Mexican Court Orders Release of Documents on Massacre Investigations

Judge Rules Mexican government must disclose evidence of grave human rights violations Migrant killings in Tamaulipas, Cadereyta, prima facie human rights violations Landmark decision upholds right to truth, cites “interest of society” in “avoiding impunity and the repetition of such acts in the future” This post was co-authored by Michael Evans and Jesse Franzblau of the … 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 →

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 →

“Near total impunity” for Mexican Cartels “in the face of compromised local security forces,” U.S. Cable

Four months before the feared Zetas drug cartel kidnapped and murdered 72 migrants in northeastern Mexico, the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City said that narcotrafficking organizations in that region operated with “near total impunity in the face of compromised local security forces.” As the date of the massacre drew nearer, another U.S. agency, the Drug … Continue reading →

Secrets of the Tamaulipas Massacres Come to Light in Proceso Magazine

In this week’s edition of Proceso magazine, award–winning journalist Marcela Turati uses a set of declassified U.S. diplomatic cables from our Mexico/Migration Project collection to shed new light on what she calls “the collusion of Mexican municipal, state and federal officials” with the murders of hundreds of migrants in and around San Fernando, Tamaulipas, by 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 →