Mexico’s government added an article to its Amnesty Law in a decree June 14, allowing the head of the Executive Branch to commute sentences and halt criminal proceedings in cases deemed “relevant to the Mexican State,” regardless of the severity of the crime. The new Article 9 states the country’s president has exclusive authority to grant amnesty directly, without following procedures establlished esewere in the law, in specific cases meeting two conditions. The first is that amnesty is granted to individuals providing verifiable information useful for uncovering the truth in cases relevant to the national nterest; the second is that criminal prosecution has already been initiated against the individual. Amnesties granted under this article extinguish any pending criminal charges.
Importantly, Article 9 specifies that in cases of presidential amnesties, the exceptions outlined in Article 2 of the original 2020 Amnesty Law do not apply. Article 2 prohibited amnesty for crimes against life or bodily integrity, kidnapping cases involving firearms, and other serious federal offenses.
The original 2020 Amnesty Law aimed to release prisoners processed for non-serious, non-repeat offenses like abortion, minor drug possession, or poverty-driven theft. However, in April, Mexico’s Senate approved a bill allowing the head of the Federal Executive to directly grant amnesty, with 67 votes in favor and 32 against. The bill was then sent to the Chamber of Deputies, where it was approved by a vote of 258-205, with one abstention. According to Senate Justice Committee chair Olga Sánchez Cordero, the aim is ensuring truth and transparency, stating that “the Mexican nation has unhealed wounds, so extraordinary measures are needed to redress rights violations by the State in cases where justice has stalled.” Ruling MORENA party leader Ricardo Monreal added that the reform seeks to clarify historical truths around collective killings like those of Ayotzinapa and Tlatlaya.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has stated that amendment to the Amnesty Law will contribute to uncovering the truth about such unresolved cases as the disappearance of the 43 Ayotzinapa students in September 2014. Resolving this case was a commitment López Obrador made to Mexican citizens both while running for president and after assuming office in December 2018.
However, the Amnesty Law reform has faced strong criticism. For instance, Mexico City’s Human Rights Commission argues that it lacks clear limits on which crimes qualify, leaving a dangerously vague opening for amnesty in any case the president deems “relevant.” Sen. Patricia Mercado of the opposition Citizen’s Movement also rejected the notion that the decree will aid truth-seeking, pointing out that it lacks conditions such as disarmament, non-repetition, victim reparations, and education requirements found in amnesty efforts such as that in Colombia’s Peace Accords.
From Jurist, June 16. Used with permission.
See our last posts of the Ayotzinapa and Tlatlaya massacres, and Mexico’s human rights crisis.
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Mexico: court orders release of Ayotzinapa documents
A court ordered Mexico’s Armed Forces to hand over documents pertaining to the 2014 disappearance of 43 students from a rural teachers’ college in Ayotzinapa. The ruling, issued several weeks ago but widely reported this week, mandates the release of 853 pages of information to the public, an encouraging development for the family members of the victims, who have been demanding access to the documents since 2023.
The disappearance of the students in the state of Guerrero, largely believed to have been carried out by criminal groups working with local police, has remained in the public consciousness for more than a decade, due to the steadfast activism of the victims’ loved ones. Evidence of what many describe as an institutional “cover-up,” reinforced by the obstacles put in place by successive Mexican governments, has fueled deep public mistrust around the case. Asked about the ruling on March 4, President Claudia Sheinbaum said she was not familiar with it but would meet with the victims’ families at the end of the month, something she has done before without satisfactory results. The day before, the federal authorities also announced the arrest of Marco Antonio Mosso Benítez, a man they allege istied to the crime. (NACLA Update)