Mexico’s Supreme Court has ruled that military personnel accused of human rights violations against lawyers and others should be tried in civilian courts instead of military courts, where violations have historically gone unpunished.
The ruling follows the publication in March of a Law Society human rights committee report calling on the Mexican government to comply with four recent judgments of the Inter-American Court.
These ruled that cases involving human rights abuses by military personnel or other agents of the state should be tried in civilian courts, not under the Code of Military Justice.
Law Society human rights committee chairman Tony Fisher said: ‘This historic decision by Mexico’s Supreme Court reflects the impact of the human rights work we are doing around the world.’
There are currently around 50,000 soldiers involved in counter-drug operations in Mexico. Since 2006, the country’s national human rights commission has received more than 4,800 complaints against the military for human rights violations. Many lawyers have been detained and some murdered.
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