Migrants were also recruited by criminal organizations to conduct illicit activities. A Mexico City municipal law provides increased penalties for hate crimes based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Office of the Special Envoy for Critical and Emerging Technology, Office of the U.S. Indigenous defendants who did not speak Spanish sometimes were unaware of the status of their cases and were convicted without fully understanding the documents they were instructed to sign. According to the Mexican Commission for the Promotion of Human Rights, from 2006 to 2020, federal authorities issued 27 sentences for torture. The state commissions are funded by state legislatures and are semiautonomous. Despite a government program to transmit public education classes via internet, television, and radio during the pandemic, reports suggested that at least 2.5 million children did not continue their basic education. The OSAC information exchange mechanism also . In July 2020 the CNB launched a public version of the National Registry of Disappeared and Missing Persons. In addition to shelters, womens justice centers provided services including legal, psychological, and protective; however, the number of cases far surpassed institutional capacity. Federal law prohibits torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, as well as the admission of confessions obtained through illicit means as evidence in court. Penalties were commensurate with other similar laws but were rarely enforced. Nonetheless, discrimination was common against racial and ethnic minorities, including Black, Afro-Mexican, and indigenous groups. OSAC has developed into an enormously successful joint venture, with U.S. companies and organizations receiving the tools they need to cope with security issues in a . State search collectives reported being victims, at times fatal, of attacks, threats, and other acts of harassment. Between January and June, the commission registered that 115,534 women received attention in Justice Centers for Women throughout the country, a 19 percent increase over the same period in 2020. The CNDH may call on government authorities to impose administrative sanctions or pursue criminal charges against officials, but it is not authorized to impose penalties or legal sanctions. Country Summary: Violent crime - such as homicide, kidnapping, carjacking, and robbery - is widespread and common in Mexico. Digital media journalists covering stories such as crime, corruption, and human rights violations experienced physical violence and online abuse. Journalists in Iguala, Guerrero, received anonymous messages through social networks, such as Facebook and WhatsApp, threatening them and their families, according to civil society. Flores received temporary protection from the Interior Secretariat protection mechanism. From 2014 through 2019, the CNDH received nearly 3,000 . Wages were illegally withheld until the end of the harvest to ensure that the workers did not leave. Recent Elections: International observers considered the midterm elections (legislative, gubernatorial, and local) to be generally free and fair, with only minor reports of irregularities. The CABs operate under a tripartite system with government, worker, and employer representatives, with worker representation on the CABs selected based on majority representation, which was held by entrenched nondemocratic unions that sign protection contracts with complicit employers to secure low wages. Children also produced garments, leather goods, and illicit crops such as opium poppies; engaged in illicit activities such as the production and trafficking of drugs; and experienced sexual exploitation, often as a result of human trafficking. Impunity and extremely low rates of prosecution remained a problem for all crimes, including human rights abuses and corruption. Most formal-sector workers (70 percent) received between one and three times the minimum wage. Drug traffickers involved in illegal logging recruited and kidnapped indigenous persons and children in isolated or displaced communities, withheld their wages, forced them to conduct illicit activities, and often threatened death if they tried to leave. The constitution provides indigenous persons the right to self-determination, autonomy, and education. Violence by organized criminal groups often prompted the incidents, which took place in 10 states and displaced 11,560 persons as of August. Lozoya accused high-level politicians representing multiple parties of complicity in his corrupt acts and was acting as a states witness in trials against them. Civil society and families of the disappeared stated the governments actions to prevent and respond to disappearances were largely inadequate to address the scale of the problem. The government has an established procedure for determining refugee status and providing protections. For example, manufacturers commonly hired workers on one- to three-month contracts and then waited a period of days before rehiring them on new short-term contracts to avoid paying severance and to prevent workers from accruing seniority. On August 7, several journalist organizations, including the Puebla Network of Journalists, National Network of Journalists, Communication, and Information on Women, and International Network of Journalists with a Gender Vision, issued a statement denouncing increased levels of violence against female journalists in Puebla from security forces and criminal organizations. The INE sanctioned 107 persons for gender-based political violence. Voting centers for federal elections were generally accessible for persons with disabilities, and ballots were available with a braille overlay for federal elections in Mexico City, but these services were inconsistently available for local elections elsewhere in the country. Public buildings and facilities often did not comply with the law requiring access for persons with disabilities. Subcontracting is allowed if it is used to perform specialized services unrelated to the main economic activity of businesses or public institutions. osac mexico 2020 crime and safety report osac mexico 2020 crime and safety report. The law provides criminal penalties for corruption by officials, and the government took steps to increase its legal authority to pursue these crimes. Mexico has relied heavily on the