Human rights in Mexico

Human rights in Mexico refers to moral principles or norms^[1] that describe certain standards of human behaviour in Mexico, and are regularly protected as legal rights in municipal and international law. The problems include torture, extrajudicial killings and summary executions,^[2] police repression,^[3] sexual murder, and, more recently, news reporter assassinations.^[4]

The Human Rights Watch reports that Mexican security forces have enforced widespread disappearances since 2006. It also states that Mexican security forces commit unlawful killings of civilians at an alarmingly high rate and widely use torture including beatings, waterboarding, electric shocks, and sexual abuse as a tool to gain information from detained victims. In addition, it reports that the criminal justice system is largely failing victims of violent crimes and human rights violations when they seek justice and that attacks on journalists by authorities or organized crime will cause them to self-censor. The report also cites issues related to unaccompanied migrant children, women's and girls’ rights, sexual orientation and gender identity, palliative care, and disability rights.^[5]

While the Mexican government has taken action to fight organized crime in Mexico's drug war, security forces in Mexico have committed human rights violations that include extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, and torture. There have been limited efforts to investigate and prosecute these abuses. Human rights in Mexico also face difficulty in the battle to access reproductive rights and health care, and have yet to solve problems involving violence against members of the press.^[6]