Mexico’s Senate is now in the process of selecting the country’s new information commissioners who will be at the center of pivotal transparency and human rights decisions for years to come. The competition is intense, with 158 candidates vying for the seven top positions at the Federal Access to Information Institute (IFAI). Continue reading
Tag Archives: IFAI
Mexican court orders a new review of the San Fernando massacre
In a case that has important ramifications both for access to information and for human rights investigations in Mexico, a federal judge declared last week that the country’s information commissioners can and should determine whether an infamous 2010 massacre of 72 migrants in Tamaulipas state by alleged agents of the Zetas drug cartel might constitute a grave violation of human rights under established international legal norms. Continue reading
Mexico’s Transparency Reforms, Part I: Migrant Rights and the Legacy of the Outgoing IFAI Commissioners
This post was co-authored by Michael Evans and Jesse Franzblau. Clearing the decks after a recent overhaul of Mexico’s transparency regime, the Mexican Senate last week rejected a request by the current group of Federal Institute for Access to Information (IFAI) commissioners to remain in their posts until the end of their current terms. Beginning in May, the … Continue reading
Migration News: February 14-21, 2014
At a summit of North American leaders in Toluca, Mexico, Presidents Obama, Peña Nieto and Harper pledged to ease border restrictions in an effort to increase trade and economic activity. (Los Angeles Times) Mexico’s attorney general said he is “profoundly concerned” about the shooting of a Mexican migrant earlier this week by a U.S. Border … Continue reading
INM Defies IFAI; Still Has No Record of Meeting with Top U.S. Migration Official
Mexico’s National Migration Institute (INM) cannot locate a single document or electronic record relating to a 2008 meeting between INM commissioner, Cecilia Romero, and the U.S. State Department official in charge of monitoring and combating human trafficking. INM continues to declare the “non-existence” of such records despite an exhaustive, 44-page ruling from the country’s information commissioners … Continue reading
Migration News: January 25-31, 2014
President Obama today signaled that he might accept an immigration deal that did not include the path to citizenship called for in the bill approved by the U.S.Senate. (New York Times) During their annual retreat, the Republican leadership of the U.S. House of Representatives published a set of principles on their approach to immigration reform, … Continue reading
FOIA NOTES: Declassified U.S. Cable Cited in Decision to Overturn Migration Institute’s “Inexistence” Claim
Citing information in a declassified U.S. State Department cable, Mexico’s information commissioners have overturned a determination by the country’s National Migration Institute (INM) that it did not have records on the 2008 visit of Ambassador Mark Lagon, then the top U.S. official in charge of monitoring and combating human trafficking. The case stems from a … Continue reading
Mexican Officials Downplayed “State’s Responsibility” for Migrant Massacres
Mexican officials sought to minimize “the state’s responsibility” for the slayings of scores of migrants and other travelers kidnapped from intercity buses as part of a drug cartel turf war in the northern state of Tamaulipas, according to a declassified report from U.S. officials in Mexico. This and related records were obtained by the National Security … Continue reading
Article 19 launches Right to Truth campaign for access to official records on the San Fernando Massacre
The organization Article 19 announced it has launched a campaign directed at Mexico’s Federal Access to Information Institute (Instituto Federal de Acceso a la Información – IFAI) to secure the release of investigative documents relating to the 2010 killing of 72 migrants in Mexico’s northern region of San Fernando, Tamaulipas. Article 19 has argued that … Continue reading
Migration Declassified 