military to control drugs and fight organized crime, leading to widespread human rights violations. As a result other unions, including a new union formed by workers after the vote, gained the right to seek representation rights and negotiate a new agreement. The Jalisco government disarmed the municipal police force of Ixtlahuacan and turned over public security duties to the National Guard and the Jalisco Secretariat for Public Security. Children constituted 19 percent of irregular migrant flows identified by authorities; 30 percent of them were unaccompanied. Military Abuses and Extrajudicial Killings. The law provides for the right of indigenous persons to elect representatives to local office according to uses and customs law (see section 6, Indigenous Peoples) rather than federal and state electoral law. Freedom Houses 2021 Freedom on the Net report categorized the countrys internet as partly free, noting concerns regarding online manipulation tactics, potential for politicized content removals, high levels of violence against digital reporters, and investigations surrounding abusive surveillance practices. Various news outlets showed a video of two National Migration Institute agents with riot gear and shields grabbing one migrant, knocking him to the ground, and kicking him. osac mexico 2020 crime and safety report. Higher Risk Travel. State labor inspectors, however, reported finding evidence of child labor, particularly in agricultural establishments. NGOs reported no changes in the mental health system to create community services or any efforts by authorities to have independent experts monitor human rights abuses in psychiatric institutions. By law workers may remove themselves from situations that endanger health or safety without jeopardy to their employment. The government continued its efforts to strengthen freedom of association protections, promote union democracy, and improve the ability of workers to bargain collectively. In addition to criminal libel and defamation laws, civil law defines moral damage as similar to defamation concerning harm to a persons feelings, affections, beliefs, dignity, honor, reputation, and privacy, according to the NGO Committee to Protect Journalists. The government increased efforts to target human smuggling organizations. In 2019 the Prosecutor Generals Office opened a corruption investigation against Lozoya for receiving up to $10 million in bribes from the Brazilian construction firm Odebrecht. The STPS certification of the new election set November 3 as the date for termination of the existing agreement, thus establishing that representation rights would be determined under the new labor reform rules and institutions. The investigation continued as of August 30. Defendants may not be compelled to testify or confess guilt. On August 7, Yucatan governor Mauricio Villa announced the arrest of four police officers, but on August 14, a judge set them free due to a lack of evidence. Hundreds of thousands of workers continued to work in foreign-owned factories, mainly in northern border states, producing electronics, medical equipment, and auto parts. This limited medias ability to investigate and report, since many of the reporters who were killed covered crime, corruption, and local politics. During the COVID-19 pandemic, indigenous persons faced additional hardships in accessing educational services. On February 19, a constitutional reform eliminated presidential immunity for corruption and other crimes. Freedom to Participate in the Political Process, Section 4. On January 11, the government ended migratory detention for children. The year 2020 had the second-highest number of cases on record, with 8,626 reported missing or disappeared, down from 9,185 cases reported in 2019. If you are traveling for university-related purposes to an area on the University Travel Warning List, you need to follow the instructions below to gain university approval. The government cooperated with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations in providing protection and assistance to refugees, returning refugees, or asylum seekers, as well as other persons of concern. The rate of aggression against political figures during the election cycle was on par with the 2018 election, one of the most violent political periods in recent history. Freedom of Expression, Including for Members of the Press and Other Media, b. Freedoms of Peaceful Assembly and Association, d. Freedom of Movement and the Right to Leave the Country, e. Status and Treatment of Internally Displaced Persons, Section 3. osac crime and safety reports osac crime and safety reports. Physical Conditions: According to the Federal Prison System, as of June there were 220,393 inmates in 288 state and federal facilities with a designed capacity for 217,064. In October and November, I spent several . An opinion poll in April 2019 showed more than 70 percent of the population supporting the CICIG. State governments reported investigating 12 suspected forced labor cases in 2020. The constitution allows any person to arrest another if the crime is committed in his or her presence. On August 3, Ravelo died from his injuries. The Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC) was created in 1985 under the Federal Advisory Committee Act to promote security cooperation between American private-sector interests worldwide and the U.S. Department of State. Nationwide the CNB reported the exhumation of the remains of at least 3,025 persons in 1,749 clandestine graves between December 1, 2018, and June 30. Civil society groups claimed police routinely subjected LGBTQI+ persons to mistreatment while in custody. Between January and July COMAR processed approximately 25,000 cases. Additionally, the INE introduced quotas to promote minority representation, requiring political parties to nominate a certain number of candidates belonging to minority groups, including from indigenous, Afro-Mexican, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI+) communities, as well as persons with disabilities. Abuses occurred in institutions and care facilities housing persons with mental disabilities, including those for children. There were several reports that government entities or their agents committed arbitrary or unlawful killings, often with impunity. In August 2020 a federal judge sentenced Juan Carlos