Pena Nieto's Promises on Refugees a Substantial Departure from Established Practice Michael Garcia Bochenek - Human Rights Watch
go to original October 21, 2016

Central American children fleeing serious threats face formidable obstacles in applying for asylum in Mexico. Human Rights Watch has documented wide discrepancies between Mexican law and practice. (HumanRightsWatch)

Call me cynical, but I rarely expect a speech at a summit of world leaders to be even slightly noteworthy. That went double, I assumed, for the UN and presidential refugee summits in New York last month, which were rightly criticised as a disappointment before they had even begun.

To my surprise, however, Mexico’s president, Enrique Peña Nieto, delivered an address that sounded as though he’d suddenly found his inner human rights advocate.

The speech was a shock because Peña Nieto’s presidency has been marked - and marred - by egregious missteps and unfulfilled promises on human rights. One infamous example is administration’s mishandling of the investigation of the disappearance of 43 Ayotzinapa Normal School students as they prepared to travel to a demonstration in Mexico City. Ayotzinapa is by no means unique; the Peña Nieto government has failed to effectively investigate countless other cases of enforced disappearances and other abuses by security forces over the past decade. Tlatlaya, Tanhuato, Apatzigan - the list goes on, each place name shorthand for scenes of shocking brutality.

When called on this dismal record, the Peña Nieto administration has attacked the messenger - even respected authorities such as the UN special rapporteur on torture.

So how did Peña Nieto stand out at the summits?

Unlike many world leaders, who used the summits to call for a retreat from existing refugee protections, Peña Nieto took a strong stand for safeguarding the rights of refugees and migrants. He announced that Mexico will strengthen its refugee recognition procedures and will “develop alternatives to immigration detention for asylum seekers, particularly children.”

These would be very positive initiatives, if in fact he’s serious about them. We have every reason to be sceptical, because they’d be a substantial departure from established practice.

Read the rest at Human Rights Watch | Español

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