Rep. Lowenthal Leads Coalition of 81 Members of Congress on Letter to Sec. Kerry Regarding Human Rights Conditions in Mexico

Congressman Alan Lowenthal (CA-47) today led a group of 81 Members of Congress expressing concern to Secretary of State John Kerry about continued human rights violations throughout Mexico and urging the Secretary to raise these issues with the government of Mexico.

The letter to Secretary Kerry, authored by Congressman Lowenthal and signed by 81 Members of Congress, highlights the broad pattern of grave human rights violations in Mexico, including cases of torture, arbitrary detentions, kidnapping, and extra-judicial executions.

"Mexico is one of our key economic and political partners, and this is a critical moment in Mexican history. We must take every step possible to ensure that the government of Mexico thoroughly investigates and holds accountable government agents responsible for committing human rights violations, including enforced disappearances and torture. Human rights must be a priority on both sides of the border," Congressman Lowenthal said.

Since the enforced disappearance of 43 students on September 26, 2014, concern about the human rights situation in Mexico has become more pronounced. The letter notes that of the 43 students who disappeared, the remains of only one student has been identified. Furthermore, the letter notes that a group of international experts selected by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights will issue a final report about the case in the coming months.

This letter comes just one week after the Department of State released its own human rights report on the situation in Mexico, which stated that "Impunity for human rights abuses remained a problem throughout the country with extremely low rates of prosecution for all forms of crime." 

In another example of human rights violators not being held accountable, Congressman Lowenthal's letter notes that Mexico's National Human Rights Commission has determined that, after Mexican soldiers killed 22 people in Tlatlaya in June 2014, the soldiers subsequently altered the scene of the crime in order to make it appear that all the victims were killed in a confrontation. The report concluded that the soldiers had in fact executed at least 12 of the individuals.

The letter to Secretary Kerry has been endorsed by several U.S. human rights groups, including the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), the Latin America Working Group, Amnesty International, and the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights.

To read the entire letter and see the full list of signatories, click here.