Mexico’s human rights crisis must be the No. 1 topic
Trudeau should push Peña Nieto for meaningful reforms,
At the heart of the crisis is a catastrophic epidemic of disappearances that has traumatized families throughout the country. A staggering 27,000 people have been reported missing or disappeared in Mexico since 2006, most during the administration of Peña Nieto. Alex Neve
North American friendship is in the air. It is Canada’s turn to host the North American Leaders Summit, a meeting of Canada’s prime minister and the U.S. and Mexican presidents that has come to be known as the “Three Amigos” over the years.
But before the trio of friends get together Wednesday, Mexico’s President Enrique Peña Nieto will travel to Canada for an official visit. Several issues will dominate his talks with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Mexico’s chilling human rights crisis must top that list.
For that is precisely what it is: a human rights crisis. Canadians were reminded of that grim reality this week as four remarkable female human rights defenders travelled to Ottawa for meetings with parliamentarians, officials and civil society allies. The accounts they shared are deeply troubling.
At the heart of the crisis is a catastrophic epidemic of disappearances that has traumatized families throughout the country. A staggering 27,000 people have been reported missing or disappeared sin Mexico since 2006, most during the administration of Peña Nieto. The case of 43 students from the Ayotzinapa Teachers’ College in 2014, who disappeared after being attacked by police and gunmen, is shockingly emblematic of the collusion between security forces and organized crime, as well as the lack of willingness to bring the guilty to justice.
Equally disturbing is the widespread use of torture — and sexual torture of women — by police and military in Mexico. Entrenched impunity shields the torturers from facing justice. There have only been 15 federal convictions for torture in the past 25 years. That stands in sharp contrast to the numbers of complaints of torture that have been filed, one measure of which is that 7,000 cases were filed with the National Human Rights Commission between 2010 and 2013 alone.
Migrants and refugees, particularly those from Central American countries, are among the most vulnerable to grave human rights violations in Mexico, including extrajudicial killings, rape, torture and disappearance. There have been numerous grim discoveries of mass graves, none properly investigated.
Gender-based violence continues to blight the lives of women and girls. Once again, impunity for killings, disappearances, abductions and sexual violence against women and girls is pervasive. On average during 2013-14, seven women were killed daily in Mexico. It is estimated that a staggering 67 of every 100 women in the country have experienced violence.
Against this grim backdrop, the brave women, men and young people who speak out and defend human rights in Mexico are themselves at risk. Human rights defenders are threatened, intimidated, harassed and killed every year in the country. They are also arrested and imprisoned on trumped-up charges.
Trudeau has to put these realities on the table in his discussions with Peña Nieto. That means pushing for meaningful reforms — no more empty promises — to address this crisis.
That should include pressing for emblematic human rights cases to be resolved, including two of the women who travelled to Canada to share their experiences. Claudia Medina was tortured and sexually assaulted while arbitrarily detained on a Mexican naval base. Brenda Rangel Ortiz continues to live in fear, amid threats from those trying to stop her relentless campaign for answers about the fate of her brother Hector, who disappeared in 2009. They could use strong words of support from the prime minister.
The prime minister should insist on measurable advances to overcome the entrenched impunity that protects human rights violators from facing justice. He should highlight as well that it is long past time for the Peña Nieto government to implement the many reforms that United Nations and inter-American human rights bodies have recommended to Mexico.
At the same time, there are steps the prime minister could take to concretely demonstrate that Canada recognizes the gravity of Mexico’s human rights crisis.
A good place to start would be to remove Mexico from the list of countries considered to be “safe” countries of origin for the purposes of refugee determination in Canada; and repeal the country of origin list more generally.
Peña Nieto comes to Canada amid a spirit of friendship — the friendship between Canada and Mexico and the friendship of the North American “Three Amigos” relationship.
There is no more powerful way to demonstrate the strength and genuine character of that friendship than to have honest conversations, offer frank advice and lay out clear expectations of the need for major human rights change in Mexico.