osac crime and safety report: mexico osac crime and safety report: mexico

Reforms to the Prosecutor Generals Office split the Office for Combating Violence Against Women and the Trafficking in Persons offices in an effort to elevate these issues by giving each its own special prosecutor general. Occupational Safety and Health: The law requires employers to observe occupational safety and health regulations, issued jointly by the STPS and Institute for Social Security. The Mexico 2017 Crime and Safety Report for Mexico City by the US Department of State's Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC) indicates that crimes such as armed robberies, kidnappings, car thefts, credit card fraud and residential theft are "daily concerns" (US 24 Feb. 2017). As of August 27, the suspects were awaiting trial. As of September 13, three municipal police officers from Ixtlahuacan de los Membrillos, Jalisco, remained in pretrial detention for the killing of Giovanni Lopez. Impunity and extremely low rates of prosecution remained a problem for all crimes, including human rights abuses and corruption. Civil society groups reported families living in inhuman conditions, with inadequate and cramped housing, no access to clean water or bathrooms, insufficient food, and without medical care. Organized criminal elements, including local and transnational gangs, and narcotics traffickers, were significant perpetrators of violent crimes and committed acts of homicide, torture, kidnapping, extortion, human trafficking, bribery, intimidation, and other threats, resulting in high levels of violence and exploitation, particularly targeting vulnerable groups. On February 19, a constitutional reform eliminated presidential immunity for corruption and other crimes. In June President Lopez Obrador announced that forensic scientists at the University of Innsbruck conclusively identified the remains of Jhosivani Guerrero, marking the third body identified of the 43 disappeared students. On October 7, the army relieved Colonel Miguel Angel Ramirez Canchola, accused of ordering the killings, of his posting, but as of October prosecutors had not taken action against the soldiers. Not all public defenders were qualified, however, and often the state public defender system was understaffed. The law provides time limits and conditions on pretrial detention, but federal authorities sometimes failed to comply with them since caseloads far exceeded the capacity of the federal judicial system. See the Department of States Trafficking in Persons Report at https://www.state.gov/trafficking-in-persons-report/. There were reports the government did not always investigate and punish those complicit in abuses against LGBTQI+ persons, especially outside Mexico City. Children performed dangerous tasks in agriculture in the production of beans, chili peppers, coffee, cucumbers, eggplants, melons, onions, tomatoes, and tobacco. Impunity for torture was prevalent among the security forces. Governmental Posture Towards International and Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Abuses of Human Rights, Section 6. There were reports some government agents were complicit with international organized criminal gangs, and prosecution and conviction rates were low for these abuses. The government generally exempted accompanying adults from detention to preserve family unity. Ramos had been searching for her missing husband for the previous seven months as a member of two search collectives. Wage and Hour Laws: The tripartite National Minimum Wage Commission is responsible for establishing minimum salaries. They often experienced racism and discrimination and were frequently victims of violence. Obstacles to accessing international protection related most closely to capacity limitations and lack of coordination between the relevant agencies, as opposed to government policy. In 2020 the STPS Federal Labor Inspectorate conducted almost 30,000 labor inspections nationwide but reported finding only one case of child labor. 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. As of August 18, authorities had not confirmed whether the threatening video was genuine. Following the August 2020 killing of Pablo Morrugares, El Diario de Iguala newspaper published a note blaming organized crime and Governor Hector Astudillo Flores administration for violence against journalists and impunity. Bail is available for most crimes, except for those involving organized crime and a limited number of other offenses. In June unknown assailants killed Javier Barajas Pina in the state of Guanajuato. Penalties for law violations regarding occupational safety and health regulations were commensurate with those for other similar laws but were rarely enforced. Journalists in Iguala, Guerrero, received anonymous messages through social networks, such as Facebook and WhatsApp, threatening them and their families, according to civil society. According to civil society, the protections the mechanism provided after the attempt to his life were lacking. According to the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) 2016 survey, 18 percent of women ages 15 and older reported having experienced physical violence at the hands of their current or most recent partner, and 6.5 percent reported having experienced sexual violence. 