Despite More Than 70,000 Homicides in Mexico Since 2014, Only 415 Being Investigated teleSUR
go to original July 3, 2017

A woman wears a skull mask in front of the National Palace during a rally by relatives and supporters of 43 missing teacher's college students in the Zocalo, Mexico City's main square (Associated Press/Rebecca Blackwell)

Of the more than 70,000 homicides registered by Mexican authorities since 2014, only 415 - or 0.5 percent - are being investigated, La Jornada reported this week.

According to numbers provided by the Attorney General's Office, or PGR, and statistics of the Executive Secretariat of the National Public Security System there have been 70,122 murders in the country in the period between 2014 and the first five months of 2017.

The national records of victims of intentional homicide registered 17,244 deaths in 2014, 18,673 for 2015 and 22,967 last year. Between January and May of 2017, 12,238 homicides were recorded.

During this period, the PGR has undertaken to investigate 415 of these cases, including just six from 2017.

According to the annual Armed Conflict Survey by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, IISS, the number killed in 2016 due to the expanding drug war in Mexico makes the country among the most dangerous in the world.

In comparison, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan claimed 17,000 and 16,000 lives respectively in 2016.

Read the rest at teleSUR

Related: Report Underscores Mexico's Flawed Response to Rising Violence (Insight Crime)

Related: Number of Missing People in Mexico Rises Due to Government Omission (Prensa Latina)

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