Author: John Ward Anderson, Washington Post

MEXICO'S TROUBLES PERVASIVE

MEXICO CITY -- Legal reforms designed to strengthen the rule of law and end
deep-seated corruption in Mexico's justice system are largely failing,
according to a new report by an international human rights group.

The 123-page report, released Thursday by Human Rights Watch, says illegal
arrests and detentions, torture, forced confessions and fabricated evidence
are still widespread, and that top government officials and judges
deliberately look the other way.

The Mexican government, which in the past has responded to such
international criticism with blanket denials and denunciations of meddling
in its internal affairs, was more conciliatory this time, saying it would
forward the report to a special commission that will study its
recommendations. ``Mexico is committed to fighting torture and impunity and
will continue making significant efforts in that regard,'' a Foreign
Ministry official said.

Numerous judicial reforms implemented by Mexico in recent years have
provided a framework for a cleaner, more accountable judicial system, the
group acknowledged. But instead of being used to bring about real change,
they are being used to quiet domestic and international criticism of a
system that still tolerates abuses.

``Mexico's continuing human rights problems can be attributed to the
government's preference for rhetoric designed to mollify domestic and
international critics over action that would resolve specific human rights
problems,'' the report said.

Legal experts and political analysts in Mexico and abroad frequently cite
Mexico's corrupt justice system as a fundamental barrier to the country's
democratic evolution. The problem has become acute in recent years, with
drug traffickers spending billions of dollars on bribes to infiltrate every
level of Mexico's legal system.

The key problem, the report says, is the government's refusal to follow
through with concrete actions in specific cases of rights violations, even
though it generally concedes that serious problems exist. Violations are
widespread and well known, yet few are investigated, and almost no one is
held accountable, according to the report.

The report notes, for instance, that while Mexico allowed unprecedented
access to human rights investigators from the United Nations and the
Organization of American States, the government here has taken ``no
appreciable steps'' to implement recommendations made by those bodies. And
while the report praises Mexico's creation of a National Human Rights
Commission, it notes that the commission's recommendations have no binding
force, and there is no follow-up to ensure that those found guilty of
violations are punished.