Military justice system faster than civil court system

Jazmín's story begins at a state carnival and ends in a military barrack. That night, she doesn't really remember the songs that the norteño group Calibre 50 played at the arena, or the local arts and crafts, and food stands. She instead remembers the “disgust” that she felt after two lieutenants from the Ministry of Defense, José Roberto Acosta Vargas and Édgar Díaz Frías, abducted her and proceeded to rape her.

That night on September 19, 2013, her boyfriend, Ángel de Jesús Castillejos, asked the lieutenants to accompany Jazmín – the name used to protect her identity – to the Expomex Palenque Arena in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, since he, who's also a lieutenant, was on duty that night. At 10:00 pm, they picked her up at a supermarket, according to the official report released by the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH).

At the arena, Jazmín asked them to watch over her money. They had a few beers, and she felt dizzy after one, so after the concert was over, she asked them to take her home. “They kept telling her that they would take her home, but they never did. She also asked for her money back, and they refused,” says the CNDH's official report. Against her own will, they took her to a military barrack and threatened her not to make any noise. According to Jazmín, they then forced her into a room and proceeded to rape her.

Jazmín's case is one of 1,235 military investigations in the country in the past four years, according to information released by the Ministry of Defense as part of new transparency reforms passed in 2014.

Of the 3,519 military personnel who were tried by court-martial over this period of time, 1,267 were given prison sentences, and 1 in 3 are currently in prison.

In stark contrast, over this same period of time, the Mexican Attorney General (PGR) has reported 71 civil lawsuits against military personnel, none of which ended in the handing down of prison sentences.

Cases of abuse of power, according to the Attorney General, are primarily concentrated in the states of Michoacán, Guerrero, Durango, Colima and Tamaulipas. These 71 cases included kidnapping, torture and homicide.

Court-martial cases, according to the Military Criminal Code in Mexico, include: desertion of duties, abuse of power and violence against civilians, among others. However, human rights violations, such as torture, kidnapping, sexual assault or extrajudicial executions, are basically in limbo. Since 1960 until the present, the Attorney General has not released any information on which of these crimes it has actually actively investigated or prosecuted. However, as of last year, the National Transparency Institute (INAI) has requested that the Attorney General make this information public.

As a result, the Attorney General made public 71 civil cases – 25 pertaining to abuse of power, 17 to torture, 15 to kidnappings and 10 to homicide – that have been investigated since 2012.

Some of our expert sources the we interviewed believe that despite the advances made as part of the transparency reforms of 2014, the Military Criminal Code must always be implemented to ensure that the court martial system actually prosecutes human rights violations. However, other specialists disagree that the Attorney General should prosecute military personnel, since “military discipline” is fully met by the Mexican Armed Forces and these are mostly isolated cases.

Miguel Agustín, Director of the Human Rights Center, said that as of 2006, the Military was entrusted with greater autonomy and power, but no control or oversight mechanisms were established as part of these new powers, resulting in a greater number of human rights violations not being prosecuted.

According to Juan Méndez, a UN rapporteur, torture and abuse of power are common occurrences in Mexico's local, state and federal police forces and the Armed Forces. The CNDH has reported an increase in these types of crimes beginning in 2007, with 2,020 cases reported in 2011 and 2,113 in 2012. During 2012 – 2014, the commission “received 1,148 complaints regarding violations committed by the Armed Forces alone,” says Méndez.

Of these cases, less than 10 were related to homicides, freedom of speech, sexual assault, rape, robbery, and breaking and entering. Furthermore, none of these cases pertain to organized crime.

Former brigade general, José Francisco Gallardo, believes unresolved cases is a symptom of impunity. “There is usually a deeper reason for why these cases never get investigated: when high-ranking officers are involved in the violation in question and it puts them at risk of being tied, the case is basically thrown out of court,” he says.

Mario Patrón from the Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez Human Rights Center, says that as things stand now, it wouldn't be feasible to remove the Armed Forces from their duty of fighting organized crime in the country, but a more feasible solution would be to implement a pragmatic plan that shifts power from the court-martial system to the Attorney General. “We're not downplaying the importance of our Armed Forces. What we are saying is that in a democratic nation… failing to properly investigate and prosecute violations in the law basically means to perpetrate impunity,” he says.

“We have to implement effective controls and oversight of the Armed Forces and although our current judicial system is inefficient, all cases of violations must be made public. Today, many military officials who've committed crimes are free thanks to the Attorney General's inability to carry out proper investigations.” concludes Patrón.