14 Facts about Torture in Mexico
October 22, 2014
14 Facts about Torture in Mexico
For years Amnesty International has been investigating and recording evidence of torture in Mexico. The latest report, Out of Control: Torture and other ill-treatment in Mexico, is full of shocking facts about just how widespread and toxic the problem is. We found:
1. Torture and other ill-treatment is out of control in Mexico – the number of reported complaints in 2013 (1,505) was 600 per cent higher compared to 2003, according to the National Human Rights Commission. Even that increase is probably an underestimate of the true figures.
2. Between 2010 and the end of 2013 the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) received more than 7,000 complaints for torture and other ill-treatment. The CNDH has seen a recent reported drop in complaints in 2014, but rates are still far higher than a decade ago.
3. Fear of torture is widespread. 64 per cent of Mexicans are scared of being tortured if taken into custody, according to a recent survey commissioned by Amnesty International.
4. Reports of torture and other ill-treatment increased as violence spiralled in Mexico after 2006, as a result of the government’s “war on drugs”.
More:
http://www.amnestyusa.org/news/news-item/14-facts-about-torture-in-mexico
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Looking for answers for what happened in 2006 when the violence exploded in Mexico regarding drug trafficking:
The Mérida Initiative (also called Plan Mexico by critics, in reference to Plan Colombia) is a security cooperation agreement between the United States and the government of Mexico and the countries of Central America, with the declared aim of combating the threats of drug trafficking, transnational organized crime and money laundering. The assistance includes training, equipment and intelligence.
In seeking partnership with the United States, Mexican officials point out that the illicit drug trade is a shared problem in need of a shared solution, and remark that most of the financing for the Mexican traffickers comes from American drug consumers. U.S. law enforcement officials estimate that US$12 to 15 billion per year flows from the United States to the Mexican traffickers, and that is just in cash, i.e., not including the money sent by wire transfers.[1] Other government agencies, including the Government Accountability Office and the National Drug Intelligence Center, have estimated that Mexico's cartels earn upwards of $23 billion per year in illicit drug revenue from the United States.[2][3]
U.S. State Department officials were aware that former Mexican President Felipe Calderón’s willingness to work with the United States was unprecedented on issues of security, crime and drugs,[4] so the U.S. Congress passed legislation in late June 2008 to provide Mexico with $400 million and Central American countries with $65 million that year for the Mérida Initiative. The initiative was announced on 22 October 2007 and signed into law on June 30, 2008.
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Mexico remains a transit and not a cocaine production country. Marijuana and methamphetamine production do take place in Mexico and are responsible for an estimated 80% of the methamphetamine on the streets in the United States,[5] while 1100 metric tons of marijuana are smuggled each year from Mexico.[6]
In 1990, just over half the cocaine imported into the U.S. came through Mexico. By 2007, that had risen to more than 90 percent, according to U.S. State Department estimates.[7] Although violence between drug cartels has been occurring long before the war began, the government used its police forces in the 1990s and early 2000s with little effect. That changed on December 11, 2006, when newly elected President Felipe Calderón sent 6,500 federal troops to the state of Michoacán to put an end to drug violence there. This action is regarded as the first major retaliation made against cartel operations, and is generally viewed as the starting point of the war between the government and the drug cartels. [8] As time progressed, Calderón continued to escalate his anti-drug campaign, in which there are now well over 25,000 troops involved.
More:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%A9rida_Initiative