Femicides in Juárez

The most recent research conducted by Human Rights Watch on Mexico’s Comision Nacional de los Derechos Humanos (CNDH) focuses on Mexico’s most pressing human rights violations and the failure to remedy these issues.  As observed, the CNDH has been meticulous in documenting abuses but still lacks the drive and ability “to be a catalyst for change.”[1]  In this report, Human Rights Watch strives to outline an analysis of why the CNDH has not affected real change in Mexico and then provides recommendations on how to remedy the problems.  A few of the important recommendations promoted by Human Rights Watch are to pressure state institutions to remedy human rights violations, increase public access to its research and work, and promote reform that will bring Mexico’s human rights standards up to the international community’s expectations.  In regards to the femicides in Ciudad Juarez, the CNDH issued a comprehensive report in 1998 that pushed the governor of Chihuahua to hold the authorities in his state accountable for providing serious investigations into these murders, among other things.  Five years later, the CNDH had barely returned to the issue and rarely followed-up on their recommendations to the state authorities in Chihuahua.  In 2003, the CNDH returned to Ciudad Juárez and produced another, more critical report, after the femicides captured international attention.  A more thorough follow-up was conducted after this report and the CNDH have even set up an office in Ciudad Juárez as a result of the endemic violence there.  To read the entire assessment, go to: http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2008/02/12/mexico-s-national-human-rights-commission-0

Once the United Nations completed a mission to Mexico to study the human rights violations committed against women, the international community officially became involved in the issue.  Identifying the problematic machista culture that still permeates Mexican society, the Special Rapporteur notes that “even cases of rape and murder, may be understood as desperate attempts to uphold discriminatory norms that are outpaced by changing socio-economic conditions and the advance of human rights.”[2]  This report emphasizes the corruption and criminal conduct of public officials in Mexico, specifically Ciudad Juárez.  Focusing on negligence, bribery, and misconduct, the Special Rapporteur finds that the lack of due process is one of the largest obstacles standing in the way of solving the femicides.  Linked to the issue of government corruption is the lack of transparency in Juárez, which is also emphasized by the UN Report.  Similar to recommendations made by Human Rights Watch, the UN Commission on Human Rights suggests that Mexico initiate legislative and judicial reforms.  Moreover, protective and support systems need to be priorities for officials at all levels, whether local or national.  There also needs to be preventative systems and structural changes that will help stop future femicides from occurring; both training and awareness-raising programs are stressed in this report.  To read the entire UN Report, go to: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Countries/LACRegion/Pages/MXIndex.aspx