Policy Memo

Drug war and human rights violation

TO: Federal government of Mexico FROM: AR29164 DATE: 30/10/2013 RE: Human rights
The war on drugs represents an alarming problem nowadays and a dangerous issue as it has been fought for 50 years without preventing the long-term trend of increasing drug supply and use. One of the countries that is most affected by this problem is Mexico since the drug war is pushing cartels directly into human trafficking. Therefore, I strongly believe that some policies must be adopted right away in order to find an end to such a human rights nightmare by reducing the number and the intensity of abuses associated with the war on drugs.

The so called War on Drugs began in Mexico by constructing policies of preventive efforts, such as, treatment and rehabilitation of drug abusers and research of drug addictions, but never was that enough to end such a serious problem. The war on drugs in Mexico is a war between two sides : The Mexican government and the Cartel ; new evidence of serious human rights violations carried out during military operations to combat organized crime and drug cartels in Mexico has been unveiled in a report published by Amnesty International. There is a disturbing pattern of crimes committed by the military in their security operations, abuse that is being denied and ignored by both the civilian and the military authorities in Mexico, (Kerrie Howard, deputy director of Amnesty Internationals Americas programme). Moreover, In its report, Mexico: Human rights violations by the military, Amnesty International accuses the authorities of failing to fully probe allegations of abuses committed by the military, including enforced disappearances, extrajudicial and unlawful killings, torture, ill treatment and arbitrary detentions. Another report by Human Rights Watch said that Mexicos military and police have committed widespread human rights violations in efforts to combat organized crime, virtually none of which are being adequately investigated. Too often, drug users suffer discrimination, are forced to accept treatment, marginalized and often harmed by approaches which over-emphasize criminalization and punishment while underemphasizing harm reduction and respect for human rights. (Navanethem Pillay, 2009) A shocking number proves it as complaints relating to military and police abuses made to national human rights commissions have increased by 900% since the beginning of the militarized war on drugs in 2006. Furthermore, Attacks on journalists, human rights defenders and migrants by criminal groups and security forces have gone uninvestigated. For example, 35 journalists were killed with eight more missing, feared dead, between 2007 and 2010, and in Veracruz police officers 1 GDDPC ID : AR29164

kidnapped, robbed and beat a journalist who had earlier witnessed police attacking a reporter (Human Rights Watch, World Report Chapter: Mexico, 2011). All these abuses must be stopped right away, and to make that happen, some policies must be adopted by the Mexican government in order to put an end to the war on drugs nightmare: The government must take immediate steps to ensure prompt and impartial investigations by the civilian authorities so those responsible are brought before the civilian courts and victims receive reparations. Congress should reform the Military Code of Justice to prevent all investigations into alleged human rights violations from falling within military jurisdiction, and civilian attorneys general should take the initiative to investigate all cases of possible human rights violations, including those allegedly committed by the military. (Human Rights Watch,2011) Reforming law enforcement practices and exploring alternatives for legal regulation that would reduce the power of violent criminal groups. Government officials should stop making unfounded statements dismissing allegations of abuse before they have been investigated or claiming that abuse victims are criminals before they have been convicted of any crime. (Human Rights Watch,2011) Drug-users should not be treated as criminals, but from a health perspective as patients. No matter what one feels about drugs, certain human rights are universal and must be respected. Judges should enforce the prohibition on evidence obtained through torture, and legislators should eliminate the legal provisions and overly broad provisions permitting arrests in flagrante (in the act of committing a crime), which facilitate abuses against detainees. (Human Rights Watch,2011) Instead of criminalizing addicts, dividing communities, and turning streets into war zones while spending more and more on prisons and jails, the government should invest in health, treatment, education, jobs, and true community safety. (Jakada Imani, 2004) supporting the creation of a new branch of police detectives which includes an office to investigate abuses against civilians as well as police corruption. (Human Rights Watch, 1995) creating an Institute of Legal Medicine under the Ministry of Justice, a forensic agency independent of the police that can establish evidence of physical abuse.

All these policies will allow the Mexican government to achieve its ultimate goal of ending or at least reducing the drawbacks of the drug war and at the same time respecting human rights.

To sum up, we all share the same goals; a safer, healthier and more just world. It is time for all sectors affected by the approach to drugs, and particularly those concerned with human rights, to call on governments and the UN to properly Count the Costs of the War on Drugs, and explore the alternatives which must be based on taking immediate steps to investigate human rights violations, reforming law enforcements and the military code of justice and stopping the treatment of drugusers as criminals.

2 GDDPC ID : AR29164

Works Cited

Amnesty International, Mexico: Human rights violations by the military Human Rights Watch, Bolivia: Human Rights Violations and the War on Drugs, 1 July 1995, B708, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6a7e64.html [accessed 29 October 2013] Human Rights Watch, World Report Chapter: Mexico, 2011 Jakada Imani, How the Drug War Destroyed My Community and Why It Must End, 2004 Tierney Smithson, Human Rights: Incarceration and the War on Drugs

3 GDDPC ID : AR29164