The response of the Mexican state to human rights violations has been insufficient, and although there have been measures taken, they have only focused on certain aspects of the problem and have not had the necessary intensity, said the President of the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH), Luis Raúl González Pérez.
The head of Mexico’s official human rights body said that distrust for government institutions continues to increase, a trend that is aggravated by an environment where poverty, inequality, violence and insecurity are realities that contradict the logic of a democratic state.
“There are many conflicts that have not been resolved, many demands that have not been answered. These issues are as important for a democracy as the application of the law and the ending of impunity for corruption,” said González.
He noted that in 2015, the CNDH documented violations such as forced disappearances, torture, arbitrary executions, illegal detentions, human trafficking, abuse of migrants, deficiencies and irregularities in the penal system and violence against journalists.
In 2015, the CNDH registered an 18-percent increase in the number of complaints compared to 2014, from 8,455 to 9,980.
“I have said this before but it is important to repeat; there are no acceptable levels of torture, forced disappearances, arbitrary executions or violence against journalists or human rights defenders,” González stressed. “Even one case is too many. The state needs to step in and make sure that the guilty are punished and that the violations end.”
Even one case is too many. The state needs to step in and make sure that the guilty are punished and that the violations end.”
-Luis Raúl González Pérez, President, National Human Rights Commission
The Truth is not Negotiable
For the CNDH, the Iguala case is still open. González said that in the Iguala case, as in any other case, the truth can not be constructed or negotiated.
Facing President Enrique Peña Nieto, he said that all of the CNDH’s concerns about the case should be investigated.
“The truth is singular; it cannot be constructed or negotiated, and it should always be based on the connections between several pieces of evidence, not isolated examinations of pieces of evidence,” he said, noting that the evidence presented last week by a group of fire experts should be taken into account as one of many pieces of evidence.
“For the CNDH, it is important to insist that there be a criminal investigation in the case and that the list of concerns stated by the CNDH in July 2015 be investigated,” he said.
He said that the concerns needed to be examined carefully and with impartiality so that there will be no room for speculation or unfounded questioning.
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