Extrajudicial Executions in the Context of the Militarization of Public Security

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Extrajudicial executions in the

context of the militarization of public

security

Report prepared for the visit of the United Nations

Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or

Arbitrary Executions

Mexican Commission for the Defense and Promotion

of Human Rights (CMDPDH)

April, 2013

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Executive Summary

In the context of the so-called “war against organized crime”, Mexico has experienced an alarming

increase in the levels of violence and insecurity in recent years. The public security strategy, based

on the use of force and militarization, has had a significant impact on gross violations of human

rights such as torture, enforced disappearances and extrajudicial executions.

To date, it is estimated that about 96.000 members of the Armed Forces have been deployed for

public security tasks that include detentions, patrols, inspections and searches, and they have

taken in charge of public security agencies in different states and municipal entities. After the new

Federal Government took power, significant changes in public safety have been proposed, but

little has been said about the incorporation of human rights standards. There is a great concern on

the creation of the “National Gendarmerie” security corp, resulting in the institutionalization of a

militarized strategy for public security.

As part of the militarized strategy, began in 2011 the Joint Operations, driven by state governors

under the National Conference of Governors (CONAGO). This type of operations facilitates the

coordination of 32 local police forces with the Federal Police and the Army in order to carry out

actions to fight against organized crime. These operations have resulted in several human rights

violations, including extrajudicial executions, which have been denied by both state and Federal

authorities. This is the case of Mr. Joaquin Figueroa, extrajudicially killed in the state of Veracruz, a

crime that still remains unpunished.

The militarization of public security has had a direct impact on homicide rates, leaving at least

80.000 executed people in events related to the fight against organized crime. The exponential

increase in the national homicide rate breaks a trend of nearly 2 0 years of steady decline.

Currently, the phenomenon is diseminated throughout the country with a greater magnitude than

previously reported. Despite the new Government at the Federal level, this trend has not changed

during the first months of the current administration.

The participation of the military forces in public security tasks has had a serious impact on human

rights in Mexico. As part of this strategy, security agencies have indiscriminately used lethal force,

taking the lives of unarmed people during operations against organized crime. Moreover, the

prevalence of military jurisdiction keeps such abuses in impunity.

Mexican authorities have justified the excessive use of force as necessary to combat organized

crime, killing tho usands of inno cent people. Abuses committed by the armed forces will not stop

until a new public security strategy is implemented with strict adherence to human rights lead by

civil authorities.

In light of the above-mentioned, we present before the UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial,

Summary or Arbitrary Executions an analysis on the effects that such public security strategy has

had on human rights in Mexico, particularly on the increase of extrajudicial executions and the

surrounding impunity. We also include a series of recommendations we hope may be taken into

account for the elaboration of the Concluding Observations and during the several meetings with

authorities.