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Summary: This report extracts mentions of children's rights issues in the reports of the UN Special Procedures. This does not include reports of child specific Special Procedures, such as the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, which are available as separate reports.
Please note that the language may have been edited in places for the purpose of clarity.
Reports:
- Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances
- Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers
- Special Rapporteur on Migrants
- Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women
- Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Persons
- Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing
- Representative of the Secretary-General on Mass Exoduses and Displaced Persons
- Working Group on Arbitrary Detention
- Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Migrants
- Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers
- Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions
- Special Rapporteur on Toxic & Dangerous Products
- Special Rapporteur on Torture
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Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances
(A/HRC/19/58/Add.2 )
Country visit: 18 to 31 March 2011
Report published:20 December 2011
Student Massacres:
The mission to Mexico and this report focus mainly on two different periods during which a great number of enforced disappearances took place. However, the majority of the recommendations apply to any enforced disappearance case, regardless of when it occurred. During the period known as the “Dirty War”, from the end of the 1960s until the beginning of the 1980s, the security forces carried out a policy of systematic prosecution against students, indigenous peoples, peasants, social activists and anyone suspected of being part of an opposition movement. The serious abuses committed included student massacres in 1968 and 1971 and the torture, execution and enforced disappearance of hundreds of dissidents and suspected sympathizers. Until a few years ago, Mexico refused to recognize that abuses had been committed by the security forces. It has since changed course and adopted some measures relating to the crimes committed during the “Dirty War”. An official report has claimed that the administrations of three presidents were responsible for the crimes, thus rejecting the theory that the atrocities were committed by the police or certain military units on their own initiative. The second period in question is the current security situation in which multiple cases of enforced disappearance have been and continue to be reported. The Working Group is aware of the different contexts in which these two patterns of enforced disappearances have developed and are still developing in Mexico, and these have been duly taken into account. However, it notes with great concern that, in spite of these differences, the periods share some patterns, such as widespread impunity, withholding of the whole truth and lack of reparation for the victims. (Paragraph 9)
Impunity:
Due to the prevailing impunity, many cases which could come under the scope of the offence of enforced disappearance are reported and investigated as different offences, or are not even considered to be offences. Cases of enforced disappearance are often euphemistically and popularly called levantones. The Working Group received many reports of cases in which unlawful or arbitrary deprivation of liberty was classified as a different offence, such as abduction or abuse of authority, or persons were simply considered “missing” or “lost” (particularly groups such as women, children and migrants); proper investigations are not being conducted to rule out the possibility that such persons might be victims of enforced disappearance. (Paragraph 18)
Government Initiatives:
The so-called Alba Protocol was implemented in the municipality of Ciudad Juárez (Chihuahua) to help the municipal, state and federal authorities coordinate, handle and respond to cases of disappeared women and girls. The Protocol establishes a mechanism for helping the authorities at the three levels of Government to coordinate, handle and respond to cases of missing women and girls in Ciudad Juárez. Although the Protocol is a positive step, it is geographically limited in scope, is only used in high-risk cases of disappearances of women and girls and has rarely been invoked. (Paragraph 48)
Information on cases of enforced disappearance is collected from different state institutions in an unsystematic and often inconsistent manner. The fact that this information is not centralized makes it difficult to grasp the real dimensions of the problem, particularly in terms of the number of cases registered, investigated and prosecuted, the number of exhumed and identified corpses, the institutions in charge, and the number of applications for reparation. The Federal Government recently established a national register of disappeared persons which is not specifically focused on enforced disappearances. In April 2011, the Senate adopted a bill for the establishment of a national register of information on missing children, adolescents and adults, which is currently pending approval in the Chamber of Deputies. The register will be managed by the Executive Secretary of the National Public Security System and will collect information from all sources. (Paragraph 52)
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Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers
Gabriela Carina Knaul de Albuquerque e Silva
(A/HRC/11/7/Add.2 )
Country visit: 1 to 15 October 2010
Report published:18 April 2011
Juvenile Justice Reform:
In 2006 an amendment to article 18 of the Constitution entered into force under which a special justice system for juveniles was established. Although this amendment does provide for an adversarial system and places emphasis on rehabilitation, the secondary federal legislation appears to set aside the principles of public disclosure and of adversarial, oral proceedings. Consideration is being given to an approach whereby, under a transitional article, Congress would make the necessary changes to bring the juvenile justice system into line with the new adversarial criminal justice system provided for in the 2008 constitutional reform once it has been implemented at the federal level. (Paragraph 46)
The Special Rapporteur does not understand this modus operandi, which would seem to be neglecting an opportunity to make the federal juvenile justice system an example to be emulated rather than a transitional model based on the existing, outmoded system. By definition, the juvenile justice system must be a specialized one that is not linked to the justice system for adults. The Special Rapporteur therefore recommends that the juvenile justice system adopt an oral and adversarial procedural model that includes all the protective mechanisms provided for in the Convention on the Rights of the Child and is in full compliance with international standards in the area of juvenile justice. (Paragraph 47)
Sufficient funding must also be provided for the implementation of the constitutional reform relating to the juvenile justice system at all levels, particularly in terms of the necessary infrastructure and specialized training for the system’s staff. (Paragraph 48)
The juvenile justice system. The juvenile justice system should immediately adopt an oral, adversarial procedural model that includes all the protective mechanisms provided for in the Convention on the Rights of the Child and is in full compliance with international standards in the area of juvenile justice; (Paragraph 94t)
Implementation of the constitutional reform relating to the juvenile justice system at all levels requires, as a matter of urgency, that sufficient funding be provided for the necessary infrastructure and specialized training for the system’s staff; (Paragraph 94u)
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Special Rapporteur on Migrants
Jorge Bustamante
(A/HRC/17/30/Add.3 )
Country visit: 9 to 15 March 2008
Report published:24 March 2009
Relevant Visits:
The Special Rapporteur visited three governmental migration detention centres during his visit - the Migrant Holding Centre (Estación Migratoria) Iztapalapa in Mexico City, the Migrant Holding Centre of Tijuana and the Migrant Holding Centre Modelo Siglo XXI in Tapachula – to observe migrants’ detention conditions and an official shelter for migrant children in Tapachula. The Special Rapporteur did a brief tour of the Mexico-Guatemala border near Tapachula, including the official border crossings of Talismán and Ciudad Hidalgo, with the assistance of the Beta Groups and the INM. (Paragraph 4)
Impunity:
There follows an analysis of some groups in the Mexican migrant phenomenon, including the Mexican diaspora and deportees from the United States, migrant workers (in the agricultural and domestic spheres), migrant children, including unaccompanied minors, and child labour, and migrant women. Following that the Special Rapporteur draws attention to key migration challenges, including: border control and the detention of migrants, organized crime networks and impunity among governmental and law enforcement officials; and assistance to migrants. (Paragraph 6)
Among his concerns, the Special Rapporteur notes reports of rampant impunity for instances of corruption, including bribery and extortion, and violence and abuse of labour practices, especially against women and children. Attention to the physical and psychological health of migrants seems to be of utmost urgency. The Special Rapporteur is concerned that this impunity seems to be linked to abuses of power and resources at the municipal, state and federal levels. As in the conclusions of his predecessor during her visit to Mexico in 2002 (see E/CN.4/2003/85/Add.2), the Special Rapporteur calls for an end to the dichotomy between what Mexican authorities and organizations ask for its own migrants abroad in terms of protection, and the type of treatment it offers to the foreign-born population in Mexico. (Paragraph 7)
Relevant International Obligations:
Mexico is a party to most of the international and regional human rights treaties, and the Special Rapporteur notes that, since his predecessor’s visit in 2002, Mexico has ratified the following instruments: the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, and the Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants By Land, Sea and Air, both supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, ratified on 4 May and 4 March 2003, respectively; the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, ratified on 11 April 2005; the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, ratified on 17 December 2007, and the Optional Protocol to the above Convention, ratified on 17 December 2007; and the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, ratified on 18 March 2008. (Paragraph 10)
Migration:
Within these general trends, one sees several dimensions of mixed migration flows: creation of a northward pattern of migration from Mexico to the United States; establishment of Mexico as a country of transit for migrants from Central and South America and the Caribbean and, to a much lesser extent, Asia and Africa; and evolution of Mexico into a receiving country for labourers, traders, and as a central harbour for transnational gang operators using migration as a “business” (smuggling and trafficking in persons), often linked to drug and arms cartels. These flows contain a large number of migrant children (boys and girls), including unaccompanied minors, and a small number of asylum-seekers. Females (girls, adolescents and adults) are a notable portion of these migrants, which makes them vulnerable to abuses. (Paragraph 24)
Youth Gangs:
There is no agreement as to the precise origins or motivations of the gangs. Although there are numerous copycat or splinter youth gangs, the main components are divided into two rival gangs (or maras): Barrio 18 (also known as 18th Street gang) and Mara Salvatrucha (also known as MS-13). The majority of the members are males, in their teens or early twenties. They sustain themselves by organized crime networks of smuggling in drugs and persons and extortion. They are notorious for their violence (including beheadings and mutilation), kidnappings, violence against women and their increasing geographical and numerical pervasiveness. Reports estimate there are 70,000 to 100,000 members from as far south as Honduras, spreading north to Mexico and in increasing numbers on both coasts of the United States. One cannot overstate the regional dimension of this phenomenon and its consequences, with Mexico at the centre. (Paragraph 30)
