Mexico’s Transparency Reforms, Part II: The selection of new IFAI commissioners and access to information on migrant rights

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 →

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 →

Migrant Massacre Focus of Legal Effort against Mexico’s Human Rights Commission

Declassified State Department Cables Among Evidence Supporting Claim Citing violations of the Mexican constitution, international treaties and Mexican law, victims and surviving family members of the 2010 San Fernando massacre, along with the Fundación para la Justicia (FJEDD) and other groups, have initiated legal action against Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) and are challenging … 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 →