As Mexican military tackles drug lords, Catholic groups fear human rights impact

In the northern town of Ciudad Juárez, just across the border from El Paso, they patrol the streets in armored cars. They maintain heavily guarded roadblocks on highways in Guerrero, a state south of Mexico City. In the small town of Badiraguato, located in the northern state of Sinaloa and home to some of the country’s most notorious drug lords, they take off daily by helicopter to patrol the surrounding mountains.

Mexicans have grown accustomed to the presence of the military in their daily lives, controlling road traffic for drugs and weapons, roaming rugged hills in search of poppy and marijuana plantations, and leading the dismantling operations of great crime lords. Soldiers have become a vital part of the country’s continuing war against drug trafficking organizations which by some estimates have claimed more than 200,000 lives since 2006, and 2017 is set to end as the deadliest year in the world. recent history. Few of their crimes result in convictions.

Soldiers have become a staple in the war against drug trafficking organizations that have claimed more than 200,000 lives since 2006.

As normal as their presence in the streets may seem to most Mexicans, the role of the military in the fight against organized crime has never been entirely clear. In the coming days, however, President Enrique Peña Nieto is expected to sign a law which will finally enshrine their participation in the fight against organized crime.

“We need an adequate legal framework that regulates the actions of soldiers, pilots and navies involved in public security tasks,” Peña Nieto said three weeks ago. “A framework which defines, with absolute clarity, the means and scope of the subsidiary support that the armed forces provide today in different states and municipalities. “

The so-called Homeland Security Act is one of the most controversial and polarizing pieces of legislation in recent Mexican history. Supporters, including the federal government and a majority of Congressmen, say the law is long overdue and absolutely necessary to clarify an army that was never trained to do police work first. place. Critics fear, however, a permanent militarization of the country in a context of violence and unprecedented violence. thousands of reports of human rights abuses by soldiers and marines.

“What it does is essentially legalize human rights violations,” said Edgardo Buscaglia, a Columbia University scholar and security expert who has studied the drug war in Mexico for years. America. “The law is a travesty.

Once the law is passed, soldiers can be deployed anywhere in the country by decree for a period of up to 12 months, which can be extended as long as the government provides a reason why it considers the extension necessary. In addition, military operations can remain classified.

Critics fear a continued militarization of the country amid unprecedented levels of violence and thousands of reports of human rights violations by soldiers and marines.

Soldiers were first deployed to fight organized crime in 2006 by then-President Felipe Calderón, first in his home state of Michoacán. Within a few years, tens of thousands of soldiers were fighting powerful drug trafficking organizations across the country. Their role has become increasingly crucial, as police forces are often poorly trained, overwhelmed by heavily armed and ruthless gunmen, and underpaid (especially relative to the military) and prone to corruption. .

Although the military and navy are among the most trusted institutions in the country and have, in previous years, received praise for their participation in disaster relief, their role in fighting cartels. drugs have always been controversial. Human rights organizations have reported thousands of violations committed by soldiers since 2006, and very few are prosecuted.

“We have reported enforced disappearances, sexual violence, extrajudicial killings, torture and the manipulation of crime scenes by soldiers,” said Mariano Machain of the Mexico-based human rights group Serapaz. America. “This law sends a very worrying signal by making the army’s presence permanent and expanding its faculties.

Human rights groups were joined by the Catholic Church last week, when the Episcopal Commission for Social Pastoral and the Mexican Episcopal Conference both declared their opposition to the law. “We deeply regret that a lot has not changed, and now our concerns have increased,” they said. in a joint statement, in which they called for “legislative actions which, together with an integral vision, mark a critical path to resolve the causes [of the violence], but also prevent the permanent presence of the armed forces in police functions.

The army itself is hardly satisfied with its expanded role. Successive heads of the Secretary of National Defense (Sedena) and Secretary of the Navy (Semar) have often complained that their staff were never properly trained and prepared to fight drug traffickers, and the services have paid a heavy price; more than 500 soldiers have been killed since 2006.

Defense Secretary Salvador Cienfuegos expressed this frustration in a rare public statement one year ago. “What do we want? We want the armed forces to have a legal framework that supports them when they have to act, and that they are not criticized for issues specific to the operations we are conducting,” he said. . “We would like this already resolved, we would like the police to do their job, but they are not.”

Those who oppose the law say that strengthening and formalizing the military’s role in the war on drugs is not the perfect solution. Instead, they say, the state should focus on gradually returning soldiers to their barracks and strengthening hundreds of Mexican police forces. But except for the creation of the Gendarmería Nacional, a small militarized police force, Peña Nieto’s administration has done little to improve the quality and efficiency of its police, critics say, instead, essentially continuing Calderón’s policy of relying on soldiers and marines to do the heavy lifting.

“The military cannot withdraw from the streets immediately, that is clear, but there has never been any real intention to improve the police,” Jorge Kawas, a Monterrey-based security analyst, said. in northern Mexico. America. “In my own town, I see them patrolling with the military every day, they work together. [But] there are no plans to professionalize the police.

“This law gives priority to militarization, instead of thinking about better police,” agrees Mr. Machain of Serapaz. “What we want is a deep and serious debate, but this debate never took place. The government pretends to listen, but none of the concerns of civil society have been incorporated into law.