Activists Investigate United States Role in Mexico's Human Rights Abuses Jean Guerrero - KPBS
go to original June 20, 2016

Protests continue in Mexico against state abuses of human rights and, in particular, forced disappearance. (teleSUR English)

International human rights organizations have increasingly brought attention to the involvement of Mexican authorities in kidnappings, mass executions and other crimes. Now they want to show how United States policies and military aid play a role in this crisis.

The American Friends Service Committee is leading a fact-finding mission in Mexico over the next two weeks meant to increase awareness about how the U.S. has fueled human rights violations by providing weapons and funds to Mexican security forces.

The 16-member delegation is collecting testimonies from victims and their families.

"The goal is to meet with the families who've had people disappeared, people who've been victims of state repression, people who have been incarcerated, families of disappeared, to be able to highlight the true impact that U.S. foreign policy is having in creating a climate of impunity in Mexico," said Benjamin Prado, program coordinator for the American Friends Service Committee in San Diego.

Activists plan to bring recordings of these victims back across the border to inspire U.S. citizens to demand change.

"This way our tax monies are not being used to displace people, to disappear people, to commit crimes against humanity," Prado said. "We have a responsibility to highlight these cases."

He said the delegation is primarily concerned with two policies: the Southern Border Plan in Mexico, which was implemented in 2014 at the urging of the U.S., and the Merida Initiative in the U.S.

Read the rest at KPBS

Related: The Costs Behind a Migrant Crisis: Tracking U.S. Influence on Mexico's Southern Border Plan (Fronteras Desk)

Related: Dismembered Central American Migrants Ask for Change in U.S. Strategy (KPBS)

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