by Suzette Diaz and Vanessa Kritzer
on October 05, 2009
As violence linked to organized crime in Mexico continues to mount and spending on a militarized approach to public security challenges expands, reports of human rights violations by members of the security forces are increasing. Policymakers in the United States and Mexico need to ask some hard questions about how to curb drug-related violence more effectively while respecting human rights. One answer includes a focus on improving and increasing accountability over police forces rather than drawing military forces into local law enforcement.
On September 17, 2009 LAWGEF joined with the Washington Office on Latin
America and the Mexico Institute at the Woodrow Wilson Center to tackle
these questions as part of a forum regarding police reform in Mexico.
by Vanessa Kritzer and Jennifer Johnson
on August 26, 2009
We were disappointed and troubled to learn last week that the U.S. government had released the chunk of Merida Initiative funds that were supposed to have been withheld until the State Department reported that Mexico had demonstrated progress in key areas of human rights.
Soon after the news of the release was confirmed, the Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez Human Rights Center, the Tlachinollan Human Rights Center, and the Fundar Center for Analysis and Investigation, three prominent Mexican human rights NGOs, released a public statement condemning the U.S. government’s action, as the “human rights obligations remain unfulfilled as Mexican security forces commit widespread, unpunished violations against the civilian population.”
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by Vanessa Kritzer, Lisa Haugaard, and Jennifer Johnson
on October 02, 2009
Actions speak louder than words.
This seems like a simple concept. But lately, the Obama Administration
and the State Department seem to have forgotten it when dealing with
Latin America. Despite serious human rights abuses by Colombian and
Mexican security forces alike, the State Department just went ahead and
declared that both countries were meeting the human rights requirements
needed in order to receive more U.S. military aid.
Click here to send a fax to Secretary of State Clinton asking her to stand up for human rights!
by Vanessa Kritzer and Pesha Magid
on August 21, 2009
As the media has been spinning many different stories about Merida Initiative funding, we've
been glad to see fellow human rights advocates getting the truth out there.
In recent months the Washington Post has provided useful and
hard-hitting coverage of some of the brutal tactics employed by
Mexico’s military and the Mexican government’s failure to hold soldiers
accountable for human rights violations. However, on August 13th the
Post’s editorial board published a disappointing op-ed arguing that
U.S. government could best assist Mexico by turning a blind eye to
these human rights violations. So earlier this week, Kenneth Roth,
Executive Director of Human Rights Watch, and Jorge G. Castañeda, the
former foreign minister of Mexico, challenged this short-sighted
assertion in a powerful letter to the editor.
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by Brian Erickson and Jennifer Johnson
on September 22, 2009
Do you remember Kevin Costner's blind determination in the movie Field of Dreams
to build a baseball field based on the direction of a mysterious voice?
Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) has heard a similar voicing stating, "If you
build it, they won't come."
He wants a 700-mile wall of pedestrian fencing built along the
U.S.-Mexico border --a measure that will harm communities and the
environment of the borderlands and do nothing to fix our broken
immigration system.
Click here to help to stop this latest attempt to expand on the failed policy of constructing more walls along our SW border.
by Vanessa Kritzer and Jennifer Johnson
on August 11, 2009
Torture, illegal raids, and forced disappearances carried out by government soldiers with no accountability. Is this what we want our government to be funding in Mexico? No. Senator Patrick Leahy felt the same way.
If you want to support the effort to prioritize human rights in Mexico over military aid, click here.
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