The use of the National Guard for migration enforcement has been criticized for deviating the force from its primary security functions, while also raising human rights concerns given the lack of training provided to guardsmen on how to interact with vulnerable populations like migrants. to Mexico’s southern and northern borders to assist in the detention of migrants in response to threats and pressure from the Trump administration to do more to stem the flow of migration to the United States. While the Federal Police was marred by several cases of corruption and grave. The New Mexico National Guard Hall of Honor will induct the members of the class of 2020 in an online ceremony virtually Saturday, November 21, 2020. had made important progress in strengthening its capacity to carry out effective investigations. Last week, Mexico announced it reached a deal with the U.S. to pay the shortfall in its annual … Another concern is that the majority of the force’s funding and equipment, , and each of the National Guard’s recruitment centers are located at army bases. However, it is not clear from the government’s information which force is in charge where or how joint operations are taking place. Tackling Insecurity, Corruption, and Impunity, Protecting Human Rights in Central America, Strengthening Rule of Law and Fighting Corruption, Fighting Corruption and Exposing Impunity, Enhancing Accountability: Police and Justice Reform, Drug Policy Debate and Reform in the Americas, Women, Drug Policies, and Incarceration in the Americas, Due Process and Access to Justice for Migrants, The WOLA Human Rights Awards & Benefit Gala. This presents a separate set of concerns, as Mexico’s armed forces have a long history of altering crime scenes, torturing suspects, and committing other crimes and human rights violations with near total impunity. History files of the Army National Guard Organization, 1949-63; and the Air National Guard … The National Guard’s internal controls should be accompanied by strong external oversight mechanisms. Alfredo Estrella/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images, President Felipe Calderón first sent the military to fight drug gangs. Critics say the force is ill-equipped to carry out policing. This new force, and López Obrador’s May 11 executive agreement, further cast doubts on the future of national civilian policing in the country, as well as civilian oversight over. SCOTT SIMON, HOST: In exchange for avoiding President Trump's tariff threat, Mexico said it would crack down on migrants travelling north through the country by deploying its National Guard … The rest of the National Guard’s members are soldiers that were transferred over from the army or navy. To guarantee accountability for guardsmen who engage in corruption or violate human rights, it’s paramount that the internal affairs unit shift its priorities. A November 2017 WOLA report found that 97 percent of the crimes and human rights violations committed by soldiers against civilians that were investigated by the federal Attorney General’s Office between 2012 and 2016 had yet to be punished by the time of issuing the report. Members of the National Guard can be involved in activities ranging from inspecting backpacks on the metro in Mexico City to working on dismantling criminal groups. The National Guard’s internal controls should be accompanied by strong external oversight mechanisms. In mid-April, photos circulated on social media of National Guardsmen eating at a restaurant in Puebla with members of a family-based organized criminal group involved in oil theft and drug trafficking. The Mexico branch of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the CNDH, and several other human rights organizations and security experts have expressed concerns about the recent decree for these reasons. Mexico's National Guard is made up of at least 60,000 members from several law enforcement branches and other military agencies, too, and have been tasked with combating … While the National Guard has not yet been implicated in as many cases of grave human rights violations as the armed forces and former Federal Police, the new force is not without critique. The best way to address insecurity in Mexico and to combat criminal organizations is to conduct serious investigations that end in convictions and to strengthen civilian police institutions. On April 24, 2020, the Mexican government reported that 76 percent of the 76,773 deployed National Guard members had been transferred over from these two military branches (50,553 came from the military or navy police and 5,980 were army soldiers on loan to the National Guard). One way the Mexican government should do this is by establishing an independent observatory to monitor and recommend improvements in the National Guard’s accountability mechanisms and its use of force. In both cases, the head of the National Guard, Luis Rodríguez Bucio, condemned the acts and affirmed that the force’s internal affairs unit would investigate the accusations. As Mexico negotiates a tariff deal with its northern neighbor, the National Guard has been sent to stem the flow of migrants coming from Central America. Joseph Vigil, a spokesman for the New Mexico branch of the National Guard, said its pilots received high marks from local and state ground crews