Mexico Strengthens Military’s Role in Drug War, Outraging Critics
- 6 years ago
Mexico Strengthens Military’s Role in Drug War, Outraging Critics
15, 2017
MEXICO CITY — Mexico’s Congress on Friday passed a law
that strengthens the military’s role in fighting organized crime, defying an outcry from human rights groups, police experts and even United Nations officials who warned that the measure will lead to abuses.
"It allows the president to unilaterally militarize any part of the country for any time he considers necessary or adequate without any control either by congress or the judiciary." Unlike the rest of Latin America, where long military dictatorships have left indelible scars, Mexico has had civilian control over the armed forces for the past century as part of an unspoken agreement
that allows officers latitude over the areas they command.
The United Nations high commissioner for human rights, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein,
and the United Nations special rapporteur on arbitrary executions, along with other United Nations experts, also raised concerns.
Santiago Aguirre said that don’t have to be accoun
Senator Roberto Gil, an architect of the new law, said
that the military now operated in 27 of Mexico’s 32 states, compared with six when Mr. Peña Nieto took office five years ago.
Since former President Felipe Calderón first sent troops to fight drug gangs at the end of 2006, more than 200,000 people have been killed in the drug war
and 31,000 people have gone missing, according to official statistics.
Mr. Gil, who is a member of the conservative opposition National Action Party, said the intent of the
new law was to establish controls over the president’s power to place soldiers on the streets.
15, 2017
MEXICO CITY — Mexico’s Congress on Friday passed a law
that strengthens the military’s role in fighting organized crime, defying an outcry from human rights groups, police experts and even United Nations officials who warned that the measure will lead to abuses.
"It allows the president to unilaterally militarize any part of the country for any time he considers necessary or adequate without any control either by congress or the judiciary." Unlike the rest of Latin America, where long military dictatorships have left indelible scars, Mexico has had civilian control over the armed forces for the past century as part of an unspoken agreement
that allows officers latitude over the areas they command.
The United Nations high commissioner for human rights, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein,
and the United Nations special rapporteur on arbitrary executions, along with other United Nations experts, also raised concerns.
Santiago Aguirre said that don’t have to be accoun
Senator Roberto Gil, an architect of the new law, said
that the military now operated in 27 of Mexico’s 32 states, compared with six when Mr. Peña Nieto took office five years ago.
Since former President Felipe Calderón first sent troops to fight drug gangs at the end of 2006, more than 200,000 people have been killed in the drug war
and 31,000 people have gone missing, according to official statistics.
Mr. Gil, who is a member of the conservative opposition National Action Party, said the intent of the
new law was to establish controls over the president’s power to place soldiers on the streets.