin “Peace in Mexico?” | PBI México 2014 1 REGIONAL CONTEXT Table Editorial In Context: of Contents Mexico as an example of Latin America 2 Editorial Since the beginning of the “war on organized crime,” which started at the begin- ning of Felipe Calderon’s administration in 2006, Mexico has faced a context of ex- 3 In Context: Mexico as an example of treme violence and insecurity that has seriously affected the human rights panorama Latin America in the country. 5 “Recovering peace and freedom”: logic and reality of the current security strategy The public security policies implemented since then have focused on fighting orga- nized crime with a militarization strategy that has led to a drastic increase in human 9 Working towards a criminal justice system: rights violations. The factors that contributed to the increase in organized crime - such impunity and a respect for human rights as impunity, corruption, and the extreme socio-economic inequalities that persist in during the first two years of the Peña Nieto Mexico - have not been prioritized in the same way as the fight against organized Administration crime. 10 Increased risk for HRDs When his administration began at the end of 2012, Enrique Peña Nieto announced 14 Protection mechanism for defenders and a new security strategy, which was presented with the motto “Peace in Mexico.” journalists: a civil society initiative This was one of the main themes of the National Development Plan for 2014-2018, a document produced by the Federal Executive. Since then, the Government has 15 Overcoming impotence: civil society gets created reforms and taken other actions in an attempt to diminish the violence. At the organized same time, PBI has seen a decrease in reports in the national and international press about insecurity in Mexico. In spite of the positive changes in Mexico’s image, civil Members of the Paso del Norte Human RIghts Center show the Juarez Valley to a PBI volunteer © PBI Women human rights defenders organi- 16 society organizations have expressed concern over the persistence of violence and ze in the face of risks and challenges in Mexico cannot be analyzed separately se policies show that there is a belief that Cooperation BETWEEN THE UNITED Sta- Mexico they believe that it is important to inform key actors in the international and national community about the continuous effects of the public security policies on human from other countries because its violent the military and police should respond to TES AND MEXICO: THE MERIDA InitiatiVE 17 From isolation to organization: migrant rights and the people that they defend. situation is not unique. Similar to other this issue in the countries where drugs shelters form a network countries in the region, it suffers from a are produced and trafficked and fail to The Merida Initiative is a security coope- In order to respond to this request from civil society, PBI is working to provide visibili- lack of rule of law, drastic economic and recognize the United States’ role in the ration agreement initially signed by Pre- 18 The search continues: United forces for our ty to the security context in Mexico and the consequences for the defense of human social inequalities amongst the popula- consumption and trafficking of drugs and sidents Felipe Calderon and George W. disappeared in Coahuila rights in the country. Peace in Mexico? Security and Human Rights discusses the tion and a proliferation of non-state armed in the production of firearms4. The United Bush, and remains in effect under the issue of public security from the perspective of human rights defenders who suffer groups. It also has high levels of criminal States’ strategy focuses on capturing lea- current administrations of Enrique Peña 19 Armed civil groups in Mexico: self-defense violence. According to the United Nations ders of criminal groups and confiscating Nieto and Barack Obama. In contrast with groups and community police the consequences of this context, since it affects their security situation, their rela- tionship with the Mexican state and the perception of their status as human rights Development Program (UNDP), “[t]he La- drugs without clearly having an impact on Plan Colombia, which was implemented 5 during an armed conflict and clearly had a 20 PBI’s work in the context of the war against defenders. HRDs have organized themselves in order to react to this context; they tin American region [...] carries a heavy reducing production and trafficking . organized crime - a reflection accompany victims, form networks, and propose solutions that respond to the parti- burden of violence, registering more than counter-insurgent component, the Merida cular needs of the most vulnerable groups. They demand justice, a new paradigm for 100,000 homicides.. per year. Most coun- The negative social and political conse- Initiative was announced in October 2007 22 Conclusion and