$26 million in aid to Mexico paused
U.S. doubts human-rights progress
LITTLE ROCK — The Obama administration is withholding $26 million in aid to Mexico, recommending that the government give more power to its humanrights commission and crack down on abusive soldiers.
In a report released Friday, the State Department said the Mexican government, which is mired in a violent battle with powerful drug cartels, has met human-rights requirements to receive $36 million in previously withheld funds that are part of a $1.4 billion Merida Initiative.
But the U.S. was going to withhold 15 percent of newly authorized funds until the Mexican government meets several requirements: enhancing authority of the National Human Rights Commission, limiting authority of military courts in cases involving abuse of civilians, and improving communication with human-rights organizations in Mexico.
A State Department official said the department believes there has been “very significant progress” on human rights in Mexico, but as a policy decision, it is withholding a portion of the new funding because “even more progress needs to be made.” The official spoke on condition of anonymity because she wasn’t authorized to speak on the issue.
The Mexican government said it is working to improve human rights and urged Washington to speed up implementation of the Merida Initiative.
The Merida Initiative was a 2008 commitment from the U.S. to help Mexico combat drug cartels. Under the rules, the State Department must certify that Mexico is banning torture, prosecuting law enforcement agents and soldiers who abuse civil rights before allocating all of the funds.
Mexico has faced repeated criticism over 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 killings have 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 effect.
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 humanrights abuses,” said Selee.
Information for this article was contributed from Mexico City by Alexandra Olson and from Washington, D.C. by Matthew Lee of The Associated Press.