Rights Abuses Perpetrated by the Mexican Police

http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/09/world/americas/mexico-miltary-abuses/index.html


This article from CNN reports about the accusations that have been made by Human Rights Watch against Mexican security forces who have allegedly been violating Mexican citizens' human rights in their attempt to find persons involved in the drug trade. Through a collection of interviews, testimonies, and governmental documents, Human Rights Watch laments that there have been over 170 reports filed against security forces by citizens that have experienced violence, torture, or disappeared family members, and yet only about 1% of these cases have been officially looked into by the government. Meanwhile, the Mexican government adamantly denies these allegations and promises that if there had been any reason to suspect unnecessary force being used by the police, they would examine each case in a court of law.

This seems to be a common theme in Latin America: allegations against state officials and police forces of torture and civil rights violations from the international community, while the government constantly and vehemently denies the validity of such statements. While the 170 reported cases makes the Mexican example seem trivial in comparison to the thousands that were affected in Argentina and Guatemala, it is important to recognize that such abuses are still occuring. Also, no single human torture or death is trivial nor undeserving of international attention and help.