Iberoamerican University Rector Fernando Fernández Font, called the lynching attempts by vigilante groups in Puebla a “red flag.”
Between 1988 and the present day, there have been more than 600 lynching attempts across Mexico. In this year alone there have been 7 lynchings out of 27 attempts in Puebla, directed at sexual predators and other assailants in response to a lack of state action.
Fernández Font said that the authorities can not ignore the crime and that it is a reflection of a loss of trust in the government.
He added that even the worst criminal has the right to be tried by an institution.
Fernández Font added that there are variables that influence these acts of vigilante justice that must be addressed: lack of responsibility in civic education, corruption of those in power who only act on behalf of their interests and, impunity, because even when criminals are arrested, they go free after a few days.
He also commented that many of these vigilante justice groups are influenced by organized crime.
“The problem is extremely large: Is the Mexican state broken?” asked Fernández Font, as it does not guarantee human rights.
Director of the Ignacio Ellacuria Institute of Human Rights Galilea Cariño believes that among the factors that influence these vigilante justice movements is the perception that public insecurity has increased, which worries the population even more than unemployment.
Finally, he said that there are no mechanisms in place that evaluate policies and strategies.
PATRICIA GUTIÉRREZ RODRÍGUEZ
