Over a six-year period, there have been about 150 people to disappear from Mexico, with little to no investigation into the cases. The same security officials that were supposed to be protecting Mexicans from the violence during the time the drug war was taking place, are the same security officials that played a role in the disappearance of these nearly 150 people. There has been a new report released titled "Mexico's Disappearance: The Enduring Cost of a Crisis Ignored", that documents about 250 cases of disappearances between the years 2006-2012, in which 149 of those cases provide "compelling evidence" that security officials were involved. The security officials involved including officials from Mexico's local police force and by members of all security branches, including the Army, federal and local police forces, and the oft-lauded Navy. The Washington-based human rights group found proof of collaboration between state agents and crime syndicates in more than 60 of the cases documented. One example that was cited in the report is of 19 construction workers that were taken into custody by police in May 2011, to only be handed over to an organized crime group. The men haven't been seen since, and Human Rights Watch postulates in cases like this security forces and crime groups work together to disappear citizens in order to extort their families, which is a criminal offense. These 250 cases alone however, do not represent the population of Mexico that has gone missing over the past 6 years. the Human Rights Watch has called on the new administration of the President Enrique Peña Nieto in December 2012, to account for those who are missing. Also, the Human Rights Watch suggested that Mexico should reform its military justice system and create a national database that could link the missing with the thousands of bodies that were left unidentified during the drug war. The President has taken steps to address the needs of victims through legislation such as The General Law of Victims, which was passed this year after some stalling under the former administration of Calderon.
As most of us assume, or would like to believe, security officials and security of the like, are supposed to provide there services in protecting us from violence as well as property and assets. This article goes to show that not all security officials are trustworthy in their occupation, nor do they look out for society's best interest. To take someone into custody for no reason and then give them to an organized crime gang and extort their families is out of line, and justice needs to be served on that. There have been countless stories and investigations of security officials, locally and worldwide, who disobey the law, yet no one has stopped them, or by the time they do stop them, there has been damage done already. I noted that the article stated that the disappearances happened under the administration of Calderon, and that they are putting all of the responsibility on the new president to account for these missing victims. This is not an incident that can automatically change overnight because it has been taking place for 6 years, and officials are just now seeming to fully react to it. Agreeing with the article of the suggestion/recommendation of Mexico reforming its military justice, Mexico should reform their entire security branch. Society cannot expect honest protection from dishonest officials.
http://news.yahoo.com/mexico-state-security-officials-collaborated-civilian-abductions-human-140658634.html
Tiara Paylor
2/21/13 7:06 pm
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