Sep 3, 2:55 PM EDT

State report urges Mexico to improve human rights

By MARTHA MENDOZA
Associated Press Writer

The Obama administration said Friday that Mexico has met enough human rights requirements for the U.S. to release $36 million in previously withheld funds that were part of the $1.4 billion Merida Initiative.

But State Department spokeswoman, Virginia Staab, said the U.S. should withhold another $26 million in new funding until it sees additional progress on "some aspects of Mexico's human rights effort."

The funding is part of a 2008 commitment from the U.S. to help Mexico combat drug cartels. Under the rules, Congress must withhold 15 percent of the funds until Mexico meets specific human rights requirements including banning torture and prosecuting law enforcement agents and soldiers who abuse civil rights.

The Mexican government did not respond to requests for comment on the State Department's recommendations.

Mexico has faced repeated criticism for alleged military abuses. This year, human rights officials accused soldiers of shooting two children and altering the crime scene to try to blame the deaths on drug cartel gunmen.

The army denies the allegations, and says the boys, ages 5 and 9, were killed in April when their family's vehicle was caught in the crossfire of a shootout between soldiers and gunmen in the northern state of Tamaulipas.

The scandal has renewed demands from human rights activists that civilian authorities, not the army, investigate human rights cases involving Mexico's military.

Because Merida spending lags more than a year behind allocations, Friday's decision will have minimal financial impact.

But Andrew Selee, director of the Washington D.C.-based Mexico Institute, said it does underscore concerns, both in Mexico and the U.S., about the lack of progress in fairly prosecuting public officials accused of committing human rights abuses.

"This has raised particular concern in the U.S. Congress, where there remains considerable support for Mexico's efforts against organized crime, but also some worries about the lack of progress in ensuring transparent investigations of alleged human rights abuses," said Selee.

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Associated Press writer Alexandra Olson in Mexico City and Matthew Lee in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.

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