• Press Release

Mexico: Amnesty International Urges Mexico to Conduct Full Investigation into Mass Graves in Tamaulipas

April 14, 2011

Amnesty International Press Release
For Immediate Release:
Thursday, April 7, 2011

Amnesty International Urges Mexico to Conduct Full Investigation into Mass Graves in Tamaulipas
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Graves Demonstrate ‘Mexican Government’s Failure to Deal with the Country’s Public Security Crisis,’ says Human Rights Organization

Contact: Wende Gozan Brown at 212-633-4247, [email protected].

(London) – Amnesty International today urged the Mexican authorities to conduct a full and effective investigation into the deaths of 59 people whose bodies were found in mass graves yesterday on a route used by migrants travelling to the United States.

“The mass graves once again show the Mexican government’s failure to deal with the country’s public security crisis and reduce criminal violence that has left many populations vulnerable to attacks, abductions and killings,” said Rupert Knox, Amnesty International Mexico Researcher. “All too often such human rights crimes have gone unpunished, leaving criminal gangs and officials acting in collusion, free to target vulnerable communities such as irregular migrants.”

The mass graves were found in a single location in the State of Tamaulipas, in the north of the country, where drug and other criminal gangs operate.

“The Mexican government must take urgent action to identify the victims of this latest mass killing and bring those responsible to justice,” said Knox. “It is vital that all measures taken by the authorities are strictly legal and guarantee protection of human rights. This is the only way to effectively protect the population and ensure justice in Mexico.”

In August 2010, the bodies of 72 irregular migrants were found in the same municipality of San Fernando.

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For more information please visit www.amnestyusa.org