Deportees are returned to their countries of origin stigmatized and with little assistance for integration and employment; some are not fluent in Spanish. They are, however, highly trained in sophisticated organized-crime techniques. With the large number of other deportees and continual communication with members remaining in the United States, they are often able to recreate or fortify existing gang networks with relative ease. And, because of the large number of disenfranchised youth in low-income neighbourhoods of the capital cities, deportees are able to find a plethora of new recruits. In Mexico, especially along the southern border with Guatemala, it is offshoots and affiliates of these networks that operate the majority of the smuggling and trafficking networks, and are responsible for the operation of the famed “train of death” (see chapter II.B above). (Paragraph 32)
Domestic Migrant Worker Abuse:
The Special Rapporteur has received reports of various abuses related to migrants’ irregular status and sentiments of racism and xenophobia, such as overwork and wrongful termination. Of particular concern is the practice of employing child labour. There have been efforts between the Government of Mexico and the International Labour Organization to regularize the flow of seasonal workers, but many of the labour practices still occur without official involvement or oversight. The state of Chiapas is in the process of developing new programmes for assistance, including for medical care and education of families of agricultural workers, but there is much left to be done in the way of regularizing labour practices and providing recourse for abuses of migrant workers. (Paragraph 35)
The clandestine abuse of domestic migrant workers (especially from Central America) is also a major issue, but there are few programmes to protect them and little data on their numbers and nationality. As such, they may go largely unprotected and remain especially vulnerable to abuse. The Special Rapporteur received reports of wealthier Mexican families employing “servants” from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. Vague estimates state that, for example, there may be 1,000 El Salvadoran female domestic workers in Mexico City alone and hundreds of Guatemalan domestic workers in the Tapachula area, many of them below the age of 18 and from indigenous communities. Central American domestic workers reportedly earn significantly lower wages than their Mexican counterparts. (Paragraph 36)
Migrant Children:
Migrant children including labourers (predominantly in the agricultural industries) and unaccompanied minors, is an issue of increasing concern in Mexico and a stated priority of the Government of Mexico. DIF estimates that there were 21,366 unaccompanied minor and adolescent migrants attended to in 2007. INM estimates there were a total of 17,558 Mexican unaccompanied minors (internal migrants) registered in the country in 2007. Both the northern and southern border regions pose an extremely high risk for children and adolescents. Traffickers and smugglers (polleros or coyotes) - many of them operators of gangs - take minors across the border, sometimes in order to reunite them with family members who have emigrated and sometimes to hand them over to exploiters. Many of these children are in need of international protection, since they are fleeing not only poverty but also maras, criminal groups, violence and abandonment by their families and society. They are returned to countries that lack adequate protection networks and where due attention is not given to their future reintegration; this exposes them to new risks of trafficking and exploitation. (Paragraph 38)
Many migrant children are repatriated/deported back to their countries of origin. Of those deported in 2007, 47.46 per cent were Guatemalans, 36.85 per cent were Hondurans, 15.56 per cent were Salvadoran and 0.01 per cent were Nicaraguan. A total of 24 minors (15 boys, 9 girls) applied for asylum in Tapachula, representing 10.71 per cent of total asylum-seekers. The majority of these children were accompanied by their parents. None of the children were recognized as refugees in Tapachula. (Paragraph 39)
DIF is the principal governmental organization dealing with children; through 32 offices of DIF at the state level, it attempts to build capacity at the local level through child protection programmes, a network of 29 shelters and an expansive system of information-sharing on individual cases. It develops national child protection policies, as well as intervention and rehabilitation strategies for child victims, and provides shelter to migrant families and unaccompanied minors. Also, the Ministry of Social Development implements policies to combat rural poverty (there are also a significant number of internal migrants, Mexican children who move within the country to work in the agricultural industries as young as age 6) and acute manifestations of urban poverty. These policies include immigrant support clubs, child-care facilities (schools or crèches), social assistance and credit programmes in the poorest municipalities and activities to raise awareness among employers and migrant families of the need for children to attend school. This is of particular importance in the state of Chiapas, where there are many children of immigrant parents in the agricultural industry (mainly coffee plantations). (Paragraph 40)
While the Special Rapporteur welcomes the many efforts being made by the Government of Mexico to focus on protecting the human rights of migrant children, including unaccompanied minors, he expresses various concerns. First of all, it is unclear that there is a uniform policy at the federal level or across states to protect migrant children. Despite clear standards established by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Mexico is a party, the Special Rapporteur received inconsistent information about what age defined a “minor”, and therefore who deserve additional protection. This seemed to vary according to state and sex (i.e. there was a lower age for adulthood for boys, 13-15 in various cases, whereas girls could in certain circumstances be considered minors until age 17). Considering the mobility across states of many minors, and that there is no evidence to suggest that a 15-year-old boy would not need as much protection and assistance as a 15-year-old girl, for example, this policy leaves gaps for protection. This is especially important considering the high instances of violence towards girls and boys, including prostitution, other forms of sexual exploitation and trafficking (see A/HRC/7/12/Add.2). (Paragraph 41)
Moreover, despite notable initiatives to attend to victims, Mexico has no effective centralized system to protect and provide assistance to children and adolescents who have been victims of offences of sexual exploitation or any form of trafficking. While shelters and holding centres have medical care available, the average stay of a minor can be a matter of days, even hours, limiting the types of long-term care necessary to treat the psychological and medical traumas associated with migrating. Social rehabilitation or reintegration programmes are practically non-existent. This lack of assistance to child victims of sexual exploitation and trafficking is one of the causes of re-victimization. Only 3 of the 31 Mexican states punish child prostitution as a serious offence. Although the Government of Mexico seems aware of what is necessary, there are gaps in capacity and resources, as well as impunity among law-enforcement officials, and more comprehensive policies for migrant children victimized by sexual offences or trafficking have yet to be developed. (Paragraph 42)
Additionally, it is unclear from the visits of the Special Rapporteur to official government migrant-holding centres and shelters that children receive protection to the extent necessary while in the custody of Mexican authorities or during the return process. This raises questions about the length of stay, deportation procedures, relationship with consular officers, and reintegration and rehabilitation measures. While the state authorities seem to be making efforts to return children to their places of origin as soon as possible (some within hours), there were no clear signs that the children would be returned to a safe environment (not all children underwent an investigation of whether they were fleeing abuse) and whether, once they reached the border of their country of origin, that the journey to their home would be safe or that they would be safe upon arrival. (Paragraph 43)
In addition, during a visit to a shelter for migrant children in Tapachula, run by DIF in the state of Chiapas, the Special Rapporteur arrived at the centre, with a capacity to provide shelter for over 100 children, to find only 2 boys housed there. It was unclear why the shelter was empty, considering the significant number of migrant children found on the streets and that shelter space is limited. Information gathered at meetings suggested that authorities working with DIF in Chiapas, advised of the visit of the Special Rapporteur, removed the children housed in the shelter, and carried out extra preparations so that the shelter would be in good condition. It was suggested that, should any minors give the impression that their conditions were less than desirable, their absence would be ensured during the visit of the Special Rapporteur. (Paragraph 44)
Child Labour:
Child labour is prohibited nationally as well as internationally. Nevertheless, the Special Rapporteur observed rampant violations of this prohibition, with regard to child migrants from other countries as well as those Mexican children who have migrated internally. Although figures are inconclusive due to the clandestine nature of child labour, it is estimated that more than 100,000 children (nationals and non-nationals) under the age of 16 work in the Mexican agricultural industry. This is evident in the western states on the Pacific coast of Mexico. Moreover, children under the age of 16 can be found working in the mining industry, as well as in domestic service in the central and southern parts of Mexico; alarming violations of the rights of girls in the domestic sphere were specifically reported. (Paragraph 45)
These violations are acute in the case of indigenous Mexican children who have migrated internally and migrant minors from Guatemala. The Special Rapporteur heard accounts of a “word of mouth” labour market where employers exchanged information on where and how to buy “servants” in Tapachula to work in Mexico City, or in Guatemala to take across the northern border of Mexico. (Paragraph 46)
Migrant children form part of a sobering phenomenon of street children and children engaged in prostitution, confirmed by the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography who visited Mexico in May 2007. In his report to the Human Rights Council (A/HRC/7/8/Add.2), the Special Rapporteur noted that “these problems should be viewed in the context of the pressures exerted on local society as a whole by the presence of a large immigrant population. The fact that more and more children are in the street, using drugs or involved in illegal migrant smuggling or drug trafficking only increases their vulnerability and exacerbates the likelihood of their becoming victims of sexual exploitation” (Paragraph 47)
Migrant child labour is a pervasive phenomenon according to information received by the Special Rapporteur. But government efforts, especially at the state level, seem not to be commensurate with the high rates of its occurrence and the corrupt practices that permit its continuance. The Special Rapporteur welcomes recent efforts by the state of Chiapas, for example, to acknowledge the phenomenon and to combat it, but suggests that these efforts are inadequate. Not only a shift in consciousness about the reality and severity of the violations, but a more robust targeting of employers and recruiters, are in order. The first step is further investigation regarding the extent that migrant child labour is being used. (Paragraph 48)
Migrant Women:
