'We are millions': Victims of organized crime in Mexico seek justice in new law
| Mexico City
Roc铆o Uribe Ruiz stood at the back of聽a conference room in the Mexican presidential residence, silently holding a picture of her missing daughter, as President Enrique Pe帽a Nieto touted a new law to protect victims of the country's devastating organized crime epidemic.
With more than 60,000 people killed in drug violence in the past six years, and tens of thousands more disappeared, Mexico now faces the monumental task of addressing the needs of the growing group of those affected.聽The new legislation, signed into law this week, promises to do just that.聽For the first time, Mexico will specifically聽address victims' rights with additional legal protection and financial reparations, among other benefits.聽
Dozens of relatives whose loved ones have disappeared without a trace 鈥� and whose cases have gone nowhere in a country where fewer than 4 percent of crimes are ever solved 鈥� squeezed into the packed聽Los Pinos聽hall as Mr. Pe帽a Nieto announced that with the law, only the second of its kind in Latin America, 鈥渢he Mexican state aspires to return hope and comfort to victims and their families.鈥澛�
鈥淚t gives me hope,鈥� says Ms. Uribe Ruiz, whose 14-year-old daughter, Maria Fernanda Tlapanco Uribe, went missing nine months ago. 鈥淏ut really, will it be applicable to us, and not just to whoever they want? The laws aren鈥檛 for us. They are for the 鈥榖ig鈥� people.鈥�
The law, officially called the General Law of Victims, is the joint work of academics, advocates, and victims themselves. Proposed and promoted by the Movement for Peace聽with聽Justice聽and聽Dignity 鈥� which is led by the poet Javier Sicilia, whose son, Juan Francisco, was killed in March 2011 鈥� the law received nearly unanimous support in Congress last year before hitting a wall with former President Felipe Calder贸n.
Mr. Calder贸n declared the law unviable and unconstitutional. However, Mr. Pe帽a Nieto promised to revive it.
To start, the law makes 鈥渧ictim鈥� a legally recognized entity. It provides for a victim鈥檚 right to respectful treatment, a full investigation of the crime, and the awarding of damages whenever possible.
The law also demands the creation of a new National System of Attention to Victims to aid victims in various capacities, a national victims鈥� registry, and a fund to dole out reparations 鈥� ostensibly聽to be聽paid for with cash and property seized from criminals.
Critics, including other victims' groups, say the law is flawed. In a statement, the victims鈥� advocate group Mexico S.O.S. highlighted what it sees as the law鈥檚 failings. For one thing, the group says, it only covers victims of federal crimes, not state and local crimes. And it creates a scheme in which the state must pay out damages caused by a criminal. What's more, they argue that the law defines 鈥渧ictim鈥� in terms that are unnecessarily sweeping and vague.聽
Pe帽a Nieto conceded the law 鈥渟till needs to be improved鈥� and has asked lawmakers to work up reforms.
Colombia was the first nation in Latin America to enact legislation protecting victims. That country's June 2011 Victims and Land Restitution Law sought to restore millions of acres to people displaced by the decades of fighting between the government and guerrilla forces. The law also provides for financial compensation to victims of human rights violations.
It would have been better if Mexico鈥檚 victims鈥� law wasn't necessary, Mr. Sicilia said during the ceremony. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the consequence of not applying the laws that are made to protect and provide justice to citizens. It鈥檚 the consequence of impunity, corruption 鈥� and of a war that never should have been.鈥澛�
鈥淚 have hopes that they鈥檒l listen to us,鈥� says Mar铆a Eugenia Morales, whose 19-year-old daughter, Nayeli Francia Morales, has been missing for nearly two years.
鈥淲e aren鈥檛 just one or two鈥� who have lost someone, she says. 鈥淲e are millions.鈥�
