Dangerous Directions: Military Aid to Mexico

The brutal violence associated with drug trafficking paired with authorities’ apparent lack of capacity and political will to effectively confront organized crime has taken a profound toll on public security in Mexico in recent years. More than 4,000 people have been killed in drug-related violence since President Calderón took office in December 2006. Despite these challenging times, it is critical that drug violence not serve as an excuse for increased abuses by Mexico’s military and police. However, recent news, including graphic videos showing police in León, Guanajuato being trained in torture techniques and new reports of torture and abuse committed by both low-ranking soldiers and high-ranking military officers in the course of domestic counternarcotics operations, intensifies our concerns regarding the deterioration of human rights in the context of Calderón’s offensive against organized crime.

On June 30, President Bush signed into law a counter drug-trafficking and organized crime aid package for Mexico and Central America—commonly known as the Merida Initiative—as part of the controversial Iraq war supplemental spending bill. This aid proposal was originally unveiled by President Bush in October 2007. This final version of the Merida Initiative includes $400 million in assistance for Mexico, plus an additional $60 million for Central America plus $2.5 million each for Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

Disturbingly, a disproportionately large segment of this aid package, $116.5 million, has been allocated for equipment and training for the Mexican military, a force that has been linked to serious and ongoing human rights abuses. During the debate over the Merida Initiative, the LAWG joined with partner human rights and grassroots groups to raise awareness about the hazards of military aid. Although we would have liked to see a ‘zero’ in this category, efforts by organizations and grassroots activists helped to slash millions of dollars from this fund.

During his tenure, President Calderón has dispatched over 25,000 soldiers to engage in domestic counternarcotics and counterinsurgency operations. Justified by President Calderón as necessary to restore public order in the face of weak and corrupt police forces, this massive military deployment has left a string of human rights abuses in its wake. Since Calderón took office, Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission has documented 983 complaints against the army, ranging from murder to sexual assault to illegal detention—75 percent of these complaints have been tied to the military’s crackdown against organized crime. Too many of these abuses remain in impunity as authorities fail to hold military perpetrators responsible for their crimes.

The Merida Initiative’s heavy focus on military funding is misguided and dangerous as it perpetuates the military’s inappropriate role in domestic counternarcotics and law enforcement activities. Soldiers are not trained for domestic law enforcement and should not take over policing roles, even in cases where police are tainted by corruption. Instead, such problems with the police underscore the critical need for substantial police reform and increased accountability. The millions allocated for the military would be more effectively directed towards the critical work of building strong and effective judicial institutions capable of carrying out effective prosecutions, combating corruption, and reforming the police.

On a positive note, the plan does call for at least $73.5 million on programs that support judicial reform, anti-corruption and rule of law activities. An additional small, yet beneficial, component of the bill provides $3 million to assist Mexico in developing a national registry of federal, state and municipal police—a key tool for screening law enforcement officers—and $1 million for the UN High Commission for Human Rights office in Mexico City.

The Merida Initiative was modified during its path from bill to law. Citing sovereignty concerns, members of President Calderón’s administration and Mexican lawmakers loudly objected to human rights conditions included in the earlier versions of the Merida Initiative. Mexican and U.S. human and civil rights organizations and activists responded, noting that Mexico’s dismal track record demonstrated the need for human rights provisions to be incorporated as a central part of the package. In the end, congressional leaders responded to political pressure and softened the conditions in the final version of the package, but, fortunately, did not eliminate these safeguards altogether.

The remaining human rights safeguards require the State Department to report to the U.S. Congress on the Mexican government’s progress in these areas: improving the transparency and accountability of federal, state and municipal police; ensuring that civilian authorities are investigating and prosecuting members of police and military forces who have been credibly alleged to have committed human rights violations; engaging in consultation with Mexican human rights organizations; and enforcing the prohibition of testimony obtained through torture. Fifteen percent of funds for the military and police could be withheld if these conditions are not met.

As the Merida Initiative is implemented in the coming months, LAWG will work with partners in the U.S. and Mexico to make certain that the spirit and letter of the human rights safeguards included in the Merida Initiative are adhered to in full.

In addition to careful monitoring the human rights measures in the package, we strongly urge U.S. lawmakers to take action to address the structural forces propelling drug trafficking related violence and refocus U.S. counternarcotics assistance towards a more humane and effective approach. Currently, not a penny of the Merida Initiative will provide aid to reduce poverty, further skewing assistance to Latin America in the direction of security assistance rather than aid for public health, poverty reduction, and disaster assistance.

Finally, U.S. lawmakers need to heed Mexico’s call for ‘bilateral cooperation’ seriously. The U.S. must dedicate adequate attention and resources to solve the problems on our side of the border that increase violence in Mexico and Central America, including the flow of U.S. firearms into the region and voracious domestic drug demand. Until the U.S. actively tackles the scourge of illegal drug addiction, the success of well-intentioned efforts to reduce violence in Mexico—or lessen the availability of drugs on U.S. streets—will be limited at best.

—Jenny Johnson