Migrant women are particularly vulnerable in Mexico. They form the majority of cases of harassment or abuse in detention, clandestine domestic workers (sometimes “servants”), prostitutes, sexual abuse and physical and sexual assault in smuggling operations. They are also the majority of victims of trafficking (the total estimated at 16,000 to 22,000 victims annually, including children) and there are unusually high rates of homicides of women, especially in such border towns as Ciudad Juárez. Those women migrants who enter Mexico regularly or find decent work are often subject to a wage differential based on their sex, reported to be as much as 40 per cent lower than men of the same skill level. (Paragraph 49)
Organized Crime:
Transnational migration continues to be a business in Mexico, largely operated by transnational gang networks involved in smuggling and trafficking in persons and drugs, with collaboration of the local, municipal, state and federal authorities. These practices are directly related to the rise in cases of violence against women and children, especially along the northern and southern borders, and at transit points. As such, impunity for human rights abuses against migrants is rampant. With the pervasiveness of corruption at all levels of government and the close relationship that many authorities have with gang networks, incidences of extortion, rape and assault of migrants continue. The majority of the cases seem to be against migrants from Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua. (Paragraph 65)
Assistance to Migrants:
Once migrants are in the custody of migration officials, the procedures vary among regional offices. For example, some officials allow migrants to make phone calls while others do not. Some migrants interviewed stated that they were unable to make phone calls if they lacked the necessary funds, which is often the case, especially with minors. (Paragraph 73)
Recommendations:
Mexico’s progress in developing and implementing programmes to protect the human rights of migrants is evident, in terms of both the Government’s capacity and willingness. The Special Rapporteur witnessed notable efforts by Mexican authorities to improve the handling of detention centres (especially overcrowding), training of border officials, return, and protection of children. Nevertheless, there are many issues of concern that warrant further attention and resources and, accordingly, the Special Rapporteur wishes to make the following suggestions for further consideration and action. (Paragraph 81)
The Special Rapporteur received inconsistent information about at what age the federal Government and the state agencies considered migrant children as being legally “minors” and therefore deserving of additional protection. He also noted that there seemed to be differences according to sex, with girls eligible for protection longer than boys, which illustrates gaps in protection and lack of coherence in policy. The Special Rapporteur therefore recommends the revision of what is legally considered a “minor” at both the federal and state levels, and suggests that “minors” be inclusive, regardless of sex, of all children under the age of 18. (Paragraph 85)
Despite some programmes in place, the Special Rapporteur noted a general absence of public consciousness about the severity and extent of migrant child labour practices in Mexico, and calls for immediate measures to be taken by the Government of Mexico including: an enhanced national educational campaign against child labour, the further implementation of legislation that Mexico already has aimed at making child labour practices a crime, and prosecution and punishment of hiring a minor for labour at both the federal and state levels. (Paragraph 86)
The Special Rapporteur recommends that appropriate legislative reforms address impunity of human rights violations, as a major weakness of the judicial system. In this regard the Special Rapporteur recommends to the Government that it establish obligations to report annually the number of cases that involve judicial actions such as arrests and convictions for the persecution of perpetrators of violations of the human rights of migrants, particularly, of the number of cases of judicial actions against perpetrators of child labour abuses. (Paragraph 92)
While the Special Rapporteur was pleased to learn about the various United Nations agencies and country offices involved in activities to protect women and children included in the foreign-born population, he observed a fragmented approach among them, composed of disparate projects and programmes, which could benefit from increased cohesion. As such, he recommends that the United Nations Resident Coordinator, in conjunction with the International Organization for Migration, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and specialized agencies, (a) review existing programmes that work to protect the rights of migrants and (b) integrate them for a more comprehensive approach to promote the protection of migrants within the United Nations system. This may be done in accordance with United Nations offices in, inter alia, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and the United States. Considering the significant flow-through of the migration population, the Mexico offices of the United Nations have a leadership role to play in this regard. (Paragraph 93)
The Special Rapporteur, at the time of drafting this report, was pleased to receive the recommendations issued by the International Meeting on the Protection of the Rights of Children in the Context of International Migration, “Migration and human rights of children”, organized jointly by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Mexico City, held from 30 September to 1 October 2008. As such, he would like to reiterate the call to intergovernmental institutions such as the United Nations to support initiatives to promote migrant children’s rights protection, and recommends that the United Nations encourage inter-institutional coordination at the national level, including through specific mechanisms and with the participation of the civil society, consular services, local governments and the private sector. (Paragraph 94)
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Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women
Yakin Ertürk
(E/CN.4/2006/61/Add.4 )
Country visit: 1 to 25 February 2005
Report published:13 January 2006
Machista Culture:
In the machista culture, a man will see no inherent contradiction in taking offence in his wife’s style of dress while simultaneously considering her complaints about his infidelities to be an unacceptable encroachment on his personal liberty. Violence serves as the ultimate tool to uphold these double standards. Studies demonstrate that many abused women have internalized these social norms to such an extent that they may blame their husband’s alcoholism, violent childhood or personal insecurity for the violence instead of identifying the discriminatory social norms, which are instrumentalized to condone and justify violence against women in society. (Paragraph 10)
While patriarchal institutions still continue to disempower women contradictory forces of change challenge the very basis of the machismo. As men fail to fulfil their role as providers, women fill the income gap by entering the workforce. This gives them the economic independence to provide for themselves and their children, if necessary. Perhaps more importantly, working opens up opportunities for additional training and education; women become more self-confident and build non-family support networks which can facilitate departure from an abusive environment. Increased human rights consciousness, created through the efforts of the State and civil society, the international gender agenda, including the promotion of non-violent forms of masculinity, are other important factors. (Paragraph 12)
Seduction of Minors:
Other states, however, continue to uphold norms that sanction discriminatory patriarchal gender clichés and violence against women. In some states, for example, the seduction of minors is only considered to be an offence, if the victim proves to have conducted herself “with chastity and honesty” (which is usually interpreted as being a virgin) prior to the offence. Article 122 of the Chiapas Penal Code stipulates that the physical abuse of spouses and partners is not punishable if the perpetrator “exercised his right of correction towards those against whom he may exercise it” and the inflicted injuries take less than two weeks to heal. In eight states, no shelter exists for women victims of violence. Shockingly, the penal codes of 20 states fail to criminalize marital rape and 11 states do not recognize domestic violence as a specific ground for divorce.8 In this context, it is positive to note that the First Chamber of the Mexican Supreme Court, in a decision handed down on 16 November 2005, reportedly recognized marital rape as a wrongful act thereby departing from previous jurisprudence that only considered marital rape to be an illicit exercise of a right. (Paragraph 16)
Abortion:
Also a matter of concern are reports of sluggish and unprofessional investigations into rape cases that often lead to illegal, unsafe abortions endangering the reproductive health and life of the women. Reportedly, abortion-related death is the fourth highest cause of death for women in Mexico. Abortion laws differ from state to state, but generally speaking, rape constitutes a ground for legal abortion within the first months of the pregnancy. However, police often fail to promptly investigate rape cases making it difficult for victims to obtain a certificate in a timely manner to allow health institutions to carry out an abortion. In addition, the physician may reportedly refuse to carry out the abortion on the grounds that it is “immoral”. The Special Rapporteur was informed about the case of Paulina, who was raped and became pregnant at age 13. Despite a judicial order to perform an abortion, the doctor responsible first refused and then convinced her parents that they would bear responsibility in case Paulina died or became sterile due to the abortion. (Paragraph 25)
Violence Against Migrant Women:
Changing patterns of migration over the past two decades and to some extent the increased incidence of trafficking in women and girls in the region at large22 have led to a feminization of population movements across national borders. In this regard, Mexico is a sending, receiving and transit country. Women and girls from other parts of Central and Latin America enter Mexico either to find economic opportunities or transit to the United States of America. The southern border with Guatemala is particularly volatile. The often illegal nature of the migratory flows makes female migrants vulnerable to exploitation, abuse and violence. Statistics of the Mexican immigration authorities suggest that one out of every six undocumented migrants is a woman. (Paragraph 27)
Widely held prejudices against women who travel unaccompanied, coupled with their irregular status, make undocumented migrant women likely targets of violence. As a result, the patterns of violence against migrant women in Chiapas, on the border to Guatemala, increasingly resemble those observed in the State of Chihuahua. According to information provided by the National Human Rights Commission, 1,000 women have been killed in the south of the country over the past three years, far exceeding the figures in Chihuahua.24 Having paid organized human smugglers (coyotes) to cross the border, unaccompanied women and girls interrupt their journey in border towns for weeks or even months to earn money or await remittances from friends and relatives abroad before they continue northwards to more affluent regions. Without papers or financial means these women and girls are vulnerable to extortion, exploitation, sexual violence and even murder at the hands of powerful organized criminal gangs and the corrupt officials with whom these gangs are said to be allied. (Paragraph 28)
Mexico has concluded memorandums of understanding on protecting migrants, especially women, children and trafficking victims, with Guatemala in March 2004 and with El Salvador in May 2005. It is hoped that the swift implementation of these agreements will ameliorate the situation. (Paragraph 30)
Violence Against Indigenous Women:
