VZCZCXRO3324
RR RUEHCD RUEHGD RUEHHO RUEHMC RUEHNG RUEHNL RUEHRD RUEHRS RUEHTM
DE RUEHME #4881/01 2532303
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 102303Z SEP 07
FM AMEMBASSY MEXICO
TO RUEHXC/ALL US CONSULATES IN MEXICO COLLECTIVE
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8816

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MEXICO 004881 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/MEX, INR, INL, DRL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL ECON MX
SUBJECT: JUSTICE REFORM SEASON OPENS 
 
 
THIS CABLE IS SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED.  PLEASE HANDLE 
ACCORDINGLY. 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary:  Proposed constitutional changes that 
briefly became the focus of criticism by human rights lawyers 
last week are the first step in a protracted effort by the 
GOM to modernize the administration of justice in Mexico by 
granting police and prosecutors greater authority and a wider 
array of tools to investigate and prosecute serious crimes ) 
particularly organized criminal activities. 
 
¶2. (SBU)  Some human rights lawyers believe the changes will 
allow prosecutors excessive discretion in pursuing such 
investigations; several of the proposals in fact offer 
prosecutors greater independence from judicial oversight in 
using such tools as house arrest (&arraigo8), search 
warrants, wiretaps and interceptions of private 
correspondence.  GOM contacts argue, however, that the 
changes are overdue, much-needed in light of Mexico,s 
security situation, will strengthen the rights and 
protections for victims and accused alike and preserve 
appropriate judicial oversight.   While there is broad 
consensus here that reforms are vital, there are several 
proposals being floated during the current legislative 
session, and the outcome of the reform effort remains 
uncertain. End Summary 
 
--------------------------------------------- 
Harsh Criticism Leveled During Citizens Forum 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU)  The GOM proposal, presented to the Senate in March, 
became the focus of brief debate on September 4 at a 
Citizen,s Forum on Security and Democracy widely attended by 
academics, legal specialists and legislators.  At the forum, 
the president of the Inter-American Human Rights Court, 
Sergio Garcia Ramirez, charged that the government was 
seeking to create a dual penal system to differentiate 
ordinary criminals from what he called &enemies of the 
state.8   Alluding to rumors the government was 
contemplating a separate court system to try organized crime 
cases, Garcia Ramirez, (a long time PRIista and former 
Attorney General under Miguel de la Madrid) lamented the 
&Guantanamization8 of Mexican justice. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) The proposal, however, does not contemplate 
creation of new institutions.  Embassy officers looked at the 
package sent to the Mexican congress and discussed it with 
contacts in the Attorney General,s office and SSP.  The 
initiative is ambitious and offers up a large number of 
changes to key elements of Mexico,s constitution that will 
provide the basis for the eventual move from a 
mixed/inquisitorial to an adversarial system of justice. 
 
--------------------- 
Core Reform Elements 
--------------------- 
 
¶5.  (SBU) The core elements, however, are designed to make 
the current system more efficient in the near term and give 
police and prosecutors additional tools to pursue major 
criminal cases.  Among them: 
 
¶A.  Giving police investigative powers to independently 
develop criminal cases.  Federal police currently have no 
such authority, and must pursue investigations under the 
strict supervision of the Attorney General,s office.  The 
reforms would allow law enforcement agencies to function more 
closely along the lines of their U.S. counterparts, with 
police initially developing cases independently before 
turning them over to public prosecutors to pursue in the 
courts. 
 
¶B.  Granting judges and prosecutors additional powers to 
issue &injunctive8 or provisional measures in an 
investigation to preserve the integrity and continuation of 
the proceedings, protect victims, rights, and preserve the 
public interest.  Such measures would include a fixed period 
(30 or 60 days) of house arrest (&arraigo8) of suspects to 
allow the prosecution time to prepare complex cases for 
presentation to the court.  In organized crime (major 
narcotics trafficking) cases, prosecutors would be allowed to 
issue the house arrest orders, with subsequent judicial 
review. Currently, arraigos are utilized in organized crime 
cases only with prior judicial approval.  Under the proposed 
changes, arraigos also would be allowed for other serious 
crimes when issued by a judge only.   Also, in organized 
crimes cases only, prosecutors would be authorized, based on 
exigent circumstances, to issue search and seizure warrants, 
including wiretap orders, without prior judicial 
 
MEXICO 00004881  002 OF 003 
 
 
authorization.  Again, however, such actions would be subject 
to subsequent judicial review.  Finally, to protect witnesses 
and informants in organized crime cases, judges could order 
that their names and personal data be kept confidential. 
 