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. The minimum age for hazardous work is 18, including all work in the agricultural sector. An Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation study on the use of contraceptives in Chiapas (the poorest state) found that older women were less likely to use family planning methods (13 percent of women ages 35 and older, versus 18 percent of women ages 20-34), while 23 percent of indigenous women opposed birth control for religious, cultural, or social reasons. 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. In August 2020 a federal judge sentenced Juan Carlos El Larry Moreno Ochoa to 50 years in prison for killing Breach. Federal law prohibits arbitrary arrest and detention and provides for the right of any person to challenge the lawfulness of his or her arrest or detention in court; however, the government sometimes failed to observe these requirements. OSAC membership includes 5,400+ member organizations and 18,000+ individual members from corporate, non-profit, academic, and faith-based groups of every size, all with overseas operations and personnel who are exposed to ever-evolving security issues. Jewish community representatives reported good cooperation with the government and other religious and civil society organizations in addressing rare instances of such acts. Women were more likely to experience discrimination in wages, working hours, and benefits. 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. 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 . On August 8, self-proclaimed members of Cartel Jalisco New Generation released a video showing a group of armed men threatening to kill journalist Azucena Uresti for reporting on self-defense groups fighting the cartel in Michoacan. The governments National Protection Mechanism to Protect Journalists and Human Rights Defenders provided panic buttons, bodyguards, and temporary relocation to journalists and human rights defenders. In July a joint investigation by media outlets reported a leaked Pegasus list of more than 15,000 individuals as possible targets for surveillance in 2016 and 2017. The 45,000-person Jewish community experienced low levels of anti-Semitism. From 2014 through 2019, the CNDH received nearly 3,000 . As of August there were no developments in the case regarding the abduction and killing of seven-year-old Fatima Aldrighetti Anton. 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. Responsibility for registration of unions and collective bargaining agreements, including amendments to their statutes, shifted to the Federal Conciliation and Labor Registration Center in November 2020 for the eight phase-one states. Federal law prohibits domestic violence and stipulates penalties for conviction of between six months and four years imprisonment. These included low wages, contentious labor management, long work hours, unjustified dismissals, a lack of social security benefits, unsafe workplaces, and no freedom of association. State governments reported investigating 12 suspected forced labor cases in 2020. Labor recruiters enticed families to work during harvests with verbal promises of decent wages and a good standard of living. You can add more than one country or area. It may exercise its power to call before the Senate government authorities who refuse to accept or enforce its recommendations. In February 2020, it called on El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico to protect the rights of migrants and refugees to leave their country of origin, noting that asylum applications from . Between January and August, the CNDH registered 26 complaints of torture and 123 for arbitrary detention. On August 30, the Extraordinary Mechanism for Forensic Identification became fully operational. Some companies reportedly did not implement effective protective measures for employees, and one factory, owned by Eaton Corporation in Baja California, was operating illegally and was closed after it placed chains on its doors to prevent 800 workers from leaving. 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. The OSAC app offers many of these tools and reports that are provided on the website. Zeron led the investigation of the case by the former criminal investigations unit in the Attorney Generals Office at the time of the students disappearances. In most states alternative justice centers employed mechanisms such as mediation, negotiation, and restorative justice to resolve minor offenses outside the court system. On the OSAC Registry. Indigenous persons in isolated regions reported incidents of forced labor in which cartel members forced them to perform illicit activities or face death. The National Migration Institute, under the authority of the Interior Secretariat, is responsible for enforcing migration law. Of the 32 states, 29 stipulate similar penalties, although sentences were often more lenient. A cartel war has transformed once-tranquil Guanajuato into one of Mexico's deadliest states. Nonetheless, Quevedo Cruz remained in detention as of September 11. 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. famous las vegas male singers. July 2022. There were numerous instances of criminal armed groups extorting, threatening, or kidnapping asylum seekers and other migrants. The law allows for the reinstatement of workers if the CAB finds the employer fired the worker without just cause and the worker requests reinstatement; however, the law also exempts broad categories of employees from this protection, including so-called employees of confidence and workers in the job for less than one year. This guide covers all you need to know about the safety and security considerations for a trip to Mexico including Covid and pandemic related concerns, road safety, crime and more. On January 11, the government ended migratory detention for children. Informal workers lacked access to social protection mechanisms such as health care and retirement benefits. Political parties nominated more female candidates for public office in the midterm elections than ever before, including half of their candidates for governor in the 15 races up for election. 