as they sought to contain the Luna Fire. Albuquerque NM 87123 or your local Armory. Members of the National Guard can be involved in, inspecting backpacks on the metro in Mexico City to working on dismantling criminal groups. (61,252 from the army and 15,450 from the navy). On February 28, 2019, Mexico’s Congress passed the constitutional reforms that created the National Guard, while setting a five-year limit on the use of the military in public security tasks. More recently, the, Inter-American Commission for Human Rights, (IACHR), and numerous national and international human rights organizations criticized the National Guard’s response to the January 2020 migrant caravan for its. Mexico’s president, facing intense pressure to bring record-breaking homicide rates under control, has begun to deploy the country’s new National Guard in Mexico City. As the Adjutant General, he serves as senior military advisor to the Governor and is responsible for providing the State of New Mexico … Mexico City has one of the country’s best-trained local police forces in the country, and the deployment of militarized forces could prompt a backlash in the famously liberal city, he said. A little over half of the 150,731 federal security agents deployed across the country belong to the Mexican military (61,252 from the army and 15,450 from the navy). Police and prosecutors’ offices, not soldiers, are tasked with interacting with the civilian population to prevent crime and violence and to carry out investigations and legal prosecutions. Homicide rates in the city of almost nine million people have jumped as much as 50 percent in some months, compared with a year earlier, although in other months they have remained relatively stable. The US is pressing for changes in asylum law. Since the National Guard has assumed the Federal Police’s role, the Inter-American Court’s order to establish the independent observatory now applies to the National Guard. Between July and November 2019, the CNDH reported receiving, of human rights violations committed by members of the National Guard, including accusations of migrant abuse, torture, and arbitrary detention. Of the 505 criminal investigations that were launched, only 16 convictions had been secured. 7 Min Read. The guidelines set forth for transferring the Federal Police’s human, material, and financial resources to the National Guard stipulate that the National Guard would inherit the Federal Police’s internal affairs unit, along with any of its open investigations. The constitutional reforms that created the National Guard appeared to take a step in the right direction by establishing that the new force would be a civilian force under civilian leadership, but a year after its creation, the López Obrador administration has shown that this commitment only exists on paper. Late last year, Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum, a close ally of the president’s, said her city did not need the National Guard. In early May, a video surfaced of members of the National Guard extorting a criminal known as “El Cholo” in Sonora. Under López Obrador, the military’s role also goes beyond public security. This new force, and López Obrador’s May 11 executive agreement, further cast doubts on the future of national civilian policing in the country, as well as civilian oversight over soldiers carrying out public security tasks. The human rights court ordered that the government establish a federal independent observatory, with civil society participation, to monitor accountability and the use of force by members of the Federal Police and the police of Mexico State. As WOLA has highlighted in the past, the Mexican government’s increasing dependence on the armed forces for public security tasks has come at the expense of strengthening civilian police institutions. In November 2018, the Inter-American Court on Human Rights issued a. ordering the Mexican government to create such a mechanism for the Federal Police. The New Mexico National Guard is a trusted and influential organization recognized as a top National Guard force, capable and competent to meet the challenges of the 21st century. “We need more … This presents a separate set of concerns, as Mexico’s armed forces have a long history of altering crime scenes, torturing suspects, and committing other crimes and human rights violations. Just weeks before taking office, and even after Mexico’s Supreme Court struck down as unconstitutional the Internal Security Law which would have legalized the military’s role in public security, López Obrador announced his intention to create a new National Guard to assume federal policing functions. In the southern state of Chiapas, agents are stationed at different parts along the border and at the Suchiate river, and they often accompany officials from Mexico’s National Migration Institute (Instituto Nacional de Migración, INM) at checkpoints and in other migration enforcement operations. Of the 505 criminal investigations that were launched, only 16 convictions had been secured. Three months later, on May 27, the law regulating the National Guard, The National Guard officially assumed all federal policing functions on December 31, 2019, a decade after the, and 90 years after the creation of Mexico’s, . 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