Mexico under examination by the U.N. Committee against Torture in Geneva
On 31 October and 1 November 2012, the United Nations Committee against Torture (CAT) examined and discussed the report submitted by Mexico with a delegation of the Mexican government. TRIAL participated in a private meeting with the CAT prior to its open session with the Mexican delegation in order to raise issues related to the violations by Mexico of its international obligations under the Convention against Torture.
In May 2012, TRIAL (Swiss Association against Impunity) together with nine local associations dealing with the subject of enforced disappearance in Mexico[1], submitted to the CAT an alternative report for the consideration of Mexico’s 5th and 6th periodic reports, highlighting the existing obstacles in the implementation of the Convention against Torture by Mexico, including: the failure to codify enforced disappearance as an autonomous offence in line with international standards both at the federal and the state levels and to adopt a General Law on Enforced Disappearance; the failure to adopt adequate and effective preventive measures; the lack of an adequate legal framework on universal jurisdiction; the ongoing impunity for the perpetrators of enforced disappearance; the failure to protect relatives of disappeared people, their associations and witnesses from threats and harassment; and the failure to provide compensation and integral reparation to victims of enforced disappearance and their families.
On 30 October 2012, TRIAL participated in a private meeting in Geneva with the CAT, together with delegations of Mexican and international NGOs. At this occasion TRIAL raised issues related to the above-mentioned ongoing violations by Mexico of its international obligations, stressing that enforced disappearance is a form of torture and relatives of disappeared people are subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment because of the length of time over which their ordeal is dragged out by State authorities and because of the attitude of official indifference in the face of their acute anxiety to know the fate and whereabouts of their loved ones.
On 31 October and 1 November 2012, the CAT examined the report submitted by Mexico with a delegation of the government. During the session, the CAT raised a number of issues, including those previously pointed out by TRIAL, and it sought explanations and clarifications from the State.
At the end of the month, the CAT will publish its concluding observations and recommendations which will represent a road-map for Mexican authorities in order to take further steps to effectively comply with their international obligations under the Convention against Torture.
For more information
See the alternative report submitted by TRIAL in May 2012 to the CAT [in Spanish]
See the executive summary of the alternative report submitted by TRIAL in May 2012 to the CAT
1I(dh)eas – Litigio Estratégico en Derechos Humanos; Foro Nacional para las Migraciones en Honduras – FONAMIH; Fundación para la Justicia y el Estado Democrático de Derecho; Centro Diocesano de Derechos Humanos Fray Juan de Larios, A.C.; Fuerzas Unidas por Nuestros Desaparecidos(as) en Coahuila – FUUNDEC; Comité de Familiares de Migrantes Fallecidos y Desaparecidos – El Salvador – COFAMIDE; and Asociación de Familiares de Detenidos Desaparecidos y Víctimas de Violaciones de Derechos Humanos en México – AFADEM.