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. Indigenous persons generally had limited access to health care and education services. The government has an established procedure for determining refugee status and providing protections. In addition to a more impartial and streamlined judicial process for labor disputes, the reforms transfer the registration of unions and collective bargaining agreements from the CABs to a new independent Federal Conciliation and Labor Registration Center. The OSAC Program Office is headquartered in Washington, DC and is overseen by a 34-member public-private Council. In June media outlets reported that a fight between two rival groups of inmates left six inmates dead and nine wounded at a prison in Villahermosa, Tabasco. As of August, 25 of 32 states had specialized prosecutors offices for investigating torture, or specialized investigative units within the state attorney generals office as called for by law. There were 46 female candidates for governor; from 2012 to 2018, there cumulatively only 42. It is also a criminal offense in all states. Write by: . The Puebla state government sued the news outlet E-Consulta seven times due to its reporting. Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining, b. The National Population Council reported that in 2020 there were 373,661 pregnancies in women younger than age 19 (30 percent above 2019), of which 8,876 were in girls ages 14 or younger. In October 2020 authorities announced they would release Brenda Quevedo Cruz, who had been in prison without trial since 2007. 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. From 2013 through . As of October the Special Unit for the Investigation and Litigation of the Ayotzinapa case had arrested more than 80 suspects, including army captain Jose Martinez Crespo, an Iguala municipal police officer, and the Iguala municipal police chief. Abuse of Migrants and Refugees: The press, international organizations, and NGOs reported targeting and victimization of migrants by criminal groups and in some cases by police, immigration officers, and customs officials, including at land borders and airports. According to civil society groups, migrants at some detention centers faced abuse when commingled with gang members and other criminals. 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. Authorities accused the suspects of smuggling 20 to 80 migrants per day through Baja California into the United States for more than a decade. Informal Sector: According to INEGI informal workers represented 56 percent of total workers in the country as of the second quarter of the year. Penalties ranged from monetary fines to the cancellation of candidacies. On July 14, 10 indigenous men from the Yaqui tribe living in Sonora disappeared while transporting cattle in Bacum. OSAC.GOV: Registered users can receive 100+ monthly security notices, including daily news highlights, upcoming events, analytical reports, embassy/consulate alerts, and city-specific crime and safety reports. Following Ramos killing, Cecilia Flores, the leader of one of the search collectives in which Ramos participated, received death threats. Lopez had filed a complaint with the Interior Secretariat asking for greater government intervention in the indigenous Tsotsil regions following increased drug trafficking-related violence. According to data from the Mexican Social Security Institute, in 2020 there were approximately 278,000 workplace accidents, resulting in 666 deaths. U.S. Department of State - United States Department of State Since 2019 more than 60 women accused Roemer of sexual abuse, assault, and rape. The law states that the principle of gender parity should be observed in the designation of cabinet members, selection of candidates for public office by every political party, and designation of members of the judiciary. Media monopolies, especially in small markets, at times constrained freedom of expression. According to a 2017 INEGI survey, the most recent information available, 12 percent of women were illegally asked to take a pregnancy test as a prerequisite to being hired. Many workers were compelled into forced labor through debt bondage, threats of violence, and nonpayment of wages by recruiters and employers. State-level prosecutors reported investigating at least 199 cases involving child trafficking victims 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. 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. GitHub export from English Wikipedia. The government made efforts to prevent, investigate, and punish acts of disappearance involving government agents. In July the Supreme Court ruled that authorities at all levels must investigate enforced disappearances, search for disappeared persons, and inform victims of the process. OSAC 2021-N-0016, Standard for Initial Response at Scenes by Law Enforcement (added September 7, 2021 and sent to ASB for further development and publication). Sometimes family members arranged marriages for girls younger than 18. Independent Monitoring: The government permitted independent monitoring of prison conditions by the International Committee of the Red Cross, CNDH, and state human rights commissions.