Is the United Nations Sure It Wants Mexican Soldiers Keeping the Peace? Ioan Grillo - GlobalPost
go to original December 23, 2014

Officials are analyzing a plan to send Mexican soldiers on United Nations peacekeeping missions, the presidency said this month. That would be a first for Mexico - but some aren’t celebrating.

Human rights advocates have condemned the proposal, saying the country needs to better train its soldiers before it sends them to foreign war zones.

“It is an army that does not have the culture of respecting human rights and doesn’t have the track record to serve as a model when facing the circumstances of international crises,” said Jose Miguel Vivanco, the Americas head of Human Rights Watch.

Amnesty International also released a report this year detailing widespread torture committed by Mexican soldiers and marines.

Mexico's military would not be the first with a dubious rights record among UN peacekeepers, who are currently deployed on 16 missions in countries that include Haiti, South Sudan, Syria and Cyprus.

Take Zimbabwe, with 55 police and soldiers on UN missions. Both Pakistan and India contribute close to 8,000 police and military personnel. By comparison, the United States has just 129 members on UN peacekeeping missions.

It’s not yet clear how many troops Mexico would send.

Read the whole story at GlobalPost

Photo: Alejandro Mejía Greene/Flickr

We invite you to add your charity or supporting organizations' news stories and coming events to PVAngels so we can share them with the world. Do it now!