¶C.  Establishing an array of victims, rights, including the 
right to interface with police and prosecutors in the 
investigation of a case, the right to seek restitution in a 
timely manner, and the right to avoid testifying in the 
direct presence of the accused in certain criminal cases such 
as rape and kidnap. 
 
¶D.  Ensuring defendants right to adequate representation. 
 
¶E.  Calling on legislators to better differentiate between 
misdemeanors and &minor8 and "major8 felonies, to reduce 
the number of defendants in pre-trial custody.  For example, 
certain non-violent white collar offenses would be removed 
from the list of non-bailable offenses, and a large number of 
lesser offenses would be subject to summons or subpoena to 
appear in court rather than arrest warrant.  To relieve 
over-crowded dockets, the package also calls for abbreviated 
trials, guilty pleas, alternative dispute resolution 
mechanisms, and greater discretion to prosecutors to dispose 
of cases that do not merit prosecution. 
 
¶F.  Establishing civil-like asset forfeiture along the lines 
of Colombia,s law on extinguishing property rights 
(&extincion de dominio8), while respecting the property 
rights of innocent parties.  The current law allows only for 
forfeiture following a criminal conviction or abandonment, 
and seized assets often sit for years awaiting final 
judgment, loosing value through neglect and deterioration. 
 
¶G.  Authorizing the federal legislature to pass criminal, 
criminal procedure, and sentencing codes with nationwide 
application to ensure uniformity and fairness in the 
application of the criminal laws. 
 
¶H.  Providing for removal of police and prosecutors for 
corruption and other misconduct, as well as establishing 
guidelines regulating use of confessions to prevent police 
abuse and shoring up their use as evidence 
 
-------------------- 
Due Process Concerns 
-------------------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Some civil society representatives here lament what 
they consider the government's narrow focus on granting 
police and prosecutors broader powers to combat organized 
crime, saying a more comprehensive overhaul of Mexican 
administration of justice is needed.  They also worry about 
the lack of judicial oversight in the use of new 
investigative tools.  One human rights lawyer we contacted 
said the proposals would allow the police and prosecutors the 
&right to hold anybody in custody without requesting a 
warrant from a judge, solely on the suspicion that he has 
something to do with organized crime.8   The lawyer 
complained that the definition of organized crime in Mexico 
remains vague and subject to political manipulation. 
(Comment: The Mexican Organized Crime Law expressly defines a 
short list of crimes and corresponding articles of the penal 
code that may constitute organized criminal activity.  In 
practice, the vast majority of organized crime cases involve 
the activities of major narcotics trafficking cartels.) Other 
rights activists have reacted to rumors the GOM was 
contemplating a special, possibly secret, court system, to 
try organized crime suspects. 
--------------------------- 
Countered by GOM contacts 
--------------------------- 
 
¶7.  (SBU) SSP and PGR officials with whom Embassy officers 
spoke flatly denied that the GOM is contemplating special 
courts. The proposal under consideration offers no such 
alternative system.  Our contacts acknowledge, however, that 
the GOM is examining designating a limited number of regular 
federal district judges, possibly in the capital city, to 
hear organized crime cases in the existing court system.  The 
object is to make it easier provide for the security for 
those judges and better insulate them from intimidation and 
undue influence.  Such specialized courts are used in many 
countries, including the U.S,and have proven their worth by 
improving the administration of justice through the greater 
focus and level of expertise they bring to highly complex 
prosecutions. 
 
¶8.  (SBU)  As for increased prosecutorial powers, Mexican 
government officials have stressed their limited application 
 
MEXICO 00004881  003 OF 003 
 
 
to organized crime cases and argue that they are necessary to 
effectively prosecute drug cartel members who flaunt and 
manipulate the current system.  Such officials also point to 
the fact that the new powers are subject to subsequent 
judicial review.  To the GOM, the proposed changes strike a 
balance between judicial oversight and the need to pursue 
time-sensitive investigations quickly and efficiently in 
major cases. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Comment: These points and others are likely to be 
debated in coming weeks, once the legislature disposes of the 
more immediate issues of fiscal and electoral reform.  At the 
citizens forum a multiparty panel of Senators agreed that 
penal reform was vital and promised to begin fashioning a 
comprehensive package by November.  The trouble is, there are 
a number of extremely ambitious initiatives currently being 
floated, which bear little resemblance to the GOM proposal. 
Our PGR contacts worry these will bog the reform effort down 
in a lengthy debate over priorities at a time when 
prosecutors need additional authorities to more aggressively 
combat narco-crime.  End comment. 
 
 
Visit Mexico City's Classified Web Site at 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/mexicocity and the North American 
Partnership Blog at http://www.intelink.gov/communities/state/nap / 
GARZA