Mexico: new anti-torture bill gets Deputies’ nod

The Chamber of Deputies has approved a law against torture intended to prevent, investigate and punish the practice along with other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.

Deputy Armando Luna Canales presented the 96-article legislative proposal in the name of the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH), stating the law was needed because an alarmingly large percentage of the population condones both the violation of an individual’s human rights and the use of violence to fight crime.

This law, asserted Luna, sends “a clear message to the international community that Mexico is on the path to full respect for human rights.”

He explained that the law makes no distinctions, under any circumstances, and nobody will be exempt from responsibility.

The Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) Deputy added that under the new law there is no statute of limitations on the crime of torture and that it can be prosecuted even if no charges are pressed, guaranteeing that victims have access to justice.

Ernestina Godoy Ramos, a Deputy with the National Regeneration Movement (Morena), said the law was a breakthrough in the protection of human rights.

Nonetheless, she added, it will be of little use as long as there’s impunity and “the institutions charged with guaranteeing the safety and integrity of the people are the main torturers.”

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