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Human Rights are not a priority for the U.S. In War on Drugs in Mexico

by Kristin Bricker

Citing

Presidents Calderón Obama and

rights concerns humans, the Department of State U.S. has recommended that a small portion of the Merida Initiative, the aid package for Mexico drugs, temporarily on hold.

In a report sent to Congress last week, the State Department recommends that the 26 million U.S. dollars of the Merida Initiative will be retained to Mexico to improve human rights. However, in the same report, the State recommends that Congress released $ 36 million in funds that were previously withheld due to concerns of Human Rights.

Fifteen percent of each installment of the Merida Initiative funds are conditioned to remove the Mexican government the use of evidence obtained through torture in the courts, improve transparency in the police forces, prosecute soldiers accused of crimes against civilians in civilian courts, and civil society consultation on how to apply the Merida Initiative. The $ 26 million the state does not want to hold up 15% from the previous sections, for fiscal year 2010. The 36 million U.S. dollars to be freed had been held in previous sections.

notes PA (Associated Press, AP Associated Press) that "Since the Merida spending is more than a year behind the allocations, Friday's decision will have a minimal financial impact." So far the human rights conditions have not withheld the money from the Merida Initiative for longer than they have done the bureaucratic obstacles that have kept the other 85% of the untied funds.

human rights organizations were not particularly impressed by the U.S. decision to withhold $ 26 million, which constitutes only 1.7% of the $ 1.5 billion that Mexico will receive through the Merida Initiative. Nik Steinberg human rights monitors told the Washington Post: "Nothing should have been released, because Mexico simply does not meet human rights requirements. There are large and constant abuse by the military, for those with total impunity. "

the same way the Mexican government has not been impressed with the State Department's decision to withhold a portion of the funds. He refuses to meet the condition that soldiers accused of crimes against civilians be tried in civilian courts. Under the current system, the military investigates and treats all soldiers accused of crimes in the line of duty, regardless of whether the offense is a violation of military regulations or civil law.

The military rarely opt to prosecute its staff. A 2009 report from the State Department found that more than 2,000 complaints of rights human filed against the Mexican army since December 2006, only two resulted in a civil action. Mexican military reports show that since 1996 has only eight soldiers sentenced for crimes against human rights.

A State Department official on condition of anonymity, told the Reforma in Mexico that the U.S. government had decided to temporarily suspend the $ 26 million in funds for the Merida Initiative "to which Mexico has shown progress in areas such as civil oversight of the accusations against security forces for human rights violations, as well as legislation to strengthen National Commission Human Rights, "the Mexican government office that investigates human rights violations. In particular, said a source on Capitol Hill, the United States retain the funds, waiting to see what the Mexican government would keep an American Court of Human Rights ( IACHR), statements that require civil investigation and prosecution of soldiers who commit human rights abuses.

The Commission decision in question concerns the 1974 disappearance of Rosendo Radilla in the state of Guerrero. Witnesses saw Radilla soldiers stop at a military checkpoint and transported to a military base. From there, disappeared and his body was never recovered. After win your case in the IACHR, Radilla family asked the Supreme Court of Mexico to carry out the sentence of the Commission, which ordered the Mexican government to pay compensation to the family of Radilla, publish a book about his disappearance, officially recognizing role in the disappearance, continue digging to find the body of Radilla, and change Mexican law for soldiers accused of human rights abuses are tried in civilian courts.

is clear that the Mexican government was unperturbed by the State Department's decision to delay a small portion of the Merida Initiative funding: September 7 Supreme Court voted 8-3 against, even to hear the case Radilla.

Despite the rhetoric of the Obama administration concerning respect for human rights in the war against drugs in Mexico, their actions have little incentive for Mexico to improve its record. In the conditional release of funds that had been previously withheld, it sends the message that their real priority is to provide Mexico with equipment and training they need to continue fighting the increasingly violent drug war. To make matters worse, immediately after the State Department sent its report on the Merida Initiative Rights Congress Human White House officials told the Los Angeles Times that Obama's government is "considering a substantial increase in spending in the war against drugs in Mexico" because it is "a top administration priority.

human rights appear to be a secondary concern.