Javier Zuniga: Human Rights a Third Class Passenger on Mexico's Train Javier Zuniga - CNN
go to original December 6, 2013

When Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto came to power a year ago, he was the new face of the old Partido Revolucionario Institucional, the political machinery that dominated the country for more than 70 years. With his carefully built image of a dynamic young professional, Peña Nieto started his term in office by launching multiple reform initiatives, covering numerous aspects of daily life in the country. He claims that his policies will put Mexico on a promising train to modernity and prosperity. But a year on, what has he really achieved?

One of Peña Nieto’s early commitments was to end the cycle of human rights violations and violence that so characterised former President Felipe Calderon’s administration. Sadly, he has not delivered on that promise: On the Peña Nieto train, human rights have so far had to settle for the third-class carriage.

It’s a story that the Mexican people know all too well. Once again, a new government comes to office making expansive pledges to protect human rights. Once again, it refuses to invest the political capital needed to make a real difference. And once again, the key word in the whole story is impunity.

If one asked the government’s spokespeople about human rights, they would probably boast of a reduction in drugs related violence; implementation of the National Law on Victims; a forthcoming National Human Rights Program, presidential instructions issued to the Armed Forces not to commit torture; the publication of some national data on missing or disappeared persons and the creation of a special unit in Federal Attorney General’s Office (PGR) to search for them.

In reality, many of these claims have either not had any impact or are based on wishful thinking, not clear and cold facts. Everyday life and the lack of respect for human rights is a much darker reality than the one painted by the government.

Read the rest at CNN

Javier Zúñiga is a special adviser for Amnesty International.

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