Open Society Justice Initiative 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 1 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 2 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).