The violence against indigenous women is rooted in the traditional patriarchal gender hierarchies of indigenous communities, ethnic stereotyping and discrimination in the wider society as well as in the relationship between the indigenous population and State institutions within the context of multiculturalism.29 Authorities in indigenous communities instrumentalize customary norms to condone domestic violence,30 particularly if women attempt to deviate from the masculine discourse and assert their own will on matters such as the number and spacing of their children.31 Indigenous women are also likely to face stigmatization and rejection by their family and community if they denounce acts of sexual violence. Both State law and custom demand that indigenous women confirm to “traditionally” ascribed behaviour. The general understanding that women often provoke domestic violence by failing to perform as expected legitimizes violence as a disciplinary and corrective tool. (Paragraph 33)
Murders/Disappearances:
The murders are said to have different motives ranging from domestic violence to drug trafficking. About one third of all murders involved sexual violence.39 In many cases the victims were also tortured and their bodies mutilated. The victims came typically from poor, underprivileged families and often worked in the maquiladoras, local bars or nightclubs. Some were continuing their education or were young, single mothers with several children. (Paragraph 40)
Criminal Proceedings:
The extortion of confessions through torture is not only a grave human rights violation in and by itself, but it may also compromise the entire investigation and lead to impunity for the actual perpetrators. The alleged recourse to brute force as an investigative tool also lends additional credibility to a number of reports which suggest that the State authorities have yet to implement the detailed recommendations of UNODC concerning modern investigative methods and documentation of investigative steps. The Special Rapporteur was informed that staff of the State Prosecutor-General has received additional training on the handling of evidence, interviewing, homicide, investigation techniques, kidnappings of minors, procurement of justice and human rights. Such training is clearly necessary but appears to be insufficient given that credible information about the torture of yet another murder suspect has emerged since this visit. (Paragraph 54)
With regard to impunity for public officials, the Special Rapporteur would also like to express outrage at the handling of the criminal proceedings against Héctor Armando L.G., a former senior police official in Ciudad Juárez who was allegedly involved in a criminal ring that recruited underage girls for pornography and prostitution. Héctor Armando L.G. Was arrested on 26 February 2004. Three days later a local judge released him against 300,000 pesos on bail considering that the alleged crimes were “not grave”. He has since disappeared and, as of September 2005, his whereabouts are unknown. (Paragraph 55)
Recommendations:
Strengthen the administration of justice, with specific attention to the barriers in law and procedure that impede the access of women, especially indigenous and migrant women, to effective judicial remedies and protection. This would include a swift implementation of the memorandums of understanding with Guatemala and El Salvador on protecting migrants, especially women, children and victims of trafficking; (Paragraph 69 a v)
Ensure that girls have equal access to primary and secondary education and technical and professional training; (Paragraph 69 f iv)
Work with authorities in indigenous communities to institute programmes that promote the observance of women’s and children’s rights in the exercise of customary law; (Paragraph 69 f v)
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Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Persons
James Anaya
(E/CN.4/2004/80/Add.2 )
Country visit: 1 to 18 June 2003
Report published:23 December 2003
Reproductive Health:
The situation of indigenous women and children is a matter of particular concern. Chiapas, Guerrero and Oaxaca are the most backward States in matters of reproductive health. In Oaxaca, an investigation of 100 indigenous women revealed a total of 209 violations of sexual and reproductive rights relating to pregnancy, birth, post-partum and abortion, and cervical cancer. The risk of dying in childbirth is more than twice as high for an indigenous woman as for a non-indigenous woman. Women in Chiapas have suffered disproportionately from violence in its different forms. (Paragraph 46)
Malnutrition:
The few data available on indigenous children are alarming. According to official figures, 56 per cent of the indigenous children in Mexico suffer from malnutrition and at least 690,000 under 4 years of age have serious nutritional and growth problems. Infant mortality is much more frequent among indigenous children than in the average child population. (Paragraph 47)
Vulnerabilities:
The Special Rapporteur received numerous communications about the lamentable situation of indigenous migrants; they migrate fundamentally for economic reasons, and women and children in this group are particularly vulnerable. In many cities, including the Federal District, indigenous migrants who lack any form of security or support are involved in begging, street vending and some poverty-related crime and are frequently subjected to abuse and extortion. Many of them practically live in the streets and have no housing or shelter of their own. The municipal authorities lack the resources to provide them with more than a minimum of assistance. In some regions where agribusiness flourishes (as in Baja California), indigenous day labourers survive in appalling conditions and the Government has launched aid projects. The indigenous people from various parts of the country who attempt to cross the border to the United States and die in the attempt also merit attention. (Paragraph 48)
Education:
In the 1960s the Ministry of Public Education inaugurated an indigenous educational curriculum at official primary schools, which eventually had several thousand bilingual teachers. A teaching method was designed with contents and methods suited to indigenous cultures, and primers were produced in the majority of indigenous languages, but the training of the bilingual teachers proved inadequate. The curriculum never received the necessary support and resources from the education authorities to become a genuine educational option for indigenous children. At the present time, the Intercultural Bilingual Education System covers 1,145,000 pupils from 47 indigenous peoples, with 50,300 teachers at 19,000 schools. The Ministry of Public Education’ estimates that 73.5 per cent of pupils complete bilingual primary education as compared with 86.3 per cent nationally. In response to insistent requests from indigenous organizations, three indigenous universities have been established (another is planned), as has the National Institute of Indigenous Languages. Twenty-five per cent of the indigenous population over 15 years of age is illiterate, women in a greater proportion than men. Thirty-nine per cent of the indigenous population between 5 and 24 years of age does not attend school. (Paragraph 49)
Discrimination:
Discrimination against indigenous people is also visible in the distribution of wealth and public goods and services, the main victims being indigenous women and children (particularly girls), and indigenous migrants in urban areas. The resources earmarked by the Government for development programmes in indigenous regions have always been inadequate, and this makes for low economic, social and human development indices. The political parties pay little attention to the indigenous problem which is also a matter of low priority on legislative agendas at the federal and State level. Despite efforts to promote the development of the community and channel services to indigenous regions, there have never been sufficient resources, nor have national approaches been a matter of priority. No sooner had the Government announced the ambitious Plan Puebla Panamá (PPP) in 2000 than the indigenous organizations questioned its possible effects on the human rights of their peoples. Although the Plan has still had no material results in the field, its announced approaches and projects continue to cause alarm. (Paragraph 61)
Violations Against Girls:
Any reliable report of violations of indigenous women/girls should be officially investigated by the public prosecutor’s office even where no official complaint has been made. (Paragraph 92)
Indigenous Migrants:
A special protection scheme should be devised for indigenous migrants in urban areas and agribusiness regions, with particular attention paid to women, children and indigenous people from Central American countries passing through Mexico. (Paragraph 100)
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Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing
Miloon Kothari
(E/CN.4/2003/5/Add.3 )
Country visit: 4 to 15 March 2002
Report published:27 March 2003
Definitions:
Based on the legal bases for his mandate given in Commission resolution 2000/9,1 the Special Rapporteur has defined the right to adequate housing as “the right of every woman, man, youth and child to gain and sustain a secure home and community in which to live in peace and dignity”. Throughout his activities, including in his two reports to the Commission on Human Rights (E/CN.4/2001/51 and E/CN.4/2002/59), the Special Rapporteur has adopted the indivisibility approach to his mandate, and aims to explore linkages with other related rights such as the rights to food, water, health, work, property, security of person, security of home, and protection against inhuman and degrading treatment. This approach also necessitates his cross-examining a range of issues related to adequate housing, including land, forced eviction, access to water and sanitation, health, poverty, the impact of globalization, gender, indigenous people, minorities and vulnerable groups. (Paragraph 3)
Relevant Visits:
This holistic approach of the Special Rapporteur was reflected in a wide range of meetings and consultations held during the mission, including with: the Commissioner of the National Commission on Housing (CONAFOVI, Comisión Nacional de Fomento a la Vivienda); the Minister of Social Development (SEDESOL, Secretaría de Desarrollo Social); the Undersecretary for Human Rights of the Ministry of External Relations (SRE, Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores); the President of the National Institute of Statistics (INEGI, Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informática); the President of the National Institute of Women (INMUJERES, Instituto Nacional de las Mujeres); the Directors of several housing finance institutions; the Executive Director of the National Human Rights Commission (Comisión Nacional de Derechos Humanos); the Director-General of the National Institute of the Indigenous People (INI, Instituto Nacional Indigenista); the President and members of the Housing Commission of the Chamber of Deputies (Comisión de Vivienda de la Cámara de Diputados); the Director-General of the Institute of Housing of the State of Chiapas; the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of Chiapas (Magistrado Presidente del Supremo Tribunal de Justicia del Estado); the Director-General of the Department of Human Settlements and Public Works of the State of Baja California (Secretario de Asentamientos Humanos y Obras Públicas); the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of Baja California (Presidente del Supremo Tribunal de Justicia del Estado Baja California); the Mayor of the City of Tijuana; the State Human Rights Commission of Baja California; the President of the Housing Commission of the Legislative Assembly of the Federal District/Mexico City (Presidente de la Comisión de Vivienda de la Asamblea Legislativa del Distrito Federal); the Secretary for Urban Development and Housing and Director-General of the Housing Institute of the Mexico City Federal District (Secretaria de Desarrollo Urbano y Vivienda, y Director General del Instituto de Vivienda del Distrito Federal); the President of the Tribunal of Justice of the Mexico City Federal District (Presidente del Tribunal de Justicia del Distrito Federal); and the Federal District Human Rights Commission. The Special Rapporteur met with the United Nations Resident Coordinator in the country and representatives of the following United Nations bodies: the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). (Paragraph 4)
Limitations to Housing:
