On March 10, 2014 , Open Society Justice Initiative ( OSJI ) organized a roundtable to discuss the most relevant recommendations of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights’ ( IACHR) “Report on the Use of Pretrial Detention in the Americas” for Mexico and the alternatives for compliance. The panel was chaired by Commissioner James Cavallaro , the IACHR’s Rapporteur on the rights of persons deprived of liberty. Mexico state officials and civil society representatives working on issues related to the justice system and prison participated in the event. Leonor Arteaga, DPLF Senior Program Officer presented some reflections on the lack of judicial independence and its relation with the excessive use of pretrial detention and its use for other purposes other than a precautionary measure, and subsequently led the discussion on this point. Attendees talked about how judges, prosecutors and even public defenders are under pressure from the media and the judiciary itself to widely apply pre-trial detention. They also mentioned cases where the use of alternative measures to pre-trial detention has led to disciplinary sanctions for judicial operators. They agreed that this is a major issue that needs more research in order to raise its visible and to advocate in favor of strengthening judicial independence and impartiality.
That same day, the same IACHR “Report on the Use of Pretrial Detention in the Americas” was presented to the Mexican Senate , in a public event with a panel comprised of state officials , Commissioner James Cavallaro , Martin Schönteich of OSJI and Javier Carrasco Solis of Mexican Institute of Procedural Criminal Justice (IJPP) and coordinator of the Pre -Trial Justice Network .
According to the IACHR , in Mexico the abuse of pre-trial detention has caused “more than 100 thousand legally innocent people to be exposed to riots, violence, drug abuse, murder and the general prevailing self-governing environment of prisons.”
See the presentation program in the Senate of Mexico here. (Available in Spanish)
See the IACHR report here. (Available in Spanish)