San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial

Torture allegations

Mexico must uphold human rights commitments

2:00 a.m. July 20, 2009

As this page has stressed many times before, the United States and Mexico are full partners in the bloody war against Mexican drug cartels.

That's only right. Americans buy most of the drugs exported from Mexico, and they supply most of the guns imported into Mexico by drug traffickers.

Half of this partnership is that the United States has pledged under the Mérida Initiative to provide $1.4 billion to Mexico, Central American and Caribbean nations to help authorities combat the cartels. But the other half of the deal is that Mexico has promised, consistent with the conditions of the Mérida agreement, to make progress on human rights by prosecuting suspected human rights offenders, prohibiting the use in criminal trials of testimony obtained through torture and consulting often with independent human rights groups.

Now it looks like Mexico isn't holding up its part of the bargain, and that puts in jeopardy the 15 percent of the Mérida money that cannot be released until the U.S. secretary of state confirms that Mexico has made progress on human rights. There are disturbing allegations, some of which were detailed recently in The Washington Post, that the Mexican army has carried out forced disappearances, acts of torture, looting of villages and illegal raids in pursuit of drug traffickers.

We don't know whether the accusations are true, but it's the job of the Mexican government to find out. And if military officers committed these crimes, they must be punished. A lot is riding on the integrity of the anti-drug effort, and it can't be compromised, either by the United States or Mexico. U.S. officials have to deliver funding as promised, but Mexican authorities have to meet their obligations as well.

Of course, fighting drug dealers is a messy business. It's understandable that some members of the Mexican military might be feeling the pressure of the otherwise noble campaign in which they're involved. In fighting back against the Mexican government, drug cartels have killed more than 70 soldiers. Some of the casualties were tortured, and their bodies mutilated. It's natural that some of their comrades might want vengeance. But it's not acceptable.

Mexican officials acknowledge that some abuses have occurred in the fight against traffickers but insist that the cases are isolated. Whether that's true or not isn't the point. The goal, for Mexico, should be that there be no abuse at all. That may not be possible but that's the ideal for which our neighbor should strive. And that's what we should insist upon in order for this partnership to move forward. If that means holding back some of the funding until Mexican authorities fulfill their oversight duties, so be it.

Mexico's drug war is a just cause. All the more reason why it must be fought in a just way.

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