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Saturday, May 4, 2013

Mexico NGO's Condemn Reform of Law Regulating Detentions Without Criminal Charges

Milenio Civil society organizations condemned the constitutional amendments to arraigo [police detention of people without filing criminal charges with a judge]. They say that lawmakers seek to pass a reform that inadvertently will have serious repercussions on the observance of human rights in Mexico.

They explained that the Public Ministry [investigative police and prosecutors] will be allowed to retain alleged perpetrators of organized crime for up to seven days and those suspected of other serious crimes for up to five days without being brought before a judge.

Currently, retention can lasts from two to four days and is a process that
"encourages and facilitates human rights violations by the ministerial authorities, such as the fabrication of evidence and abuse, including torture."
It is worrisome that the legislators are not only not paying attention to international recommendations [that it be completely eliminated], but they are also leaving victims without the possibility of reparation for the destruction of their reputation, family ties, employment, health and other damage caused by the application of arraigo detentions.

Civic society organizations such as the Association for the Prevention of Torture, the Saltillo Migrant House, the "Tlachinollan" Human Rights Center of the Mountains, the "Fray Francisco de Vitoria Human Rights Center, the Miguel Agustin Pro Juarez Human Rights Center, the Justice Center for Peace and Development, the Law Center for Human Rights and the Mexican Commission for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights, among others, set forth their position on the issue.

They felt that the legislators wrongly contend that the reform is a "breakthrough" because it provides more "control" of arraigo and thus should satisfy national and international civil society organizations. Spanish original