VZCZCXRO0806
RR RUEHCD RUEHGD RUEHHO RUEHNG RUEHNL RUEHRD RUEHRS RUEHTM
DE RUEHMC #0141/01 1051926
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 151926Z APR 09
FM AMCONSUL MONTERREY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3644
INFO RUEHME/AMEMBASSY MEXICO 4700
RUEHXC/ALL US CONSULATES IN MEXICO COLLECTIVE
RUEABND/DEA HQ WASHDC
RHMFIUU/FBI WASHINGTON DC
RUEFHLC/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/HQ USNORTHCOM
RUEHMC/AMCONSUL MONTERREY 9216

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MONTERREY 000141 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM SNAR KCRM PGOV ASEC CASC MX
SUBJECT: HUMAN RIGHTS IN NUEVO LEON: POLICE IMPUNITY BUT FEW 
COMPLAINTS REGARDING THE MILITARY 
 
REF: A) MONTERREY 079 B) 08 MONTERREY 0182 
 
MONTERREY 00000141  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary.  The militarization of the drug war in 
northern Mexico has not resulted in a significant increase in 
alleged human rights violations against the Mexican military in 
Nuevo Leon.   Numerous human rights violations do occur in the 
state, but the alleged culprits usually are state and local 
police forces.   In addition to the efforts of the State Human 
Rights Commission (CEDH), the state has reached out to civil 
society leaders to help reduce the human rights violations that 
do occur, improve the overall effectiveness of the state and 
local police in fighting crime, and help stem police corruption. 
 Citizens participation committees work at the federal, state 
and municipal levels to help this effort along.  End Summary. 
 
 
 
Military Presence Welcomed in the State 
 
 
 
¶2.  (SBU) The military presence in Nuevo Leon has not caused an 
infringement of human rights.   Initially, there were fears a 
militarization of the drug war would lead to increases in human 
rights violations.  However, according to local and national 
polls, the public has much more confidence in the military and 
sees them as less corrupt than state and local police.  In Nuevo 
Leon the military presence is welcomed with 93% of the state 
approving of the troops in a February 12, 2009 poll.  (This 
compares to a nationwide poll by the Milenio newspaper on April 
13 that shows the Mexican military has a 72% approval rating.) 
Citizens in Nuevo Leon see the military as the only effective 
means of combating drug trafficking organizations.  According to 
a local American citizen priest whose church is based in a poor 
northern Monterrey neighborhood, three years ago the police 
abandoned the community to the local gangs but now military 
checkpoints and roving patrols in the area are reducing street 
violence.  The local gangs in the priest's neighborhood often 
serve as contractors for the mayor drug traffickers so the 
military presence has a direct impact on their operations.  The 
opinion of  Monterrey's poorest residents are often not included 
in surveys taken by newspaper polls, which are conducted by 
telephone, but feedback from our contact's parishioners has been 
universally positive. 
 
 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Despite their efforts, the drug traffickers have not 
been able to sway public opinion of the Mexican military. 
According to many reports, drug traffickers paid residents of 
poor neighborhoods in the Monterrey area to road block major 
roads from February 9 to 13, supposedly to protest army abuses 
(see reftel A).  However, the lack of evidence of military 
abuses quickly turned public sentiment against the protestors 
and lawmakers rapidly passed new laws with severe penalties for 
political protestors that participate in roadblocks.  The CEDH 
only received seven alleged cases of military abuses in 2008, 
the majority concerning military checkpoints (the most serious 
case, the military shot and wounded a person running a military 
checkpoint).  Both candidates for governor in this year's 
elections include a continued role for the Mexican military in 
their security proposals. 
 
 
 
Human Rights Violations Generally Committed by Local Authorities 
 
 
 
¶4.  (U) Overall, human rights complaints in Nuevo Leon decreased 
6% in 2008 compared to 2007, but the level of abuses remains 
high (see reftel B) .  In 2008 there were a total of 2,482 
reported incidents or about 1 for every 2,000 citizens in the 
state.  Many complaints (679) stemmed from issues, such as 
improper public service, that would not be considered a human 
rights abuse in the U.S. Most of the remaining complaints (924) 
stemmed from abuse, criminal acts or arbitrary detention by 
state law enforcement personnel.  The state judicial police and 
the state preventative police were the agencies that received 
the most complaints.  The number of reports against state law 
enforcement personnel also reflects the public's lack of 
confidence.   A March 9 United Nations report on crime in 
Monterrey entitled "Diagnostico de la Delincuencia en el Area 
Metropolitana de Monterrey," found that only about one half of 
crimes reported to city emergency call centers result in an 
official police report. 
 
