This week, the United Nations Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) visited Mexico for the second time. The meeting took place from Dec. 12 to 21 and was attended by a delegation of four members of the UN Subcommittee, as well as representatives from different federal agencies, including the Undersecretary of Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights Ambassador Miguel Ruíz Cabañas and the Interior Secretariat’s Undersecretary for Human Rights Roberto Campa Cifrián. Representatives from the Council of the Federal Judicature and the Senate were also present.
During the meeting, Ruiz Cabañas emphasized the importance of the visit for international human rights in Mexico. The conclusions and suggestions made by the UN will help guide the efforts of authorities in the prevention of torture, cruelty and other inhuman or degrading forms of punishment. He also stressed the importance of the federal and state authorities’ collaboration in the visit, which allowed the Subcommittee unrestricted access to places of detention.
Campa Cifrián referred to the importance of the draft of the General Law on Torture and the process of dialogue with Congress that ensures that any legislation will comply with the highest international standards, and said that it should be approved as soon as possible. Similarly, Deputy Attorney General Muñoz Vázquez underscored the Attorney General’s (PGR) commitment to eradicating torture and stressed that it is a priority of the institution to strengthen the capacities of the PGR’s agents.
The Subcommittee held high-level meetings with officials from the Interior Secretariats, National Defense Secretariat, Mexican Navy, Health Secretariat, as well as the National Security Commission, the Decentralized Administrative Body for Social Readaptation and the National Migration Institute
Meetings were also held with the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH).
With the visit of the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture, the federal government reaffirms the importance of openness and cooperation with international human rights entities in order to effectively promote and protect the fundamental freedoms of citizens, especially with regard to the prevention and eradication of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.