Amnesty International rejects Morena approval that militarizes the National Guard

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Amnesty International said that it categorically rejects the decision of the senators to legalize the militarization of Mexico.

Amnesty International (AI) rejected “categorically” this Friday the approval in the Mexican Senate of the reform that transfers control of the National Guard to the Army, considering that this will generate more human rights violations in the country.

“Amnesty International categorically rejects the decision of the senators to legalize the militarization of Mexico,” the organization said in a statement.

He said that the approval of the initiative that formalizes the assignment of the National Guard (GN) to the Secretary of Defense (Sedena), making its military character official, by the Senate of the Republic, “represents an atrocious act that puts in risk the guarantee of human rights in Mexico”.

Edith Olivares Ferreto, executive director of AI Mexico, indicated that in the last 16 years “the disastrous” results of the militarization of public security in Mexico have been seen and therefore called on the Executive to design a plan for the gradual withdrawal of the Forces Army of the streets.

He said that the strengthening of the civil police should be prioritized, as well as the development of public prevention policies, aimed at guaranteeing public safety.

“Enough of human rights violations and impunity,” he emphasized.

AI recalled that the militarized approach to public security has had “disastrous” consequences for human rights, as more than 100,000 people are missing in the country, while the Army and Navy have been accused of widespread human rights violations.

“The Sedena has been the subject of more than 4,000 complaints of human rights abuses before the CNDH since 2014,” he said.

He pointed out that for this reason, institutions such as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and other UN agencies have repeatedly expressed their concern about the use of militarized military and police forces for public security activities in Mexico.

“Concerns and recommendations that have been dismissed today,” he insisted.

He recalled that both AI and other civil society organizations have warned that the militarized public security strategy “has failed.”

“Mexico today is a much more insecure country than it was 16 years ago,” he lamented.

And he pointed out that between 2006 and 2022 homicides have increased 218%; In 16 years, more than 100 journalists have been murdered (15 of them in the first eight months of this year) and more than 97% of the cases of more than 105,000 disappeared persons occurred after December 2006.

Mexico Daily Post