Empowerment and Protection - Stories of Human Security Oct. 2014 | Page 62

MEXICO Perspectives on citizen security in Mexico POPULATION The diverse views shared in the making of this article demonstrate that violence, crime, and fear have become part of the Mexican context. Human rights defenders recount how the situation has restricted freedoms, broken social relationships, and damaged public confidence in governing institutions. 122.3 MILLIONAn interviewee(WORLD BANK 2014) of Baja IN 2013 from La Paz in the state government to demonstrate that the frontline fight against crime was working. Any fatal victim of a violent episode was presented and 'counted' as a fallen criminal. Even students and children killed by crossfire or by mistake by army or navy officials were accused of being criminals. When there was public uproar, the government justified its actions by saying that the fight against crime had some necessary 'collateral damage'. ” iolence is now V coming not only from criminals, but also from the people and institutions in charge of maintaining order.“ California Sur says that even in his city, where the crime rate is below the national average, “citizen panic has created an ‘exodus’ from =10.000.000 the streets.” Common criminal offenses are frequent, and organised criminal groups and gangs have established strong territorial control. In several communities they function as a ‘parallel government’, as they demand money in exchange for protection and exercise ‘justice’ on those who do not obey their laws. The authorities have been known to allow this, in many cases being complicit. A young Mexican woman described this phenomenon: “They have permission to act with complete impunity […] I feel as if I have enforcement institutions at the municipal and my hands tied, there are too many economic state levels and decided to rely on the army and interests.” navy to go after the criminals. But no real effort POPULATION DISTRIBUTION BY AGE 27,9% 18,1% 40,4% 7% 6,6% when President Felipe Calderón decided to carry out an aggressive, militarised strategy to contain rising crime rates that violence and insecurity really began increasing exponentially in 2006 and 2007. Calderón and his cabinet chose the use of force over a preventive approach. They saw the corruption, ineffectiveness, and neglect of law 0-14 15-24 25-54 55-64 65+ was made to address the structural causes of such deficiencies. I believe that the government’s aggressive strategy caused the criminal organisations to respond in the same way. Also, at least in the beginning, the capture of some criminal leaders generated tensions inside the cartels, and many ‘second-level’ leaders started fighting each other to get control of the organisations. (INDEX MUNDI 2014) The Human Rights Defender Paulina Vega GLOBAL PEACE INDEX 2014 71 Violence and crime started to rise during Vicente Fox’s presidency. This happened because criminal organisations, especially in western Mexico and on the border with the United States, saw power vacuums that they could fill. The ineffectiveness of the Fox government was the breeding ground for 2014)criminal groups to emerge and2014) But it was (UNDP flourish. 62 stories of Human Security | Mexico Antonio Cerezo founded Comité Cerezo in August 2001, an NGO that protects human rights activists, after he and his brothers Alejandro and Héctor were illegally detained, tortured, and confined in maximum-security federal prisons. Violence is now coming not only from criminals, but also from the people and institutions in charge of maintaining order: the police, the army, and the navy. One of the main consequences of this shift has been an alarming increase in grave violations of human rights, specifically torture, enforced disappearances, and extrajudicial killings. There has also been an increase in the use of some legal strategies that I would say are incompatible with human rights standards, like arraigo (pre-charge detention). All this was bound to happen because army and navy personnel are not trained to carry out public security duties, let alone human security strategies. The lack of human rights and insecurity HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INDEX 2013 The rise of violence in Mexico (IEP The human rights activist Antonio Cerezo The impact of violence Paulina Vega is a human rights attorney and Vice President of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH). She reflects on the rise of violence in Mexico in the past 15 years. 138 162 Responsibility for the current situation must in part be borne by the international community, who supported Calderón and his frontline strategy at the beginning of his term. For example, there was a very public and direct support from the U.S. government with the Mérida Initiative, through which the Mexican government obtained financial and military resources.a Politically motivated illegal detentions, extrajudicial killings, and enforced disappearances persist. Also, there have been some legislative changes that criminalise social protests and the authorities are starting to abuse the term 'terrorism'. Now, everyone that protests is a potential terrorist. It is quite obvious that these reforms are further limiting our rights. 187 a The Merida Initiative was set up as a partnership between the United States and Mexico governments to fight organised crime and associated violence: www.state.gov/j/inl/merida/ Apart from the human rights violations, there was a very aggressive communication strategy from the Menu ” ll this was bound A to happen because army and navy personnel are not trained to carry out public security duties, let alone human security strategies.” In the alleged interest of guaranteeing security, we have witnessed a limitation of our rights. We are witnessing the creation of states of emergency outside the rule of law. This discourse led to a war dynamic in the country where the objective of war was not to investigate and prosecute 'the enemy', but to eliminate it. Calderón justified all the violence and deaths – over 100,000 – by saying that he was fighting a war against crime and that every victim was a 7&