Three years after initiation of the criminal justice reform, civic and academic organizations are putting into operation an agency to ensure full respect for human rights in its implementation.
In announcing the Citizen Observatory of the Judicial System, Miguel Sarre, a professor in the Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico (ITAM), said the urgency for civil society to monitor the effective implementation of the criminal justice reform aims to
"achieve justice that results in guarantees of citizen security. It is precisely because the previous penal reform (of 1917) was not implemented with adherence to human rights that we now suffer insecurity."Saar said that the sluggishness of the states to comply with the criminal justice reform is due to
"political reasons; no one involved in the old inquisitorial system wants to lose the power they now have, and which does not guarantee justice."
MV Note: Mexico's judicial system has been an inquisitorial one, in which judges review in private documents of evidence and arguments presented by prosecutors and defense lawyers. Based on this, they then rule on the guilt or innocence of the accused. The reform mandates public trials in which prosecutors and defense lawyers present evidence and make oral arguments before the judges, who still decide guilt or innocence.The ITAM researcher noted that among the objectives of the Citizen Observatory is support for the complete abolition of arriago [detention of a suspect without filing formal charges before a judge], which is "a legal concept contrary to international human rights standards", as well as see that due process is followed and "look into" what happens in prisons.
The Citizen Observatory of the Judicial System is comprised of representatives of Legal Assistance for Human Rights (ASILEGAL), the Mexican Commission for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights (CMDPDH), the Institute of Criminal Procedure (IJPP) and the Mexican Institute for Human Rights and Democracy (IMDHD). It will monitor incorporation of the reform in the states of Baja California, Mexico, Campeche, Guerrero, Michoacán, Morelos, Puebla and Oaxaca where these organizations carry out research.
The coordinator of the Observatory, Antonio López Ugalde, said that the organizations will use official information provided by state and federal authorities as well as field work, and will be in a position to give a preliminary report in October.
In the first stage of assessment, he said, the agency will focus on four areas of research: arraigo, adequate defense, the carrying out of criminal sentences, preventative imprisonment and precautionary measures.
MV Note: Preventative imprisonment, or the holding in jail of accused persons awaiting trial (arraigo), is very common in Mexico. Being freed on bail is rare. Many criminal charges prohibit granting bail. Many people in jail are being held 'preventatively'.Javier Carrasco of IJPP, an organization that observes the application of preventive detention and other precautionary measures, highlighted the importance of monitoring how the new trial system is incorporated in each of the states and to be aware that no counter-reforms occur.
He said that in states where the new system is already operating, such as Oaxaca, Chihuahua, Morelos, Durango and Zacatecas, there have been "200 changes to the original code that implemented the new system."
He pointed out that the new criminal justice system aims for preventive detention being the exception and not the rule, but only in some states has this concept has been incorporated properly. Carrasco said that contrary to widespread actions of judges to remand detainees at the request of the prosecution, in states where there is already progress in this regard
"alternative measures have worked very well, as in Morelos, where 95% of persons under alternative measures [that allow them to remain] outside prison meet the judge's instructions, or in Puebla, where the level of compliance is 100%."Ximena Andión, of the CMDPDH, said that, given the "shocking levels of impunity", monitoring implementation of the new criminal justice system in order to attend to full respect of human rights, is indispensable.
According to previous research conducted by her organization, which has demonstrated the ineffectiveness of arraigo--only 3% of those held have been convicted of the offenses in question--Andión generally noted that there is
"a delay and failure to phase out arraigo, as mandated by the Constitution reform in 2008."She said that every state has imposed different conditions for holding a person under arraigo, plus there is no standard number of days during which people are subjected to the measure, exceeding even the limits for federal crimes, which is 80 days. In states such as Baja California a person can be held for 90 days.
Andión declared herself to be against "simulation" in proposals such as the Federal District, which aims to reduce the number of days of arraigo, but increased to five days the time in which detainees can be held by the public prosecutor before being presented before a judge.
Rocio Culebro IMDHD director, stressed the importance of monitoring the work of public defenders, since many defendants rely on them for lack of funds.
"In Campeche, 80% of criminal cases are defended by court-appointed lawyers, hence it's of great importance that they are trained for the new criminal justice system and the procedures established by international guidelines," he said.Culebro said the Citizen Observatory aims to share its experiences with the federal government, specifically the Technical Secretariat of the Coordinating Council for Implementation of the Criminal Justice System (Setec).
Olga Guzman, of ASILEGAL, said that her group would perform an analysis of the carrying out of sentences, work which will be done "with a gender perspective", after preliminary investigations found that prison conditions for women are more vulnerable than men and they suffer much harsher sentences for similar crimes committed by men. Guzman said that the work to be performed will face an "uncritical society", which believes that
"all persons deprived of their liberty are also deprived of their fundamental human rights as part of the punishment."Spanish original