Accusations of Torture in Mexico’s Drug War!

Last week the Obama administration demanded a full report on the actions of federal forces in Mexico’s President Calderon’s war on drugs. The State Department threatened to cancel more than $100 million in funds from the Merida Initiative, a $1.4 billion three-year program of military assistance, if the report is not thorough and convincing.

The State Department’s actions follow an article published in the Washington Post last week which documented abuses by military personnel, including torture, beatings, rape and illegal home searches. Mexicans complain that soldiers have broken into their homes without warrants, made arrests without cause and stolen appliances and food.

Allegations of human rights abuses by federal army troops involved in police activities in dozens of cities around Mexico have increased dramatically. Today, Human Rights Watch, based in Washington DC, added their voice to the cry. In a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, the Washington-based group said Mexico’s military courts have failed to bring to justice troops Human Rights Watch holds responsible for a “rapidly growing number of serious abuses.”

Under the multiyear Merida Initiative aid package, the U.S. government withholds a 15 percent portion of the aid until the Secretary of State reports that Mexico is meeting human-rights conditions. One condition is that civilian authorities are investigating and prosecuting alleged abuses by troops and federal police “in accordance with Mexican and international law.” Mexico says it takes allegations against soldiers seriously but it insists that, under Mexican law, only military courts can try soldiers.

Sources within the Mexican government claim the U.S. State Department is not insisting on a full accounting of illegal detentions, torture and other abuses committed by the army. Mexico’s President Calderon intends to send a delegation to the Washington to clear up any “misunderstandings” the Obama administration might have about his war on drugs.

–written with input from the Mexico Solidarity Network

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