LAWG & Nongovernmental Letters, Memos, and Statements

On June 25, 2012, the Latin America Working Group and partner U.S. and Mexican organizations issued a memo to the State Department and congressional leaders stating that Mexico has failed to make meaningful progress in key human rights areas identified by the U.S. Congress, including an end to impunity for human rights abuses committed by soldiers and police and the prohibition of the use of testimony gained through torture. 

To read the full memo, click here.

On Monday, May 4, 2012 Vidulfo Rosales Sierra, a human rights lawyer who has worked tirelessly with Tlachinollan, a human rights center in the mountains of Guerrero, received an anonymous death threat alluding to certain cases taken on by the organization.  Understandably, Vidulfo has left Mexico for fear over his safety. The threat stated:

Monday, May 28 marked the two-year anniversary of the death of Anastasio Hernandez Rojas, a San Diego resident who was brutally beaten, tased, and ultimately killed by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents in 2010. Unfortunately, those responsible have yet to be held accountable for his tragic death.

We want to see just U.S. policy towards Mexico and the border region, and we know that you do too. Over the past year we have worked tirelessly for real policy change in Washington that prioritizes human rights, and we have made real progress. Collaborating with partners like you, we pushed  the U.S. to stop sending helicopters and other aid to the Mexican military, drew attention to the ways the U.S. fuels drug violence in Mexico, and alerted the White House to the humanitarian crisis of violence against migrants on both sides of the border.