The reduction of homicides in Mexico is not a product of the new government's security strategy, but of the accommodations and arrangements among criminal groups, said Javier Hernández Valencia, representative in Mexico of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
''One of the warnings that those involved in public security institutions are making is that, in some regions, the consolidation of an organized crime group, i.e., its hegemony over other groups vying for the territory, is leading to the cessation of conflict and it also explains the reduction of violent deaths,'' he said.Interviewed at the end of the round table, 'Policy of Equality and Non-discrimination', organized by the Secretariat of Government Relations, the UN representative said that the policies that make up the strategy of the Enrique Peña Nieto government ''have not matured". On Wednesday, the government reported that during the December-April period (until the first week) there were almost 4,500 homicides linked to organized crime.
In that regard, he added, the reduction of homicides by 17 percent in the first four-month period of the Peña Nieto administration, compared to the same period in the previous term, are due to other issues and causes, some of which are not positive.
''To rejoice because there is a reduced number of deaths in a locality can lead to the perverse effect of not realizing that perhaps a greater risk (is still present): the undisputed control by a criminal organization, with all the potential to replace the will of citizens and the authorities.''Another concern is to perceive the reduction in crime rates as a solution of the problem, when in reality, for example, it can show that
''the cessation of murders of journalists in a town or a state is because all journalists are now muzzled by the leaders of organized crime,'' he said.Valencia Hernández emphasized that the ''way out'' of the violence in Mexico will be through decision making at the highest level, for example, in the withdrawal of the Army and Navy from public security tasks or the implementation of the announced national gendarmerie.
On the other hand, she said that the perception of a lower crime rate also has to do with the publicity given in the media to violent events. At this point, experts have commented that what has happened is more likely to be a reduction in coverage.
''My impression of the last quarter is that there are no forbidden topics, but they focus in a different way; that is, we are not being subjected to censorship, but I admit that the change of discourse (by the government) has a powerful influence on the total social conversation.'' ...Spanish original