Paper Promises, Daily Impunity: Mexico's Torture Epidemic Continues Amnesty International
go to original October 26, 2015

Torture and ill-treatment in Mexico is out of control with a 600 per cent rise in the number of reported cases in the past decade, according to a report published by Amnesty International. (Amnesty International)

‘A year ago, it would have been hard to imagine how Mexico’s torture crisis could have gotten any worse’
- Erika Guevara-Rosas

Mexico’s torture epidemic has reached catastrophic new levels with reports of asphyxiation, rape, electric shocks and beatings more than doubling in the last year, said Amnesty International in a new report.

The 20-page report, Paper Promises, Daily Impunity: Mexico’s torture epidemic continues, shows that the number of torture complaints filed at the federal level in Mexico more than doubled between 2013 and 2014 - from 1,165 to 2,403 - according to data from Mexico’s own Federal Attorney General’s Office.

Despite this, the Attorney General’s Office told Amnesty that they have “no hard data” on any charges issued in 2014 against those responsible. In fact, the number of possible victims examined by official forensic experts in the country actually declined during 2014. The Attorney General has 1,600 pending requests to carry out forensic examinations in torture cases.

President Enrique Peña Nieto has promised to present a new bill on torture to Congress as a first step to tackle the crisis. However, with less than three months until the deadline for Congress to approve this law, the bill is yet to be presented.

Read the rest at Amnesty International



Call on the Mexican president, Enrique Peña Nieto, to uphold all anti-torture safeguards, including proper medical examinations, and investigate all allegations of torture in his country at Amnesty International.

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