Women’s equal ownership of, access to, and control over land and the equal rights to own property and to adequate housing, are often key determinants of the overall living conditions of women and their children. The Commission has been seized with this issue since 2000 and adopted annual resolutions on women’s equal ownership of, access to and control over land and the equal rights to own property and to adequate housing, under the leadership of the Government of Mexico. In its most recent resolution, 2002/49, the Commission requested the Special Rapporteur to prepare a study on women and adequate housing, which is submitted separately to the Commission (E/CN.4/2003/55). (Paragraph 27)
Right to Water:
From the obligation to respect, it also follows that the primacy of human rights obligations as recognized in the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action adopted by the World Conference on Human Rights should be respected at the national and international levels. This means that the State should refrain from committing itself to international agreements which negatively affect the enjoyment by its citizens of rights contained in the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, including the right to adequate housing. Mexico therefore needs to examine carefully existing and emerging agreements such as NAFTA, FTAA and the GATS, in order to ensure their consistency with covenanted obligations on the right to adequate housing, including access to basic civic services. As was apparent to the Special Rapporteur from his visits to communities around Tijuana, the impact of NAFTA and increased economic activities have brought, in addition to benefits, additional challenges to the population in terms of unsustainable population growth, rapid increase of informal settlements, often located in environmentally unsafe areas, and strain on water and other civic services. In this context, the Special Rapporteur would like to draw attention to General Comment No. 15 of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights on the right to water, which clarifies the responsibility of the State party to ensure that “no household should be denied the right to water on the grounds of their housing and land status” and that “deprived urban areas, including informal human settlements and homeless persons, should have access to properly maintained water facilities” (para. 16 (c)). With regard to international obligations, the general comment sets the normative parameter of water as a “social and cultural good, and not primarily as an economic good” (para. 11), and provides guidance to States and international organizations on formulating policies consistent with their obligations under the Covenant. The Special Rapporteur urges the Government to take into account the contents of General Comment No. 15 and, in accordance with Commission resolution 2002/21, to give full effect to housing rights, including the right to water, giving particular attention to the individuals, most often women and children, and communities living in extreme poverty. (Paragraph 34)
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Representative of the Secretary-General on Mass Exoduses and Displaced Persons
Francis M. Deng
(E/CN.4/2003/86/Add.3 )
Country visit: 18 to 28 August 2002
Report published:10 January 2003
Conditions of the Displaced:
During meetings with the internally displaced, several persons described their needs, the type of assistance they received and their overall situation. As in most countries affected by displacement, women and children make up the great majority of the displaced population in Mexico. The Representative received reports that thousands of the displaced have been suffering food shortages and malnutrition, in particular children and women. The living conditions of the internally displaced in the camps were very poor. Some of the camps, especially those more recently created, lacked regular access to drinking water and other basic services. Most internally displaced persons do not have land to cultivate and therefore must accept work at menial, low-paying jobs which do not enable them to support their families. NGOs reported that indigenous children and women in displaced families have become more vulnerable to exploitation, and displaced children often have difficulty accessing the public school system for a variety of practical reasons, including lack of financial means for transport and other necessities. Social groups and the internally displaced have called on the Government to investigate past human rights violations, to prosecute those responsible for abuses and to put an end to impunity. The Representative was informed also that, in many communities, there was a serious lack of access to justice by indigenous people, who also demanded compensation and reparation for past human rights abuses. (Paragraph 29)
During consultations with several academic and research institutions, both in Mexico City and in Chiapas, the Representative learned that important studies on the phenomenon of displacement had been undertaken. In particular, he was informed about research undertaken on the impact of displacement on women and children, the psychological impact on victims of forced displacement, the health conditions of displaced women and girls, displacement by natural disasters, and related human rights research. The Representative believes that it is important to encourage and support such initiatives to better understand the problem of displacement and the needed response. He was also encouraged to learn that many organizations were interested in participating in new research, training, and expert meetings that could lead to a better understanding of the problem and which could be organized in collaboration with the Representative and other organizations. (Paragraph 31)
Policy Recommendations:
Formulation, adoption and implementation of government policies: the federal, state and municipal authorities all assured the Representative of their commitment to effectively address the problem of internal displacement in the country. There is an urgent need for these authorities to accelerate the formulation, adoption and implementation of policies on internal displacement. Such policies should be linked to other human rights policies, plans and programmes. They should seek to address issues of protection from arbitrary displacement, current needs for protection and assistance and the possibilities for the voluntary return, resettlement or local integration of displaced persons in safety and in dignity. Such policies should take into account the specific needs of children and women and ensure that gender issues are integrated into all strategies and programmes. They should be developed in consultation with the displaced and widely disseminated. (Paragraph 41)
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Working Group on Arbitrary Detention
(E/CN.4/2003/8/Add.3 )
Country visit: 27 October to 10 November 2002
Report published:17 December 2002
Relevant Domestic Support:
The Working Group would like to express its particular gratitude to the Government of Mexico, particularly the Under-Secretary for Human Rights and Democracy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and her officials, who accompanied the Working Group during all its meetings with the authorities, and to the Permanent Mission of Mexico to the United Nations Office at Geneva for their full cooperation, openness and support before, during and after the visit. It would also like to thank United Nations officials in Mexico, including the Resident Coordinator in the country, the chief and staff of the technical cooperation programme of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the press officer of the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) and the representatives of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Mexico, for substantive and logistical support. Special mention should be made of the many Mexican NGOs which began working towards the success of the visit well before it took place. (Paragraph 3)
Relevant Visits:
The Working Group was able to visit 15 detention facilities: the Oriente women’s remand prison and men’s remand prison in the Federal District; the facilities in the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Colonia San Salvador Xochimanca, Atzcapotzalco; the migrant holding centre in Iztapalapa; the La Palma federal centre for social rehabilitation in Almoloya de Juárez, Mexico State; the Colonia Narvarte Diagnostic Centre for Minors in the Federal District; the migrant holding centre at the international airport in Mexico City; the federal centre for social rehabilitation in Puente Grande, Jalisco; the social rehabilitation centre in Iguala, Guerrero; the men’s social rehabilitation centre in Acapulco; the women’s social rehabilitation centre in Acapulco; Oaxaca prison; the Santa María Asunción regional prison in Tlaxiaco, Oaxaca; the Southern Rebel Holding Centre; and the military prison in Mexico City. This was the first time ever that the Working Group had held private meetings with detainees in a military prison. (Paragraph 4)
In the State of Guerrero, the Working Group held talks with the Secretary-General of the Government, the State Attorney-General, the Minister of Public Security and officials from the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Public Security, the Office of the Attorney-General and the State judiciary. Lastly, in the State of Oaxaca, the Working Group met with the executive’s Chief Coordinator for Human Rights, the President of the State’s High Court and officials from the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Civil Protection, the Office of the State Attorney and the State Office for Crime Prevention and Social Rehabilitation, as well as with members of the Child Welfare Council. (Paragraph 8)
Relevant International Obligations:
The Working Group was told that the Senate had approved the ratification of the following international instruments: the Inter-American Convention on Forced Disappearance of Persons, the Convention on the Non-Applicability of Statutory Limitations to War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity, the two optional protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. The Senate has also approved the declarations recognizing the competence of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and the Committee against Torture. (Paragraph 24)
Migrant and Asylum Seekers:
For this reason, the Working Group had planned to spend half of its time in the country looking into the question of migrants and asylum-seekers. However, as the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants had recently been on mission to the country and especially as there was not enough time, the Working Group decided to limit its investigations to visits to the following two centres:
(a) The migrant holding centre in Delegación Iztapalapa, in the Federal District, which is the largest holding centre for undocumented persons in the country. On the day of the Working Group’s visit, the centre held 218 persons, including 55 women and 12 children (it can hold up to 250 persons), from 28 different countries. Although the vast majority of these foreigners were from Central and South America, the Working Group observed significant numbers of Chinese nationals and nationals of Balkan countries. Citizens from Latin American countries usually stay in the migrant holding centre for a few weeks before being sent back to their country of origin. Nationals of countries in other regions tend to stay longer: some had been in the holding centre for three or four months because of logistical problems and, in the case of some nationalities, because of the lack of a consular or diplomatic representative in Mexico, which made it particularly difficult to determine a person’s true nationality; (Paragraph 34a)
Juvenile Justice:
Children and teenagers are still detained in Mexico under the policy on “minors in illegal situations”, even though the country has ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child. There are still no judges or public prosecutors specialized in children; they are charged with the same criminal offences as adults; an administrative authority determines the penalties (guardianship councils, child welfare councils - even though one of their members may be a judge); and the minimum ages for criminal responsibility in most Mexican States violate the Convention on the Rights of the Child (though not in Jalisco, Guerrero, Nuevo León or Zacatecas). (Paragraph 57)
