MEXICO CITY – The bodies of three people, dismembered and burned, were found in bags on September 2 in Abasolo, Guanajuato state. Three days later, a trans woman was murdered in the same state, and the body of a man in Coacalco state was burned and tortured, he was found hanging from a tree. On 7 September, more than 300 abducted migrants were rescued in Aguascalientes, and on 19 September an entire family was killed in Chihuahua and two people were killed by an explosive package in Guanajuato.
The list of bloody incidents seems endless, but this is only one sample of the 438 acts of extreme violence that the Mexican NGO Causa en Comán registered in September, the deadliest month of the year.
Researchers estimate that the increase in extreme violence has injured or killed 6,314 people in the first seven months of 2021.
The group said in its new report atrocities recorded in the media that there have been at least 800 cases of torture this year, in addition to 640 dismemberment, destruction of corpses and the discovery of 502 secret graves, 418 massacres and 341 murders of women carried out with extreme brutality She was
“It sounds very serious to us, because it is horrifying not only that people are murdered in Mexico, but how they are murdered,” said Luis Sánchez Díaz, a researcher at Casa en Comán, who specializes in Rights and Freedoms. defends. “This type of news is not just another statistic, and it is very unfortunate that we are beginning to normalize this type of violence.”
Each month, the group counts “atrocities” recorded in the media, which are defined as incidents in which “physical force is deliberately used to cause death, wounding, or extreme abuse.”
The organization warned that it bases its numbers only on journalists’ reports, so there will be “an indefinite number of atrocities that were not registered.”
Sánchez Díaz said: “We see the country becoming more militarized by the actions of the National Guard, [yet] Violence has increased. It is absurd to think that the country is becoming more peaceful, when an average of 97 people are murdered every day. ”
National Defense Secretary Luis Crescencio Sandoval recently said the military has deployed 28,395 troops – 6,244 of them on the southern border and 7,419 on the northern border with the US.
“Having the military on the streets and not fighting corruption affects everything,” Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera, a specialist in criminal organizations at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, told Noticias Telemundo. She was not involved in the Causa en Koman investigation.
Correa-Cabrera said the administration of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, suffering from “multiple limitations” as the country’s justice system deteriorates, has inherited the effects of former President Felipe Calderón’s war.
“Atrocities like extortion, kidnapping, torture and murder happen all over the country, but nothing happens. However, this is not a new thing, as it was seen in previous governments. It is enough to look at past data to understand that this is a major challenge,” she said.
Migration and Genocide
The report found that genocide (killings of three or more people) peaked in July, when 67 were recorded, and that the high monthly increase continues. Researchers warn there is a relationship between events and the presence of migrants in Mexico.
“It is important for us to point out that this increase in victims is due to the fact that there has been an increase in violence not only against the country’s population, but also against migrants,” said Sánchez Díaz, speaking about the spread of kidnappings. and violent incidents against people passing through Mexico, as they migrate north to the Americas
The National Institute of Migration has rescued 19,162 migrants who were victims of organized crime, many of them Central American. From 21 August to 20 September alone, the army rescued 63,614 migrants.
“We live in fear, because this is a very corrupt sector. Everyone tells you that cartels apply the rules, drugs are the law,” said Yorje Pérez Moreno, A Venezuelan migrant who was extorted while in Mexico this year.
Human Rights First, a Washington-based organization, 6,356 violent attacks have been recorded Against migrants deported to Mexico since January, including rape, kidnapping, extortion, human trafficking and other attacks.
increase in female murders
May has been the worst month so far, when 62 cases were related to violent murders of women. Sanchez Díaz said it is a worrying trend that gets worse every month.
“It is often said that many of these deaths are linked to organized crime, but we see that most cases of violence against women are with their partners or their close circle,” Sanchez Díaz said.
The highest number of women during the administration of López Obrador occurred in August, when 107 were registered according to statistics from the Ministry of Security and Civil Protection. This is also the highest number since 2015.
There has been an 8 percent increase in the murder of women from January to August as compared to the same period last year.
“There is an increasing trend towards homicides of women, but this is not well reflected, as very few women in Mexico are classified as feminists,” said Patricia Olamendi, a feminist activist and human rights expert. “The majority classify them as intentional or culpable homicides. But if we combine these three conditions, we have an average of 20 women murdered in a day.
an ‘almost total’ impunity
one in Report published last weekhandjob test result 2020 (“Hellazagos” means “conclusion”), the think tank México Ivala found that 94.8 percent of cases reported in Mexico did not result in a conviction.
“It is a criminal justice system that does not respond to the demands of citizens because it has been left in peril. There is no political leadership to fix the deficiencies and allocate the necessary resources,” said Christel Rosales, a researcher with the organization’s justice program.
The report found that 93.3 per cent of cases are not reported to the authorities and in a small percentage, ie 95 per cent, there is no punishment. The attorney general’s office launched 38,855 investigations last year, 60 percent fewer than in 2019.
Although the investigation took into account the coronavirus pandemic, experts say people’s mistrust of the justice system and its limitations also have an impact.
This is a bleak scenario, as only three-tenths of 1 percent of cases are resolved. “It’s almost total impunity,” Rosales said.
More women were detained, and with longer sentences
The México Evalúa report found that women experience inequality in the penal system because their rights are less respected.
When they testify, they are pressured to give other versions of events to a greater extent than men. In addition, very few receive their rights, and 1 in 2 women are denied their liberty while awaiting sentencing.
“The justice system is treating women differently, in a negative sense. … for example, they are given more extensive sentences than men, especially those over the age of 21, because two-thirds are women,” Rosales said.
The problem is structural. Men dominate the judicial system, which widens gaps and inequalities.
“There is still a sexual division of labor. Women are assigned lower positions that are more administrative or secretarial, while positions of decision-making, research and strategic planning are occupied by men,” Rosales said.
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