30th Human Rights Council Session
PANEL ON IMPACT OF WORLD DRUG PROBLEM ON HUMAN RIGHTS

Mr. President,

The Mexican Commission for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights welcomes the Study on the impact of the world drug problem on the enjoyment of human rights elaborated by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

We deem positive the Mexican State leadership on UNGASS preparations in the international arena; nevertheless we regret that despite of the political openness shown internationally, there has been minimal political receptiveness at the local sphere. Internally, civil society inputs are not seriously been considered and efforts from the civil society to open a more inclusive and well-informed debate regarding the drug policy in the country, have been dismissed and even censored. With particular concern, we do not estimate that drug policy wants to be genuinely reconsidered and reformed by Mexican authorities, thus refuse to recognize that the war on drugs has unleashed grave human rights violations in our country.

Since 2006, a military approach to face the world drug problem in Mexico was favored. The use of the Armed Forces to perform public security tasks without a clear strategy has contributed to the increasing spiral of violence that after nine years seems far to coming to an end. The levels of violence and insecurity are much higher today and human rights violations continue on the rise.

The war on drugs in Mexico have left over 70,000 people murdered or executed arbitrarily, more than 25,000 people disappeared, over 8,000 people arbitrary detained under a figure created to detain to investigate called “arraigo”, more than 4,000 instances of torture, at least 280,000 internally displaced people and over 60 human rights defenders killed in the country. It’s been a year since the enforced disappearance of the 43 students in Ayotzinapa, and 22 people in Tlatlaya and 16 people in Apatzingan were arbitrarily executed without knowing to date, the truth of these horrifying acts, but only the official declarations, which have linked them to the organized crime.

Those numbers should convince the Human Rights Council to take action on the Mexican situation and to dispatch a high level mission to assess the human rights situation that the civilian population is facing.  In particular, the impunity of the widespread and systematic human rights violations is urgently to be addressed.

Mr. President,

We call the Council to adopt urgent measures to assist countries to respect human rights in the instrumentation of drug policies, by organizing annually a high level debate, and by creating a special procedure responsible for the promotion and protection of human rights while countering the world drug problem.

Thank you, Mr. President.