State Department releases and withholds aid to Mexico
Just as the State Department is required to certify that Colombia's human rights performance is improving in order to free up a percentage of military aid in the foreign aid budget, the State Department must also report that Mexico's government has met certain human rights requirements in order to free up fifteen percent of military aid in the foreign aid budget for Mexico. As required by section 7045(e) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act of 2009, the Secretary of State must report in writing that the Government of Mexico is continuing to:
(A) improve the transparency and accountability of Federal police forces and to work with State and municipal authorities to improve the transparency and accountability of State and municipal police forces through mechanisms including police complaints commissions with authority and independence to receive complaints and carry out effective investigations; (B) conduct regular consultations with Mexican human rights organizations and other relevant Mexican civil society organizations on recommendations for the implementation of the Merida Initiative in accordance with Mexican and international law; (C) ensure that civilian prosecutors and judicial authorities are investigating and prosecuting, in accordance with Mexican and international law, members of the Federal police and military forces who have been credibly alleged to have violated internationally recognized human rights, and the Federal police and military forces are fully cooperating with the investigations; and (D) enforce the prohibition, in accordance with Mexican and international law, on the use of testimony obtained through torture or other ill-treatment.
Last Friday, the Department of State released the report saying that the Mexican government has met the human rights requirements necessary to release $36 million in previously withheld Merida Initiative funds. These funds were initially appropriated by the Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2009 (P.L. 111-32) and by the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Relate Programs Appropriations Act of 2010 (Division F of P.L. 111-117). At the same time it released $36 million in funds to Mexico, the Department of State also announced that $26 million in aid for Mexico appropriated in the 2010 Supplemental Appropriations Act would continue to be withheld until the Government of Mexico enhances the authority of the National Human Rights Commission, and limits the authority of military court cases involving abuse of civilians. In the FY2010 Supplemental, Congress appropriated $175,000,000 in International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement (INCLE) funds to Mexico for judicial reform, institution building, anti-corruption, and rule of law activities. It is unclear whether the State Department was legally required to withhold these funds, as section 7045(e) of the 2009 Foreign Operations Appropriations Act specifically says that the provision does not apply to assistance for judicial reform, institution building, anti-corruption and rule of law activities. However, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Mexico and Canada Roberta Jacobson made it clear that the State Department made "a policy decision - not a legal decision" to "wait on a portion of new funding because we think additional progress can be made." As brought up in the Washington Post last week, the decision to put the funds on hold "will have little practical effect, because U.S. and Mexican officials have barely begun planning how to spend it." The 2010 Supplemental also stipulates that these INCLE funds for Mexico "may be made available only after the Secretary of State submits a report to the Committees on Appropriations detailing a coordinated, multi-year, interagency strategy to address the causes of drug-related violence and other organized criminal activity in Central and South America, Mexico, and the Caribbean." This report has yet to be submitted, therefore, the funds were technically already "on hold." The Mexican government responded to the State Department's decision by saying that it is working to improve human rights and that the U.S. government should work to speed up the implementation of the Merida Initiative. The Mexican Foreign Relations Department released a statement, which asserts that:
Cooperation with the United States against transnational organized crime through the framework of the Merida Initiative is based on shared responsibility, mutual trust and respect for the jurisdiction of each country, not on unilateral plans for evaluating and conditions unacceptable to the government of Mexico.
U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), however, issued a statement suggesting that the State Department report "falls short" of meeting the conditions required in the law.
While I am encouraged by the willingness of Mexican authorities to discuss ways to improve accountability for violations of human rights, we have not yet seen evidence that abuses, particularly arbitrary arrests, torture and extrajudicial killings by the armed forces, are being effectively addressed. These are not the kind of results the conditions in the law require. A report like this that falls short doesn't help either country.
This is the first time the State Department has withheld Merida Initiative funds due to human rights concerns, and some human rights groups and non-profits view it as a positive step. However, many groups believe that all funds should have been withheld, including the $36 million from the 2009 Supplemental and 2010 Foreign Operations Acts. According to Nik Steinberg of Human Rights Watch, "Mexico is simply not meeting the human rights requirements. ... There are widespread and systematic abuses by the military, for which they have total impunity."