Organized crime in Mexico takes on a variety of forms, such as trafficking in narcotics, smuggling of illegal aliens into the United States, and kidnapping (AP Worldstream 16 Dec. 2001; Reforma 2 Oct. 2001; Miami Herald 3 Feb. 2002). According to AP Worldstream, the treatment of citizens who have witnessed organized criminal acitivities can be quite severe, for example:

at least eight doctors are known to have been murdered ... after operating on suspected members of drug gangs.

Some kidnappers in southern Mexico ... are killing their victims even after ransom is paid, apparently to cover their tracks (16 Dec. 2001).

In November 1996, Mexico passed a federal law against organized crime (Ley Federal contra la Delincuencia Organizada) in order to deal with the problem of "orgnanized delinquency" (UNCJIN 11 May 1999). This law grants some legal provisions for witness protection, namely:

If the integrity of persons that testify against any member of the "organized delincuency" appears to be jeopardized, their identity can be kept secret by decision of the Public Ministry until the prosecution takes place.

The Public Prosecutor's Department (Procuraduria General de la Republica) will support and protect judges, experts, victims and other persons when necessary (ibid.).

Since it inception, the law has protected 112 witnesses, of which 16 were living outside of the country, 11 were judges involved in narco-trafficking cases, and 85 were informants (Seguridad al Dia Mar. 2001). From July 1997 to February 2001, however, eight persons renounced witness protection and were subsequently assassinated (ibid.).

La Jornada reported the creation of the office of the Deputy Attorney General of Special Investigations into Organized Crime (Subprocuraduria de Investigacion Especializada en Delincuencia Organizada, SIEDO) to assist the Attorney General of the Republic (Procuraduria General de la Republica, PGR) (14 Apr. 2002). One of the potential roles of the SIEDO is to grant witness protection to any person who is useful to an investigation in crimes such as money laundering, arms trafficking and human smuggling (La Jornada 14 Apr. 2002).

Various reports about organized crime in Mexico demonstrate the existence of corruption throughout the judicial system (EFE 20 Aug. 2002; The Economist 15 June 2002; New York Times 29 Jan. 2001; IPS 13 Sept. 2000). For example,

Marcelo Bergman, a crime researcher at CIDE [Centro de Investigacion y Docencia Economicas], a Mexico city university, recently surveyed a sample of the country's prison population. He found that 67% of respondents believed that if they had had the money to bribe the police, they would have got off. And 44% believed the same about the country's district attorneys.

Last month, a United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in Mexico claimed that up to seven out of ten federal judges were corrupt. Some policemen are themselves engaged in crime. Extortion is a routine way of topping up salaries. The police in some states, such as Morelos, near the capital, have become notorious for their active participation in kidnap gangs (The Economist 15 June 2002).

President Fox vowed to reform Mexico's judicial system when he came to power in the last election (ibid.). Accordingly, close to 2,000 suspects connected with drug trafficking were arrested within the first 80 days of the Fox administration (Washington Post 28 Feb. 2001). Moreover, the New York Times reported that the "nation's attorney general fired more than 1,400 of 3,500 federal police officers for corruption - or two out of every five members of the force - and prosecuted 357 of them" (29 Jan. 2001).

However, according to the Washington Post, the escalation of violence associated with organized crime has created a "climate of fear" where even judges and lawyers have been assassinated (19 Nov. 2001). Moreover, the police are also being targeted:

In the past few weeks, officials in charge of fighting drug trafficking and organized crime have been murdered by unknown persons in various states of the country (AFP 7 Aug. 2002).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Agence France Presse (AFP). 7 August 2002. "High-Ranking Police Official Gunned Down in Mexico City." (FBIS-LAT-2002-0807 7 Aug. 2002/WNC)

AP Worldstream. 16 December 2001. "Violence of Mexico's Drug Trade is Penetrating Society Far Beyond Users and Dealers With FEA-Violent Mexico-Slain Doctors." (NEXIS)

The Economist. 15 June 2002. "Critical Threat." (NEXIS)

EFE. 20 August 2002. "Mexican Police Break Up Drugs Cartel Implicated in Murder of Police Chiefs." (FBIS-WEU-2002-0820 20 Aug. 2002/WNC)

IPS. 13 September 2000. "Crime-Mexico: Police Protest Corruption, Citizens Denounce Abuse." (NEXIS)

La Jornada [Mexico City]. 14 April 2002. "Nueva subprocuraduria contra delincuencia organizada realizara labores de inteligencia." http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2002/abr02/020414/039n2soc.php?printver=1 [Accessed 9 Sept. 2002]

Miami Herald. 3 February 2002. "In Mexico, Small-Time Kidnapping is Now Big Business." (NEXIS)

New York Times. 29 January 2001. "Mexican Jail Easy to Flee: Just Pay Up." (NEXIS)

Reforma [Mexico City]. 2 October 2001. "Migration Institute Denies Reports of Militarization in Chiapas." (FBIS-LAT-2001-1002 10 Feb. 2002/WNC)

Seguridad al Dia. March 2001. "Proteccion de testigos en Mexico." http://www.seguridadaldia.com/archivocondamar/index8.htm [Accessed 9 Sept. 2002]

United Nations Crime and Justice Information Network (UNCJIN). 11 May 1999. "Mexico: Substantial Provisions." http://www.uncjin.org/Documents/Crtoc/mex.htm [Accessed 9 Sept. 2002]

Washington Post. 19 November 2001. "Mexican Judges' Climate of Fear; Two Assassinations Follow Targeting of Prominent Lawyers." (NEXIS)

______. 28 February 2001. "Death of a Mexican Village; Massacre Survivors Leave as

Drug Wars Spread." (NEXIS)

Additional Sources Consulted

IRB databases

Internet sites

Amnesty International

Human Rights Watch

Search engine

Google