Download the full report - Human Rights Watch

impunity that we document in our report. At least one of the suspects in this case was
tortured into confessing to the crime, according to our research, as well as the findings of the
National Human Rights Commission. 505 What’s more, when this suspect sought to recant at
trial—explaining that he had confessed only after being subject to beatings, asphyxiation,
electric shocks, and death threats—the judge dismissed his plea and chose instead to admit
his initial confession as valid. 506
The fact that you would attempt to use the Villas de Salvárcar case to dismiss concerns
about the problems of abuse and impunity in Mexico suggests that your office has not paid
serious attention either to the content of our report or the findings of the National Human
Rights Commission.
A Flawed “War on Drugs”
The main conclusion of our report is that President Calderón’s “war on drugs”—by not
addressing the problems of abuse and impunity—has exacerbated a climate of violence,
insecurity, and fear in many parts of the country.
Your letter seeks to dismiss this conclusion, in part, by criticizing our use of the term “war on
drugs,” calling it “an imprecision which gives rise to many others.” 507 We fully agree that
“war” is an inaccurate term for describing Mexico’s current security crisis. And contrary to
what you allege in your letter, we never claim or suggest that an actual war (as defined by
international norms) is taking place in Mexico today.
The reason we employ the term, always in quotes, is because it is one that is commonly
used within Mexico, including by the highest government officials, to refer to the Calderón
administration’s counternarcotics efforts. Indeed, on more than 50 occasions President
Calderón himself has directly referred to his public security strategy as a “war” on drug
traffickers or organized crime, most of which can be easily accessed on the official website
of the office of the president. 508 It is odd that you would object so strenuously to our using
equivocadas de Calderón), La Jornada, February 9, 2010, http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2010/02/09/politica/003n1pol
(accessed Oct. 15, 2011).
505 Human Rights Watch. Neither Rights Nor Security, “Illegal Detention and Torture of a Civilian, Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua,”
pp. 83-89; National Human Rights Commission, Recommendation 49/2011, August 30, 2011,
http://www.cndh.org.mx/sites/all/fuentes/documentos/Recomendaciones/2011/049.pdf (accessed September 15, 2011).
506 DVD recording of arraignment hearing of case (causa penal) 136/2010 against Israel Arzate Meléndez and José Dolores
Arroyo Chavarría held in chamber at state prison, Bravos Judicial District (Audiencia de vinculación a proceso dentro de la
causa penal 136/2010 en contra de Israel Arzate Meléndez and José Dolores Arroyo Chavarría en el Cereso estatal del Distrito
Judicial Bravos), February 11, 2010 (on file with Human Rights Watch).
507 Letter from Dr. Poiré, January 10, 2012, p. 3.
508 To cite just a few examples:
MEXICO’S DISAPPEARED 172