Although the general conditions in the two centres for youth offenders visited by the Working Group (in the Federal District and Oaxaca) appear to be adequate, the Working Group observed that children aged 13 were being held, something which appears to confirm that custodial measures are not a last resort, as called for by the Convention on the Rights of the Child. (Paragraph 58)
Recommendations:
Tackling the reforms needed to bring domestic legislation dealing with children, particularly with the protection of children’s freedom, into line with international standards for juvenile justice; (Paragraph 72c)
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Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Migrants
Gabriela Rodríquez Pizarro
(E/CN.4/2003/85/Add.2 )
Country visit: 25 February to 6 March 200 2
Report published:30 October 2002
Situation of Children:
In this report the Special Rapporteur describes what she saw in Mexico from a constructive standpoint which seeks to identify good practices, and also areas where migrants are confronted with situations of vulnerability and where State action would appear to be of crucial importance. She also examines the role of other protagonists in the migration process, including non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the private sector. Throughout the report, account is taken of gender equity and the particular situation of migrant boys and girls. Since Mexico is simultaneously a country of origin, a receiving country and a transit country, the migration process in Mexico is somewhat complex; this report attempts to reflect this fact without claiming in any way to be exhaustive. Its scope is limited to the facts which the Special Rapporteur was able to observe and the information she was given during her visit. She hopes that the content of this report will be interpreted as a further item in the necessary dialogue between the State, civil society and migrants with the aim of ensuring the full realization of the human rights of migrants. (Paragraph 2)
Vulnerability of Migrants:
The Special Rapporteur observed a general climate of harassment and exploitation of the vulnerability of migrants. She believes that efforts to protect migrants’ dignity should be stepped as a matter of urgency by all concerned. She heard testimony from men, women and children who had been attacked by criminal gangs specializing in attacking foreign migrants in transit. On a number of occasions, migrants who were being attacked were allegedly forced to go to isolated spots where they were made to undress and were insulted, mocked and threatened with violence or death if they complained or resisted. The Special Rapporteur heard stories of women who were sexually abused and raped by the criminals in front of their husbands. (Paragraph 18)
There have also been reports of abuse by a number of public officials. Most of the migrants interviewed said they were blackmailed when they were caught, sometimes by public officials. One Nicaraguan detained in the Social Rehabilitation Centre in Tapachula explained to the Special Rapporteur that he had been falsely accused of theft for trying to stop his wife from being raped by police officers. In addition, the officers stripped the couple and their baby and took the money they had hidden in the baby’s shoe. Some of the migrants said there appeared to be some kind of complicity between the people-smugglers, who are also known as “coyotes” or “polleros”, and the criminals who attacked them and/or the police officers who extorted money from them. The Special Rapporteur was very concerned to observe the prevailing climate of impunity, in which violations of the rights of men and women migrants occur very quickly and go unreported. (Paragraph 19)
Migrants also told the Special Rapporteur about cases of fraud and even kidnapping committed by smugglers at both the northern and southern borders. When they kidnapped a migrant, the criminals would make contact with his or her relatives and the migrant would only be released and allowed to continue the journey to the north if money was paid. Migrants who need help from smugglers to get across the border pay up to US$ 1,500 each and run the risk of being abandoned and/or abused by the smugglers during the crossing. Women and unaccompanied children are particularly vulnerable to this kind of abuse. (Paragraph 21)
Government Initiatives:
In July 2001, the INM began its so-called Plan Sur (“South Plan”) with the aim of “strengthening the presence of the Mexican State in the fight against organized crime” from Tehuantepec Isthmus to the southern border. According to information received by the Special Rapporteur, the medium and long-term objectives of the Plan are to “safeguard national sovereignty and create conditions conducive to development for persons living on the southern border by combating organized crime”. With regard to migration policies, the objectives of the first phase are to combat the trafficking and smuggling of migrants in the southern region, to combat illegal trafficking in and exploitation of children, and to promote and consolidate a culture of respect for the law and human rights in the southern region. The second phase of the Plan provides for “a programme of action to create, in the medium and long terms, conditions conducive to the sustainable and comprehensive development of the country’s southern region”. (Paragraph 37)
Mexico as a Destination Country:
In the south of Mexico the Special Rapporteur obtained information on the situation of women, children and men, mostly Guatemalans, who come to Mexico on a seasonal basis to work in the agricultural sector. The Special Rapporteur noted with pleasure the measures initiated by Mexico to provide individual documents for seasonal migrants, recognizing the specific contribution of women who also travel to work on a daily basis. This recognition is essential in ensuring the protection of their rights as women workers. In addition, the Special Rapporteur received information indicating that the working conditions of migrant day labourers are still very precarious, full respect for them is still a long way off and, regardless of their legal status, they are vulnerable to a host of abuses such as unjustified dismissal, withholding of wages and documents, excessively long working hours, ill-treatment and discrimination. They constitute abundant and cheap labour living on a poor diet and in deficient accommodation and health conditions. According to the testimony of day workers heard by the Special Rapporteur, the abuses most commonly reported are dismissal in the event of illness and the sexual harassment and rape of women day workers. The Special Rapporteur stresses the need to consolidate protection and regulation by the State and local authorities in this sphere. (Paragraph 42)
Another particularly vulnerable migrant group is that of women in domestic service, who are mostly young, undocumented and of indigenous origin; they begin work at the age of 14 or earlier with the aim of helping their families financially. It was noted that almost all of them work excessively long hours for low wages and without health insurance. Many of them are ill-treated physically, mentally and verbally, poorly fed, subjected to sexual abuse and harassment, threatened with being reported to the migration authorities for having no papers or unjustifiably dismissed. (Paragraph 43)
A third group of particularly vulnerable migrants is made up of women working voluntarily, or being forced to work, in the sex trade. These women, most of whom are of Guatemalan, Salvadoran or Honduran origin, are subjected to serious levels of abuse, sexual exploitation in nightclubs, extortion and violence. These are young women, many of them illiterate, who stay temporarily in the south of Mexico in order to save sufficient money to continue their journey to the United States. The abuses most commonly suffered by these women are ill-treatment and extortion by certain officials, sexual abuse by police officers in exchange for not being deported, conditions of servitude, violence by employers and clients, unwanted pregnancies and discrimination. (Paragraph 44)
Lastly, many children cross the frontier to do different kinds of informal work or for the purpose of family reunification. The Special Rapporteur observed a large number of unaccompanied children and interviewed a Honduran boy of 13 who had started on his way to the United States to find his mother after the death of his grandmother, who had been his only relative still living with him in Honduras. Unfortunately, many children fall into the hands of networks engaging in the sale and consumption of drugs or sexual exploitation. The Special Rapporteur adds her voice to the concern expressed by the Committee on the Rights of the Child about “the increasing number of cases of trafficking and sale of children from neighbouring countries who are brought into [Mexico] to work in prostitution”. (Paragraph 45)
The Special Rapporteur would also like to highlight the vulnerability of migrant women victims of family violence, whose migration status is dependent on their husbands. She has learned of cases where men reportedly threatened to take the children away from their wives and have them deported if they reported ill-treatment. During her visit, she had the opportunity to hear testimony which illustrates this situation particularly well. Ms. Dina Evelin Erazo Cortes said she arrived in Mexico in 1980, when she was 14 years old, and since then has lived in the country without official papers. In 1988 she met her present partner, who is Mexican and with whom she has had three children. For 13 years Dina Erazo has been subjected to family violence but has not dared to report it for fear that her illegal situation might be discovered and that she might be deported and separated from her children. It was not until early 2001 that Dina Erazo tried to report the matter after her partner had injured her and threatened to kill her. The first time she went to the police station in Venustiano Carranza, an official in the public prosecutor’s office told her that her partner, as a Mexican citizen, was within his rights. After reporting other incidents, one involving injuries and the other sexual abuse of her daughter, and with the assistance of the National Human Rights Commission, on 7 March 2001 she was summoned to make a statement at the Procurator-General’s Office. There, after waiting for hours with her children, she was told that she was in custody. Later, she was taken with her children to the migrant holding centre in Mexico City where they remained in detention for seven days. Eventually, despite the acts for which he had been reported, the INM released Dina Erazo and her children into the custody of her partner. An authorization enabling Dina Erazo to have her own migration documents as a self-employed person was apparently issued in July 2001. (Paragraph 46)
Mexican Emigrants:
In Mexico, the Special Rapporteur also visited various places of origin of Mexican emigrants. Her interviews with relatives of Mexican emigrants now in the United States and her visit to a community of origin of Mexican emigrants confirmed the vulnerability of children, who are left without their parents in the place of origin, and the effects of migration in terms of family break-up. In addition, the Special Rapporteur noted that there has been a change in trends in Mexican migration since the tightening of controls along the United States-Mexico border. According to information provided, Mexican migration used to be cyclical; in other words, a high proportion of Mexicans would emigrate for short periods and return to Mexico when work ended in a particular sector. Since the tightening of frontier controls in the early 1990s (see E/CN.4/2003/85/Add.3) and the consequent increase in the financial cost of unlawful crossings and the risks which this entails, Mexican emigrants have tended to settle permanently in the United States. This has affected the communities of origin in that migration is tending to become final and to involve whole families, thereby placing the children at risk; they are also obliged to emigrate, to a large extent illegally, in order to join their parents, which creates a permanent break with the community of origin. (Paragraph 48)
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Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers
Dato'Param Cumaraswamy
(E/CN.4/2002/72/Add.1 )
Country visit: 13 to 23 May 2001
Report published: 24 January 2002
International Obligations:
