Grave human rights violations and crimes against humanity under public international law: the case of Mexico

AutorDorothy Estrada Tanck
CargoDoctora en Derecho por el Instituto Universitario Europeo de Florencia. Profesora de Derecho Internacional Público y Relaciones Internacionales de la Universidad de Murcia, España. Colaboradora invitada del proyecto Derechos Humanos y Justicia Internacional de la Facultad de Derecho de la Universidad Autónoma de Tlaxcala, México
Páginas9-35
9
GRAVE HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS AND CRIMES
AGAINST HUMANITY UNDER PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL LAW:
THE CASE OF MEXICO
Violaciones graves a derechos humanos y crímenes contra la humanidad
en el Derecho Internacional Público: el caso de México
Dorothy Estrada tanck *
Summary:
I. Introduction II. International law on grave human rights violations and crimes against
humanity III. The case of Mexico in light of applicable international law IV. Normative
framework on grave human rights violations and Crimes Against Humanity V. Some
reections on legal application and interpretation issues VI. Conclusions.
* Doctora en Derecho por el Instituto Universitario Europeo de Florencia. Profesora de Derecho Interna-
cional Público y Relaciones Internacionales de la Universidad de Murcia, España. Colaboradora invitada
del proyecto Derechos Humanos y Justicia Internacional de la Facultad de Derecho de la Universidad
Autónoma de Tlaxcala, México.
Abstract: The UN international legal framework on grave human rights violations and
crimes against humanity has developed in recent years, to the degree of an initiative
for an autonomous treaty on crimes against humanity. Mexico has undergone several
Constitutional and legal reforms accepting the priority and legal supremacy of interna-
tional human rights instruments but confronting one of the worst humanitarian crises of
its history. This article reviews the relationship between international law in this area
and the specic factual, legal and methodological problems and efforts undergone by
different actors in Mexico and proposes ways to step closer to fullling victims’ interna-
tionally recognized rights to truth, justice and reparations.
Keywords: Grave human rights violations, Crimes against humanity, Enforced disa-
ppearance, Public international law, Mexico
Resumen: El marco jurídico internacional de las Naciones Unidas sobre violaciones
graves de los derechos humanos y crímenes de lesa humanidad se ha desarrollado en
los últimos años al grado de una iniciativa para un tratado autónomo sobre crímenes
Ciencia Jurídica
Universidad de Guanajuato
División de Derecho, Política y Gobierno
Departamento de Derecho
Año 8, núm. 15
P. 9
Fecha de recepción: 30 septiembre 2018
Fecha de aceptación: 20 de octubre 2018
10
Dorothy Estrada Tanck
CienCia JurídiCa. Departamento de Derecho. División de Derecho, Política y Gobierno, Universidad de Guanajuato - Año 8, núm. 15, 2019
de lesa humanidad. México ha sufrido varias reformas constitucionales y legales que
aceptan la prioridad y la supremacía de los instrumentos internacionales de derechos
humanos, pero al mismo tiempo enfrenta una de las peores crisis humanitarias de su
historia. Se revisa la relación entre el derecho internacional en esta área y los proble-
mas y esfuerzos fácticos, jurídicos y metodológicos especícos realizados por diferen-
tes actores en México y se proponen formas de acercarse a mecanismos más adecuados
para realizar los derechos internacionalmente reconocidos de las víctimas a la verdad,
la justicia y las reparaciones.
Palabras clave: Violaciones graves a derechos humanos, Crímenes de lesa humanidad,
Desaparición forzada, Derecho internacional público, México
I. Introduction
In the last years, the international legal framework at the level of the United Nations (UN)
on grave human rights violations and crimes against humanity (CAH) has developed
signicantly. The most transcendental aspect is probably the proposal for an autonomous
treaty on crimes against humanity, and the draft articles on these crimes currently being
discussed by the UN International Law Commission, which could prove a positive step
closer to victims’ right to truth, justice and reparations.
In parallel, Mexico has undergone several legal changes, including Constitutional re-
forms, which recognize the priority and legal supremacy of international human rights
instruments and which devise or reformulate the institutional mechanisms crafted to pro-
tect them. Against the mostly progressive human rights normative background that will
be reviewed below, the factual reality of grave human rights violations couldn’t be more
appalling. This has led to what some have termed as the human rights paradox, whereby
Mexico now enjoys a solid legal and institutional architecture in human rights, but at the
same time it is living one of the worst humanitarian crisis of the last forty years. This
crisis is not easily classiable in international legal terms given that Mexico is neither a
country engaged in an open armed conict nor a country undergoing a recent transition
from an authoritarian regime to a democratic rule of law1.
Indeed, for a country not involved in a formal armed conict, statistics regarding ho-
micides, enforced disappearances, and the use of torture in Mexico are overwhelming. The
country’s war on drugs has resulted in the most violent period in the country’s modern history,
with more than 150,000 people killed since 20062, more than 33,000 disappeared and thou-
1 See in this sense DonDé Matute, Javier (2018), “Una propuesta de justicia transicional para México”, in
Animal Político, 26 September.
2 Open Society Justice Initiative, Atrocidades Innegables: Confrontando Crímenes de Lesa Humanidad
en México, 2016. Other gures indicate that roughly 200,000 people have been murdered during 2006
to 2016, see FIDH (international FeDeration on HuMan rigHts, 2017), “Mexico: Murders, Disappea-
rances, and Torture in Coahuila de Zaragoza are Crimes against Humanity”, 5 July 2017, [on line], avai-
lable at https://www.dh.org/en/region/americas/mexico/mexico-murders-disappearances-and-tortu-
re-in-coahuila-de-zaragoza-are

Para continuar leyendo

Solicita tu prueba

VLEX utiliza cookies de inicio de sesión para aportarte una mejor experiencia de navegación. Si haces click en 'Aceptar' o continúas navegando por esta web consideramos que aceptas nuestra política de cookies. ACEPTAR