HomeNewsBriefAfter Tlatlaya, Excessive Force Remains Top Concern in Mexico

A year after Mexico's Tlatlaya massacre, new data show a pattern of lethality and excessive force in confrontations between authorities and civilians, underscoring claims that the government needs to do more in curbing human rights abuses by the security forces. 

 A new study from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) shows that for every military death in confrontations with civilians there are 32 civilian casualties, reported Animal Politico. Legal experts have suggested that a ratio greater than 15 civilian deaths for every single death among security forces suggests use of excessive force. 

The study also released an index comparing the number of civilians who are killed in confrontations with security forces to the number of civilians who are wounded in these confrontations. Between 2008 to 2014, Mexico's military had 7.9 civilian deaths for every wounded civilian, while the federal police saw 4.6 civilians killed for every wounded civilian.

The one bright spot in the study's findings was a reported decline in the number of overall confrontations between security forces and civilians since 2008, according to Animal Politico. 

These numbers come amid a new report from a Mexican human rights organization about the military's role in the June 2014 Tlatlaya massacre. The Tlatlaya case involved a confrontation between the military and an armed group, in which soliders executed at least 12 people and then altered the crime scene to make it look as though the deaths had happened during the shoot-out. 

“The message could not be any clearer: the soldiers were instructed to take out, or kill, suspected criminals, in complete disregard for their human rights and due process." said Maureen Meyer of the Washington Office on Latin America in a press statement highlighting the release of the report. 

SEE ALSO: Mexico News and Profiles

InSight Crime Analysis 

A year after the Tlatlaya massacre sparked international outrage, the use of excessive force by both the military and federal police remains a systemic problem in Mexico's ongoing drug war. Notably, it recently came to light that Mexico's federal police do not have a publicly available manual for use of deadly force. While Mexico's security forces undoubtedly face dangerous conditions that often necessitates the use of deadly force, it's also clear the military and federal police have a track record of responding excessively, resulting in a high casualty count among alleged "aggressors." (See the timeline below for some of the most notable confrontations involving Mexico security forces and skewed body counts). 

Use of excessive force is just one component of the country's ongoing, crime-related violence. While homicides overall appear to be dropping, other international observers remain critical of the country's security situation. In its annual Global Peace Index, think-tank the Institute for Economics and Peace ranked Mexico as one of the least peaceful countries in Latin America (although as InSight Crime has pointed, this ranking system has some problems). 

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

EL MENCHO / 25 MAY 2022

The CJNG’s reign as Mexico’s most dominant and ruthless cartel may be showing some signs of wear.

CHAPITOS / 18 AUG 2022

Mexico saw outbreaks of violence last week in three different states. What can these events tell us about the country's…

ARMS TRAFFICKING / 12 OCT 2021

Arms trafficking in Mexico has turned to digital mediums that offer both broad visibility and anonymity to an ever-increasing flow…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Contributes Expertise Across the Board 

22 SEP 2023

This week InSight Crime investigators Sara García and María Fernanda Ramírez led a discussion of the challenges posed by Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s “Total Peace” plan within urban contexts. The…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Cited in New Colombia Drug Policy Plan

15 SEP 2023

InSight Crime’s work on emerging coca cultivation in Honduras, Guatemala, and Venezuela was cited in the Colombian government’s…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Discusses Honduran Women's Prison Investigation

8 SEP 2023

Investigators Victoria Dittmar and María Fernanda Ramírez discussed InSight Crime’s recent investigation of a massacre in Honduras’ only women’s prison in a Twitter Spaces event on…

THE ORGANIZATION

Human Trafficking Investigation Published in Leading Mexican Newspaper

1 SEP 2023

Leading Mexican media outlet El Universal featured our most recent investigation, “The Geography of Human Trafficking on the US-Mexico Border,” on the front page of its August 30…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Coverage of Ecuador Leads International Debate

25 AUG 2023

This week, Jeremy McDermott, co-director of InSight Crime, was interviewed by La Sexta, a Spanish television channel, about the situation of extreme violence and insecurity in Ecuador…