recommendations human security, a new model for combating organized crime, an end to corruption, tries in the region have homicide rates quences of this strategy6 have recently as a way to support Mexico in its fight and human rights focused public security policies. that are at epidemic levels according to pushed several Latin American countries against organized crime and to “counter the World Health Organization, with much to question it and open a debate in the the violence caused by drugs that threaten 8 Despite the official discourse, PBI has not observed Peace in Mexico during the first higher rates than in other regions [of the Organization of American States (OAS)7 citizens on both sides of the border.” The two years of Peña Nieto’s term, and is concerned about the continuing problems world]3. about the drug policies in the region. For Merida Initiative never stipulated that the related to public security policies and their effects on human rights in the country. An the first time in March 2014, the Inter- US military would directly participate on example of this are the recent events in Tlatlaya, State of Mexico, where members of The causes and expressions of violence American Commission on Human Rights Mexican soil and mainly focused on provi- the Army allegedly executed 22 people1, and Iguala, Guerrero, where members of the among Latin America countries are di- (IACHR) held a hearing to analyze the im- ding equipment and training to the Armed municipal police are being investigated for the homicide of 6 people and for allegedly verse and respond to the particular local pact of the drug policies on human rights Forces and the Mexican police who are disappearing 43 students2. context of each one of them. The UNDP in the Americas, in this way recognizing involved in the “war on drugs”. The US report warns that the multiple expres- the importance of the issue. Congress has allocated 2.1billion dollars, PBI constantly conducts context analysis and maintains a continuous exchange of sions of violence (gender violence, co- and as of July 2014, 1.2 billion dollars have 9 ideas with human rights organizations. This publication is based on interviews with rruption, gang violence, violence by state been handed over . Since the beginning, human rights defenders who carry out their work in this context. PBI thanks all of actors) “and their local nature show that international organizations and Mexican the people who have contributed to the elaboration of this document. It is important not every crime occurring in Latin Ameri- civil society questioned the policy’s dis- to point out that PBI requested interviews with representatives from the Mexican ca can be explained by the incidence of proportionate support for the Armed For- government and the diplomatic corps present in Mexico. These interviews were not transnational organized crime.” ces, which legitimizes the role of the mili- granted and instead we have included an overview of reports and press releases from the Mexican government to complement this analysis. Still, the violence associated with orga- 3. UNDP, “Citizen Security with a Human Face: Evidence and Proposals for Latin America,” Regional Human Development nized crime is prioritized and has shaped Report 2013-2014, November 2013, p.III 4. Simone Lucatello, “El desafío del tráfico de armas en México y Centroamérica” [The challenge of arms trafficking in Mexico the public security policies in the region, and Central America] and Georgina Olson Jiménez, “El tráfico de armas de Estados Unidos hacia México” [Arms trafficking in part due to the influence of the United from the United States to Mexico] in Atlas de la Seguridad y la Defensa de México 2012, [Atlas of Security and Defense of Mexico 2012] México: CASEDE, 2013, pp.47-63. States and its prohibitionist drug policies 5. Daniel Mejía and Pascual Restrepo, “¿Por Qué Está Colapsando la Prohibición Estricta? Una Perspectiva desde los Países Military convoy sent to Chihuahua by the Federal and focus on national security. These po- Productores y de Tránsito” [Why is Strict Prohibition Collapsing? A perspective from Production and Transit countries] in Aca- Government to support the fight against organized bando con la Guerra contra las Drogas: Informe del Grupo de Expertos de LSE en Economía de las Políticas sobre Drogas, licies consider organized crime and drug [Ending the War against Drugs: Report by the Group of Experts of LSE in Economics of Drug Policies]LSE-IDEAS, May 2014 crime in January 2011, a year marked by the highest 1. OHCHR: “Mexico/Tlatlaya case: UN expert urges full investigation of possible summary executions after initial arrests” trafficking to be a problem of regional se- 6. Idem. See also: Mesoamerican Working Group, Rethinking the Drug War in Central America and Mexico, Washington DC, level of violence in the state.
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