Mexico is a party to all the major United Nations human rights treaties, but is not a party to any of the optional protocols to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child or the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. It is also a party to the American Convention on Human Rights and to ILO Convention 169 on Indigenous Peoples. It has submitted itself to the jurisdiction of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. (Paragraph 15)
Mexico has received visits from other special rapporteurs of the Commission on Human Rights: the Special Rapporteur on torture in August 1997, the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children in November 1997, the Special Rapporteur on toxic waste, in November 1998 and the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions in July 1999. Mexico has also received visits from the Chairperson of the Working Group on Indigenous Populations in January/February 2000 and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in November 1999 and December 2000. During the visit of the High Commissioner in December 2000, an agreement on a technical cooperation programme was signed by the High Commissioner and President Fox. At the time of the Special Rapporteur’s visit, this project was in the first phase of implementation. (Paragraph 16)
Child Offenders:
The Special Rapporteur was informed that many specialized tribunals in Mexico are not part of the judiciary, but of the executive, and as such do not enjoy the guarantee of independence. This is the case for the labour boards (juntas de conciliación y arbitraje), the federal labour tribunals, the agricultural tribunals and the councils for minors. (Paragraph 148)
The Special Rapporteur was informed that at the federal level, as well as in most States, the legislation on child offenders violates the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The new law on the Protection of the Rights of Girls, Boys and Adolescents, which is effective as of 30 May 2000, attempts to integrate the Convention norms into national legislation. With respect to the administration of justice, article 45 (E) of the law provides that codes should be promulgated establishing the penal procedures for minors and creating specialized organs and authorities (including public ministries and judges). The law contains no guarantees for the independence of these various organs, nor does it define their roles. The law does not appear to have been followed up with implementing legislation, as a result of which the old system, which does not recognize minors as subjects but rather as objects of law, still continues in practice. Councils for minors are in charge of ordering measures for minors who have been found breaking the law. At the federal level, this council is an administrative organ, hierarchically subordinate to the Minister of the Interior. In most States, these councils are subordinate to the governor. The units for the defence of minors are part of the councils and the Special Rapporteur heard allegations that often minors are not properly represented. Each council is completely free to determine its measures and it was reported that these are often not proportionate with the offence committed, since other elements, such as the extent of family support and social environment, are also taken into account. (Paragraph 157)
The legal situation of children is of serious concern. Although the Law on the Protection of the Rights of Girls, Boys and Adolescents has been in effect since 30 May 2000, the remaining legislation has not been reviewed in order to make it consistent with the norms contained in this law. In particular, as regards the administration of justice for children and adolescents, no specialized tribunals have been created and minors continued to appear before councils which are fully dependent on the executive in proceedings that do not guarantee the children’s right (Paragraph 189)
With regard to children, the Law on the Protection of the Rights of Girls, Boys and Adolescents should be implemented without delay. If any enabling legislation is needed to enforce the law, such legislation should be enacted without delay. Independent courts must be set up to deal with all juvenile cases; (Paragraph 192)
Gender Crimes:
In Ciudad Juarez, a border city with approximately 1.5 million inhabitants, of whom 60 per cent have come from outside the State, lack of social coherence provides a fertile environment for crime. Since 1993, over 189 women have been murdered after having been sexually assaulted. Most of the women were between 15 and 25 years of age, were migrants, and worked in the assembly plants. Their bodies were found in deserted places, usually outside town. The Special Rapporteur notes that, certainly in the beginning, there was a great lack of sensitivity on the part of the police and prosecutors, who even went as far as to blame the women for their alleged low moral standards. This insensitivity and negligence on the part of the authorities is a matter of grave concern. In 1995, an Egyptian national, Omar Latif Shariff, was arrested on suspicion of having committed 90 murders. He has always claimed his innocence and in 1999 he was convicted for only one murder. After his capture the killings continued. In 1996, members of a gang, “los Rebeldes” of which Shariff was said to be the leader, were arrested. They have still not been tried. Only in 1998 was a special prosecutor appointed to investigate these crimes, after the CNDH had seriously criticized the lack of response by the authorities. The Special Rapporteur visited Ciudad Juarez, where he met with the special prosecutor, who has made efforts to professionalize the investigations. He was amazed to learn of the total inefficiency, incompetency, indifference, insensitivity and negligence of the police who investigated these cases earlier. In March 1999, the police arrested five members of another gang “los Ruteros”, after a young girl survived an attack. The Ruteros confessed to 12 killings, but alleged that they have been tortured. NGOs claim that in 81 per cent of cases since 1993, the killers have not been identified. From figures provided by the special prosecutor, it appears that of the 60 cases presented by her to the courts since she took office, 11 resulted in a conviction, and another 28 were pending judgement. Although the Special Rapporteur was assured by the special prosecutor that in all 104 files relating to homicides of women had been presented to the courts since 1993, in his meeting with the judges of Ciudad Juarez, they did not appear to be aware of the status of those cases. The insecurity created by this lack of effective response has severely weakened the rule of law in Ciudad Juarez. (Paragraph 161)
Killings:
In Nayarit, the Special Rapporteur received complaints that the police often fabricate evidence against indigenous people in order to cover up their own mistakes. The defence faces difficulty in finding witnesses who can come to court, since the closest court is sometimes two to three days away. The Special Rapporteur was told of an incident in April 2001, where the police interrupted a communal assembly and then shot and killed a boy who was running away. This case was being examined by the CEDH at the time of the Special Rapporteur’s visit. (Paragraph 155)
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Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions
Asma Jahangir
(E/CN.4/2000/3/Add.3)
Country visit: 12 to 24 July 1999
Report published:25 November 1999
Shootings:
On 22 December 1997, a group of some 60-80 armed men attacked the village of Acteal. The first shots were reportedly heard at around 11.00 a.m., when most of the villagers were gathered in the village church to pray for help and protection against the attack they were expecting. Reports received and eye-witness testimonies heard personally by the Special Rapporteur indicate that many of the victims were shot dead as they were running away from the attackers. Others were shot at close range while lying down, trying to take shelter in a ditch. The shooting reportedly went on till around 6.00-7.00 p.m., when the attackers withdrew from the village. Forty-five unarmed civilians, mostly women and children, lost their lives, and 25 others were wounded in this massacre. All of the victims belonged to the “Las Abejas” society. (Paragraph 25)
Juvenile Incarceration:
According to the Government, the operation was supported by army units with “protective functions” as the government forces feared armed resistance from the local community in executing the arrest warrants. On their way to Unión Progreso and Chavajeval the government forces were attacked, as a consequence of which the two police officers and eight civilians were killed. Fifty-three alleged members of EZLN were arrested. Of these 27 were handed over to the appropriate legal body, five were placed in the custody of the guardian council for juvenile delinquents and the rest were released. (Paragraph 39)
Youth Killings:
On 8 September 1997, in the district of Buenos Aires in Mexico City, an armed confrontation occurred in connection with a police raid carried out by the “Zorros” and “Jaguares” units of the Mexico City police. One police officer and one civilian were killed and one police officer and several civilians were injured in the shoot-out. Six young men were arrested at the scene of the incident. Three of them were taken by the police to a sandpit in Tlahuac, where they were shot dead. The other three men were taken to the police base in Balbuena. A few days later the dead bodies of these three men were discovered in the vicinity of Cerro del Ajusco. ( Paragraph 66)
Threats Against Lawyers:
While in Chilpancingo, the Special Rapporteur was briefed about the case of Mr. Norberto Flores Baños, a lawyer, respected human rights activist and lecturer at Guerrero University, who was murdered in his study on 26 May 1995 and who had been receiving death threats in connection with a child-support case he was involved with. The Special Rapporteur wishes to present this case as an illustration of the lack of transparency in the Mexican justice system which is apparent in the many cases brought to her attention. The Special Rapporteur spoke to the lawyer’s widow, who said that at around 10.30 a.m., two men, allegedly officers of the state judicial police, entered Mr. Flores Baños’ office and shot him dead. The two assailants escaped in a car driven by a third police agent who had been waiting outside. The three men were later arrested and found guilty of murder. (Paragraph 69)
Mr. Flores Baños had been representing Ms. Rosalinda Vargas in a child-support case against Mr. José Rubén Robles Catalán, with whom she had had a relationship. At that time Mr. Catalán held the position of Secretary-General of the Government of Guerrero. The Special Rapporteur spoke with Ms. Vargas who stated that she had been threatened, and on one occasion abducted and ill-treated, since she filed her case against Mr. Catalán. She also knew of the threats against Mr. Flores Baños. The police inspector who initially investigated the murder case allegedly told Mrs. Flores Baños that there were strong suspicions that Mr. Catalán had been behind her husband’s assassination and that because he had found evidence implicating Mr. Catalán he feared for his life. This concern was communicated to the then Governor of the state. Six weeks later, it was reported that the inspector had lost his life in a road accident. The murdered investigating officer had made a video-taped statement presenting the evidence pointing at Mr. Catalán’s involvement in the murder of Mr. Flores Baños. However, this material has allegedly not been taken into account in the investigations into the case. It further appears that the case file on the murder of Mr. Flores Baños went missing for nine days before it was anonymously delivered to Mrs. Flores Baños’ mailbox. Mrs. Flores Baños had also spoken to a journalist who claimed that he was experiencing unspecified difficulties and that he feared for his life after his newspaper had publicly demanded that Mr. Catalán be prosecuted. Mrs. Flores Baños and the journalist brought this to the attention of the authorities. No notice was taken. The journalist was later murdered in a similar manner to the investigating officer. It appears that no one was ever arrested for the deaths of the two men. Mrs. Flores Baños said that she now receives threatening telephone calls ordering her to abandon her claims against Mr. Catalán. It was further pointed out to the Special Rapporteur that Mr. Catalán was also cited by CNDH and the Supreme Court as one of the persons responsible for the killings in Aguas Blancas. He is not among the persons being prosecuted for that case. (Paragraph 70)
