Supreme Court Presents Protocol for Mexico Judges to Stop Endorsing Torture Jorge Carrasco Araizaga - Proceso
go to original December 11, 2014

Torture and ill-treatment in Mexico is out of control with a 600 per cent rise in the number of reported cases in the past decade, according to a new report published by Amnesty International. (Amnesty International)

See Amnesty International report: Out of control: Torture and other ill-treatment in Mexico (PDF)

With torture and cruel and degrading treatment being everyday events in México, the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) developed a protocol for the judiciary to stop endorsing these practices as proof of guilt.

“Although international human rights organizations claim the nonexistence of torture in México for 20 years [sic], in reality it is a practice that has not disappeared”, said Juan Silva Meza, president [chief justice] of the SCJN and of the Federal Judiciary Council [court adminstrative organ].

MV Note: International organizations, including the United Nations, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have repeatedly charged that torture continues to be frequently used by Mexican police, prosecutors and military.

“México has legislated against torture and has made the international instruments on this serious violation to human rights their own, but in 'the real México', it is far from being eradicated,” he assured while presenting the protocol for the conduct of those who administer justice in matters that involve acts of torture and maltreatment.

The document was presented in the SCJN before the ministers of the high court, counselors of the CJF, judges and magistrates of the Federal Judiciary, the representative in México from the High Commission of the United Nations (ONU) for Human Rights, Javier Hernández Valencia, and Miguel Sarre Iguíniz, member of the United Nation’s Subcommittee for the Prevention of Torture.

Read the rest at Mexico Voices

Translated by Carolyn Smith

Mexico Voices is a blogging endeavor aimed at raising the awareness of U.S. citizens regarding the destructive impact of the U.S. economic policy and the War on Drugs on Mexico — on its people, their economic and physical security and their human rights, on the nation’s dysfunctional justice system, and on the rule of law and Mexico’s fragile democracy. Visit the website at MexicoVoices.blogspot.mx.



Call on the Mexican president, Enrique Peña Nieto, to uphold all anti-torture safeguards, including proper medical examinations, and investigate all allegations of torture in his country at Amnesty International.

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