The adoption of general laws on enforced disappearance and against torture in the current session of Congress, which ends at the end of April, is getting more and more complicated. Lawmakers seem not to be clear about the content of both bills, and the political parties do not have them as priorities on their respective agendas. Added to this, there isn't even a precise timetable for the legislative process.
Various organizations and human rights experts in the field have warned of the risk that the approval of both initiatives may be delayed until the next regular session in September. The two laws should have been ready the first of January, when the 180 days established for their approval were completed, so the lawmakers are now violating their own rules.
Abel Barrera, of the Tlachinollan Mountain Center for Human Rights; Edgar Cortez, a researcher at the Mexican Institute for Human Rights and Democracy; Jose Antonio Lara Duque, of the Zeferino Ladrillero Center for Human Rights , and Nadin Reyes, of the Committee of Relatives of the Detained and Disappeared Until We Find Them, expressed, with various nuances, their doubts about the approval, because time has almost run out, without being certain at what stage the process is.
Abel Barrera said that not only have the time limits been exceeded, but also the legislators have "worked with their backs'' to the families of the victims, without taking them into account or the proposals they have presented to the Senate since September 2015, regarding what the two laws should contain.
''We have serious and well-founded fears that they cannot be completed and will get stuck. It is a great test for legislators and the government to show how far their commitment to society and the victims of violence goes. We see it as difficult; it is a great challenge for Congress,'' said the activist from the Mountain Region of Guerrero.Meanwhile, Nadin Reyes and Jose Antonio Lara, who are part of various grass roots groups that have provided proposals for the content of both laws, noted separately that time is almost up, with only a dozen plenary sessions of Congress scheduled for April. They agreed that, with their proposals, relatives of victims and members of civil society as a whole have provided sufficient inputs for the development of good initiatives, which should correspond to the highest international standards in these matters.
However, Nadine Reyes said that, despite Congress having conducted regional consultation forums, the Senate intends to work only with the proposed bills sent by President Enrique Peña Nieto and they have been severely crticized, because both the one on torture and the one on enforced disappearance are far from meeting international standards.
Meanwhile, Edgar Cortez pointed out that two essential points must be paid attention to. One is that because of the time pressure to pass these laws, Congress is going to make a mess of them, as it seems that legislators are not clear about the content that each should have and it is important that they have a timetable for this legislative process, because of the limited time that remains for this session.
But another equally important point he said, is the implementation of the law, once it is passed.
''We have many laws, some good and some not so much, but the real problem is their implementation,'' he said.He gave as an example that, last October, at the National Conference of Prosecutors, two mandatory protocols were approved regarding the search for missing persons and the practice of torture and both represent a breakthrough.
''But things have not changed; when you file a missing person report, authorities say 'nothing can be done until after 72 hours', when the protocol explicitly says to start an investigation immediately.''Spanish original