Crimes Against Girls:
At the invitation of the Government of Mexico, the Special Rapporteur visited Mexico from 12 to 24 July 1999. The Government’s invitation came in response to a long-standing request by the previous Special Rapporteur, Mr. Bacre Waly Ndiaye, which was reiterated by the present Special Rapporteur upon her appointment in 1998. The request was partly in response to repeated allegations of individual cases of extrajudicial killings, and reports of a number of massacres in past years in the States of Guerrero and Chiapas. Before travelling to Mexico the Special Rapporteur received a considerable amount of information from both governmental and non-governmental sources regarding the events in Acteal, El Bosque, Aguas Blancas and El Charco, and a series of murders of mostly young women in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua. Reports were also received from non-governmental organizations and private individuals from across Mexico of individual cases of alleged extrajudicial killings and of death threats against human rights defenders and members of civil society. (Paragraph 1)
At the end of her visit on 23 July, the Special Rapporteur travelled to Ciudad Juárez in the State of Chihuahua, where she met with officials of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, including the Special Prosecutor in the murder cases of Ciudad Juárez. The purpose of the visit was to gather information regarding a series of killings of young women in the last six years in that area. In Ciudad Juárez, she also had the opportunity to meet representatives of trade unions and members of the local business community. (Paragraph 9)
Since 1993, a total of 193 cases of murder, mostly of young women, have been registered in Ciudad Juárez, State of Chihuahua. Girls as young as 15 had been murdered, usually after having been raped and in many cases mutilated. Far more have “disappeared” and do not find mention in the official figures given by the authorities. The Special Rapporteur’s attention was specially drawn to these crimes. The families of the victims and almost every women’s organization throughout the country had serious misgivings about the authorities’ intention to investigate these crimes. Women’s NGOs provided press-clippings containing statements by government officials and the state Attorney-General that the victims were females who had “asked to be murdered”. It was pointed out that this series of crimes was taking place with impunity because of the inaction of the authorities, on the one hand, and their public statements on the other, which emboldened the culprits. There were serious allegations of gender bias among the authorities and the police. (Paragraph 85)
8In Mexico City the Special Rapporteur had the opportunity to talk to several families whose daughters were among the victims of these crimes. They all felt that their requests for prompt investigation into the murders had been totally disregarded. Reports summarizing the cases also point at serious shortcomings in the police investigations. Most of the victims were young women who had recently moved to Ciudad Juárez to work in one of the many assembly plants close to the border with the United States of America. Others were students who had taken part-time jobs to finance their education. In many of the cases described in detail to the Special Rapporteur, there were no or cursory investigations and the family members of the victims had been treated with indifference and arrogance by the authorities. Some sources suggested that the authorities had been actively trying to cover up some of the cases. The integrity of the victims was attacked and given as a justification for the murders. Many families complained that they had not even been informed that the dead body of their relative had been recovered. They usually learnt of the discovery through the press and had to wait for days before the body was handed over to them. Others complained that the police often dumped the mutilated and decomposing bodies on their doorsteps with disparaging remarks about the victim. Family members and a number of women’s NGOs claimed that the authorities were protecting influential personalities. (Paragraph 86)
The Special Rapporteur noticed that the deliberate inaction of the Government to protect the lives of its citizens because of their sex had generated a sense of insecurity amongst many of the women living in Ciudad Juárez. At the same time, it had indirectly ensured that perpetrators would enjoy impunity for such crimes. The events in Ciudad Juárez thus constitute a typical case of gender-based crimes which thrive on impunity. The arrogant behaviour and obvious indifference shown by some state officials in regard to these cases leave the impression that many of the crimes were deliberately never investigated for the sole reason that the victims were “only” young girls with no particular social status and who therefore were regarded as expendable. It is to be feared that a lot of valuable time and information may have been lost because of the delays and irregularities. On the other hand, the Special Rapporteur is encouraged to note the dynamism shown by the new Special Prosecutor and the apparent change in attitude among the officials now conducting the investigation. For that reason, the Special Rapporteur is reluctant to include these killings as falling strictly within her mandate on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions. At the same time, in view of the special nature of these crimes, she has brought the incidents to the attention of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women. (Paragraph 89)
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Special Rapporteur on Toxic & Dangerous Products
Fatma-Zohra Ksentini
(E/CN.4/1999/46/Add.1)
Country visit: 21 to 30 November 1998
Report published:11 January 1999
Costa Rica:
The people to whom the Special Rapporteur spoke do not think that all DBCP victims are yet known, because banana plantation workers are extremely mobile. Furthermore no cause and effect link has been established between the physical malformations of children born in the families of workers and the use of this product. No study has yet been made of the effects of DBCP on women working in the plantations or on the wives or children of the labourers, who were exposed to the product when they carried meals to their husbands or parents in the plantation. The harmful effects do, however, appear to manifest themselves through a variety of symptoms which should be investigated more thoroughly. (Paragraph 61)
The Special Rapporteur notes the positive steps taken by the Defensora de los habitantes in Costa Rica to help workers in banana plantations belonging to the American companies United Fruit and Standard Fruit to obtain compensation for their sterility brought about by the use of DBCP. She trusts that just compensation will be awarded to the plaintiffs and that any person who considers that they are a victim, including the women and children exposed to this product will be able to avail themselves of effective remedies. She recommends that legal aid be granted to the victims and that a national or international expert’s survey be conducted in order to determine all the effects on health of the use of the product in question. The Special Rapporteur expresses her gravest anxieties in view of information that DBCP and paraquat are still being used, under different names, in other Latin-American countries. (Paragraph 124)
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Nigel S. Rodley
(E/CN.4/1998/38/Add.2)
Country visit: 7 to 16 August 1997
Report published:14 January 1998
Street Children:
The Special Rapporteur also received information, including direct testimonies, concerning attacks on street children. A non-governmental organization working with street children in the Federal District reported that between April 1996 and August 1997, 27 attacks had been documented on street children and young people and on educators working with them; these attacks had been carried out in the Observatorio subway station area by members of the police force. Twelve of the attacks consisted of beatings, while eight involved threats and two sexual harassment and/or abuse. These abuses apparently took place either as part of action to oust the street children from a specific area of the city in order to improve public safety, or in the course of crime investigations. In 19 of the cases complaints were lodged with the Public Prosecutor's Office and the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH). By August 1997 no investigation had yet been completed. The Special Rapporteur also received information that 14 children had been beaten and threatened with death on 7 December 1997 by 2 policemen and 2 civilians in the Observatorio area of the Federal District (DF). (Paragraph 11)
Cases of Torture:
One example is the incidents which took place around 3 April 1997 in the indigenous communities of San Miguel Ahuelicán and Alpuyecancingo, Municipality of Ahuacuotzingo, Guerrero. On that date a large group of men of the 35th military zone came in military vehicles to the Nahuatl community of San Miguel Ahuelicán looking for people who had participated in an attack on the army a few days earlier. The soldiers forced their way into houses demanding that weapons should be given up and asking for the attackers. In the course of the house searches, many belongings were destroyed or stolen. Although no warrant issued by a competent authority was shown, several people were arrested and taken to the municipal police station, including Emilio Ojéndiz Morales, José Cervantes Márquez, Juan Paulino Cervantes, José Abelino Cervantes, aged 17, José Abelino Pérez, Pascual Rodriguez Cervantes and the representative of the municipality (civil authority), Juan Salvador Abelino. Over the next few hours they were subjected to torture, including beatings and attempted suffocation with plastic bags while they had their hands tied behind their backs. They received death threats to their families, and were placed bound hand and foot under vehicles with the engines running to make them think they were about to be run over. Juan Salvador Abelino was forced to drink large quantities of water and was then hit in the stomach and jumped on. Finally he was accused of being in possession of poppy seed and of a firearm (according to the victim an old rifle inherited from his father and not used only by the army); he was brought before the Public Prosecutor and then taken to the Chilpancingo Social Rehabilitation Centre (CERESO). The Special Rapporteur was able to talk to him and to José Cervantes Márquez, who had undergone similar treatment, when he visited Chilpancingo prison. They said that they had signed a statement before the Public Prosecutor without knowing what it said since they could not read. (Paragraph 16)
In November 1997, the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) sent the Military Procurator recommendation 100/97 concerning the participation of the army in human rights violations in the state of Guerrero. With reference to cases of arbitrary arrest, injury and torture, the Commission concluded:
"1. Evidence has been found of acts of arbitrary arrest, and of injuries suffered by the victims, as recorded in the reports by medical experts registered with this national body.
2. This national body considers, in respect of Mr. Juan Leonor Bello, Mr. José Santiago Carranza, Mr. Faustino Martínez Basurto, Mr. Paulino Padilla Rosario and the minor Antonio Padilla Gatica, that such methods were used when they were arrested and received injuries, particularly when they were blindfolded, their hands were tied and they were interrogated under threats and intimidation in order to obtain information about militants of the so-called People's Revolutionary Army. Such incidents may well be considered acts of torture, which should be investigated.
3. In view of the above, although the facts recorded in the reports do not reliably prove the specific responsibility of any public authority or servant, the Armed Forces should in conjunction with the federal and state authorities undertake a full investigation of each of these incidents".
The Commission therefore recommended that the Military Procurator should initiate the appropriate preliminary investigations and, if responsibility was ascertained, bring charges and carry out any orders of arrest which might be issued. (Paragraph 18)