US-MEXICO: Rights Group Urges Review of Aid in Light of Abuses

[Judi Lynn]

US-MEXICO: Rights Group Urges Review of Aid in Light of Abuses
By Marina Litvinsky

WASHINGTON, Jul 13 (IPS) - The U.S. State Department should not certify Mexico's compliance with the Merida Initiative's human rights requirements so long as the Mexican army continues to commit human rights abuses without proper investigation and punishment, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, released Monday.

The letter expresses concern over the rapidly growing number of serious abuses committed by the Mexican military during counternarcotics and public security operations, including rapes, killings, torture, and arbitrary detentions, and the failure to bring those responsible to justice.

The Mérida Initiative is a 1.4-billion-dollar, multi-year regional aid package to help address the increasing violence and corruption of heavily armed drug cartels that President George W. Bush requested in June 2007.

The U.S. Congress mandated that 15 percent of funds to be provided to Mexico should be withheld until the secretary of state reports to Congress that the Mexican government has met four human rights conditions. They include the requirement that military abuses be investigated and prosecuted by civilian rather than military authorities.

"The Merida Initiative provides the Obama administration with an important opportunity to strengthen U.S.-Mexican drug enforcement and human rights cooperation," Kenneth Roth, executive director of HRW, said in the letter. "To capitalize on this opportunity, however, the Obama administration should vigorously enforce the human rights requirements included in the aid package."

Since the 1970s, the U.S. has collaborated with Mexican authorities and provided assistance to Mexico to combat transnational crimes associated with drug trafficking. With support from the U.S., President Felipe Calderón has deployed nearly 45,000 troops in parts of Mexico and along the border in the last three years.

Mexican drug cartels handle 90 percent of all cocaine that enters the U.S. and, as was revealed in a June U.S. Government Accountability Office report (GAO), obtain many of their firearms from the U.S.

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