DPLF, together with more than 130 civil society organizations, groups of victims, and human rights defenders in Mexico as well as the Open Society Justice Initiative, submitted this letter to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to provide relevant and updated information regarding concerns about the ability of Mexico’s prosecutors’ offices to be independent. This letter identifies a number of worrying patterns and threats to prosecutorial autonomy under the new Office of the Prosecutor General of the Republic as well as prosecutors at the State level. Among the alarming trends observed are a lack of transparency, meritocracy, and citizen participation in selection processes for prosecutors; the Prosecutor General’s failure to comply with legally required oversight and accountability mechanisms during his first year in office; and failure by the government to address a potential serious conflict of interest involving the Prosecutor General. DPLF and the other signatory organizations emphasize that truly autonomous prosecutors’ offices, capable of carrying out investigations and prosecutions transparently and without undue external influences, are vital for combatting impunity in Mexico.
Read the letter here.