El Larry Moreno Ochoa to 50 years in prison for killing Breach. Penalties ranged from monetary fines to the cancellation of candidacies. in alan wong married. Human rights and environmental activists, many from indigenous communities, continued to be targets of violence. Following the introduction of the accusatorial justice system, however, there was a significant reduction in the number of persons detained in this manner, falling from more than 1,900 in 2011 to 21 in 2018. Communities and NGOs representing indigenous groups criticized the government for failing to consult indigenous communities adequately when making decisions regarding extractive industry and natural resource development projects on indigenous lands. State and municipal laws addressing domestic violence largely failed to meet the required federal standards and often were unenforced. This requirement was not followed in all cases, particularly in remote areas of the country. A variety of domestic and international human rights groups generally operated without government restriction, investigating and publishing their findings on human rights cases. In April authorities arrested and prosecuted Alexis Rafael Valadez Vazquez under the new law for publishing intimate photographs of women online, without their consent, to extort them. The CNB reported that during that period, of the 3,025 bodies exhumed, authorities identified 1,153 and returned 822 to their families. The CNDH in its report on COVID-19 measures in holding facilities found most detention facilities could not comply with social distancing measures or several other health recommendations due to lack of space, personnel, or equipment. Posted on 26 Feb in delores winans grandchildren. According to civil society organizations, up to 3,250 persons, mostly women and children from indigenous communities, were forcibly displaced in July in Chenalho and Pantelho, Chiapas, due to territorial disputes between armed groups. with disabilities attended school at a lower rate than those without disabilities. Many workers were compelled into forced labor through debt bondage, threats of violence, and nonpayment of wages by recruiters and employers. While penalties for conviction of forced labor were commensurate with those for similar crimes, very few cases were successfully prosecuted. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the median salary for full-time female employees was 19 percent less than that of full-time male employees. The Secretariat of National Defense and Secretariat of the Navy also play a role in domestic security, particularly in combating organized criminal groups. osac mexico 2020 crime and safety report 27 Feb. osac mexico 2020 crime and safety report. The Interior Secretariat reaffirmed its commitment to protect refugee applicants even as the country experienced an unprecedented number of applicants. OSAC's public-private partnership currently consists of over 5,400 organization and 18,000 individual members. There were credible reports that members of security forces committed some abuses. By law a union may call for a strike or bargain collectively in accordance with its own statutes. Social programs to combat child labor did not address all sectors where child labor occurred. During the electoral process the INE received 147 complaints of gender-based political violence, a significant increase from the 47 complaints it received during the 2017-2018 electoral process. Between January 1 and August 4, it received 4,119 reports of missing persons and located 3,805 alive and 277 deceased. On May 1, the role of verifying the process for unions to organize a secret ballot vote for workers to approve or reject existing collective bargaining agreements within the four-year period established by the reforms (legitimization process) transitioned from the STPS to the Federal Center. The order directed the Attorney General's Office to reopen the investigation into the 2014 killings of 22 civilians by members of the military in Tlatlaya, Mexico State. The government continued to pursue the extradition of Tomas Zeron from Israel. Nonetheless, Quevedo Cruz remained in detention as of September 11. Libel/Slander Laws: There are no federal criminal laws against defamation, libel, or slander; however, eight states have criminal laws on these acts. Discrimination and Societal Abuses, Systemic Racial or Ethnic Violence and Discrimination, Acts of Violence, Criminalization, and Other Abuses Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, Other Societal Violence or Discrimination, a. The government worked with UNHCR to improve access to refugee status and the procedure to determine refugee status, reception conditions for vulnerable migrants and refugee applicants, and integration in local communities (including access to school, work, and other social services) for those approved for refugee and complementary protection status. ; For U.S. citizens: the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok can be reached via an emergency line: 02-205-4000. 1964 to over 97,000 by the end of the year. Three states have state-level IDP laws, but the country does not have a federal internal displacement law, which created challenges in resource allocation and interagency governmental coordination. The reforms also establish an expedited and more transparent judicial process for unions to obtain collective bargaining rights. Federal funding assisted the operation of more than 69 shelters, external attention centers, emergency houses, and transition houses. On June 17, while journalist Gustavo Sanchez Cabrera was riding his motorcycle, two unidentified individuals in a car crashed into him, exited the car, and fatally shot him. All states prohibit marriage of persons younger than age 18. In March 2020 a federal judge issued an arrest warrant for Zeron on charges related to his conduct of the investigation, including torturing alleged perpetrators to force confessions, conducting forced disappearances, altering the crime scene, manipulating evidence, and failing to perform his duties. Five states have laws that restrict the publishing of political caricatures or memes. These laws were seldom applied. Not all public defenders were qualified, however, and often the state public defender system was understaffed.
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