Acknowledgments

This report was written by Nik Steinberg, Mexico researcher at Human Rights Watch. The report was edited by Daniel Wilkinson, deputy director of the Americas Division, José Miguel Vivanco, executive director of the Americas Division, Joe Saunders, deputy program director, and Aisling Reidy, senior legal advisor. Daniel Wilkinson and emergencies researcher Dan Williams both participated in fact-finding missions for this report. Americas researcher Tamara Taraciuk provided critical insight and expert advice and associates Guillermo Farías and Laura Graham contributed to research, logistics, and production. Interns Evelyn Astor, Jon Connolly, Kelsey Crowley, Gabriela Dorantes, Magali Ferreyra Álvarez, Lucia Goyen, José Luis Hernández, Hannah Hetzer, Dania Lopez Beltrán, Mario Alberto Moreno Zepeda, Lucy McDonald Stewart, Alexander Merchant, Salvador Perez, Silvia Sanchis, José Serralvo, Katie Reilly, Karla Torres, Allison Wagner, and Samantha Wyatt all provided valuable research support. Alba Mora, Jessie Graham, Madeleine Bair, and Pierre Bairin assisted in multimedia production for the report, while Anna Lopriore produced the graphics. Grace Choi designed the report’s maps and layout, and Fitzroy Hepkins provided production assistance. Gabriela Haymes translated the report into Spanish.

Human Rights Watch is profoundly grateful to the victims who shared their testimonies with us. As this report demonstrates, human rights violations inflict deep and lasting wounds on victims and their families. Recounting such stories is often extremely painful, and requires individuals to overcome a well-founded fear of reprisals. It was with great courage that these individuals spoke to us, many of whom expressed the hope that, by telling their stories, others would be spared the abuses they had suffered.

Many Mexican organizations and individuals collaborated in the research for this report, and we are deeply indebted to them for their contributions. These partners played a critical in providing expert guidance and advice, as well as documentation of individual cases and patterns of abuse. The organizations and individuals include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Mexico City (and in the states where they documented cases): the Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez Human Rights Center (Centro de Derechos Humanos Miguel Augustín Pro Juárez); the Mexican Commission of Defense and Human Rights Promotion (Comisión Mexicana de Defensa y Promoción de los Derechos Humanos); FUNDAR, Center of Analysis and Research (FUNDAR, Centro de Análisis e Investigación); and the Institute for Security and Democracy (Instituto para la Seguridad y la Democracia, Insyde).
• In Baja California: the Civilian Association against Impunity (Asociación Ciudadana Contra la Impunidad) and the Civilian Human Rights Commission of the Northwest (Comisión Ciudadana de Derechos Humanos del Noroeste).
• In Chihuahua: the Women’s Human Rights Center (Centro de Derechos Humanos de las Mujeres); the Paso del Norte Human Rights Center (Centro de Derechos Humanos Paso del Norte); Justice for Our Daughters (Justicia para Nuestras Hijas); the Special Representative for Attending to Victims in Ciudad Juárez, Gustavo de la Rosa; and Rafaela Herrera.
• In Guerrero: the Tlachinollan Center for Human Rights in the Montaña (Centro de Derechos Humanos de la Montaña Tlachinollan); the Committee of Families and Friends of the Kidnapped, Disappeared and Killed in Guerrero (Comité de Familiares y Amigos de Secuestrados, Desaparecidos y Asesinados en Guerrero); the Civilian Monitor of the Police (Monitor Civil de la Policía, MOCIPOL); the Guerrero Coaltion of Civilian Human Rights Organizations (Red Guerrerense de Organismos Civiles de Derechos Humanos); and the Workshop of Community Development (Taller de Desarrollo Comunitario, TADECO).
• In Nuevo León: Peaceful Alternatives (Alternativas Pacificas); Citizens in Support of Human Rights (Ciudadanos en Apoyo de los Derechos Humanos, CADHAC); Indigo Report (Reporte Índigo); Reclaiming Security (Retomando la Seguridad); David Pulido, Sanjuana Martínez, and Indira Kempis.
• In Tabasco: Tabasco Human Rights Committee (Comite de Derechos Humanos de Tabasco, CODEHUTAB) and the offices of lawyer Cesar Ramírez.

Human Rights Watch appreciates the willingness of the National Human Rights Commission to provide information for this report, particularly statistics of complaints and recommendations. We also thank the state human rights commissions in the five states surveyed in this report. The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Mexico was a source of expert legal analysis and information about cases through its Observation Unit. Though the state of Coahuila was not included in this report, the Fray de Larios Human Rights Center (Centro de Derechos Humanos Fray de Larios) and the United Efforts for Our Disappeared in Coahuila (Fuerzas Unidas por Nuestros Desaparecidos en Coahuila, FUUNDEC) provided critical information on cases of disappearances. We are also grateful to the Mexico City Human Rights Commission (Comisión de Derechos Humanos del Distrito Federal).

Finally, Human Rights Watch would like to thank the government officials we interviewed, as well as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for helping assist in setting up many government meetings.