HRW sees failure in the use of the Armed Forces in the country

The militarization policy in Mexico has been a failure, asserted the organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) in its report on human rights 2023.

The military, the NGO warned in its report, can legally detain civilians, take control of a crime scene and preserve evidence, while carrying out public security actions, migration control and compliance with customs regulations.

Tyler Mattiace, a researcher with the Americas Division of Human Rights Watch, explained that in Mexico the strategy of assigning public security tasks to the military has been used for 20 years and has been a failure.

The specialist mentioned that during the time in which the strategy of using the Armed Forces in public security tasks has been implemented, there has been a constant increase in violence and homicides that occur within the country.

During his participation in the conference for the presentation of the HRW World Report 2023, the researcher denounced the lack of accountability, on the part of the authorities, regarding abuses by the military in Mexico.

The report highlighted that the military elements have killed, from 2007 to September 2022, 5,335 civilians, according to government data.

While the complaints that have been filed with the National Human Rights Commission against members of the Army and the National Guard, since 2018, have been increasing.

The document published by HRW also mentions that cases of abuse by military authorities against citizens are almost never brought to justice.

In addition, it was detailed that last year Congress authorized a modification that determines that soldiers must be subject to military jurisdiction, and not civilian jurisdiction, despite the fact that they carry out public security activities.

On the other hand, the report pointed out that the Guacamaya Leaks showed that senior officials obstructed the investigation of abuses that were possibly committed by members of the Army.

policies against migrants

For his part, Ari Sawyer, a HRW researcher, explained that the immigration policies that the governments of Andrés Manuel López Obrador and Joe Biden have implemented are intended to punish migrants.

Figures from the World Report indicated that López Obrador has intensified his efforts to prevent people from crossing Mexican territory in search of reaching the United States; and for this, he has mobilized almost 30,000 soldiers to carry out immigration tasks.

Also that, during the current administration, new and stricter entry requirements have been imposed on citizens of Venezuela, Ecuador, Brazil and Colombia.

In addition, the document indicates that the asylum system in the Mexican Republic is overwhelmed since, since 2013, new applications have practically doubled per year.

The researcher indicated that all these measures, instead of stopping migration, cause people to resort to more dangerous areas to make the crossings, which endangers their lives.

“Under the Biden administration, in the past year, more than 800 people have died. So, the problem is very serious, ”she sentenced.

electoral reform

Tyler Mattiace assured that, despite the fact that “plan A” of the electoral reform was not approved, “plan B” contains parts that put democracy and free and fair elections in Mexico at risk.

“The reform that was approved in December will make it easier for public servants to use their position and use the public budget to campaign,” denounced the researcher.

politica@eleconomista.mx