MONTERREY 00000141  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
 
 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Sister Consuelo Morales , the director of the NGO 
human rights group "Citizens in Support of Human Rights" 
(CADHAC) is skeptical of the numbers reported by CEDH since her 
organization worked on a record 233 cases in 2008.  Beyond the 
basic reporting though, Morales emphasized the impunity of 
police forces in the state.  Morales claims, and CEDH's own 
figures confirm, that no police officers were fired or faced 
criminal penalties in 2008 for human rights violations despite 
the police reports filed by her organization and dozens more 
like it.  For example, the Commission reported 20 alleged cases 
of torture .  However, of all the complaints filed, not just for 
the torture cases, only 19 police officers received official 
sanctions for human rights violations.  The typical punishment 
received was a private verbal warning.  The most severe 
admonishment was a thirty day suspension without pay. 
 
 
 
Civil Society Participation in the Security Debate 
 
 
 
¶6.  (SBU) To improve security and stem criticism of police 
corruption, Nuevo Leon has reached out to its civil society 
leaders.  Recently, conoff met with Manuel Zambrano, outgoing 
President of the Monterrey chapter of COPARMEX (a prominent 
business lobby) and current head of the local PGR Citizen's 
Security Committee, to discuss civil society's participation in 
the GOM's ongoing debate over security issues.  According to 
Zambrano in Nuevo Leon there were committees at the federal, 
state, and local level to inject citizen input into the security 
process.  He described his PGR committee, which met once a month 
at the offices of COPARMEX Monterrey, as the brainchild of the 
late Deputy Attorney General Luis Santiago Vasconcelos.  (Note: 
Vasconcelos died in the same November 4 San Luis Potosi plane 
accident that killed former Mexican Interior Minister Juan 
Camilo Mourino. End Note.)  Zambrano explained that the 
Committee focused on:  a) victim support, and b) strategies for 
preventing the spread of organized crime.  He gave no indication 
that the local Mexican military - the tip of the spear in 
attacking organized crime - participated in committee 
deliberations in any way. 
 
 
 
¶7.  (SBU) In terms of citizen participation, the most important 
forum in Nuevo Leon is the state's public security committee. 
The state committee has evolved from a 20 person group dominated 
by Gubernatorial appointees to an independent organization with 
a legislative mandate.  Committee membership is made up of 
representatives from specified sectors (i.e., business 
associations, academia, neighborhood groups, and professional 
associations - but not the church).  Carlos Jauregui, both a 
businessman and an NGO leader, serves as the chairman. 
Officials from such blue-chip Monterrey corporations such as 
CEMEX, ALFA, Xignux, and FEMSA all have representatives with 
four-year terms on the committee.  Indeed, up until his 
departure as head of COPARMEX Monterrey, Zambrano himself had a 
seat on the panel.   However, the state committee does not 
examine issues involving organized crime that falls under the 
jurisdiction of the PGR committee.  Instead, the state panel 
focuses on indicators and monitoring, prison administration, 
expediting the procedures for filing criminal complaints 
(denuncias), and promoting the work of the municipal security 
committees (see below).   Assisting the committee with research, 
Zambrano said, is the state of Nuevo Leon's newly-created Public 
Security Institute - which he described as a big-picture 
think-tank. 
 
 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Locally, the final piece of the puzzle is the various 
municipal security advisory committees, the best example of 
which is the one in the well-heeled suburb of San Pedro.   Four 
of the state committee members, including Zambrano, are also 
members of the San Pedro citizens' security advisory committee - 
and post's Consul General attends that body's monthly meetings 
as an observer.   Meetings generally examine the latest trends 
in common crime such as robbery, burglary and auto theft. 
However, the San Pedro committee has championed such useful 
steps as the establishment of a mobile unit for filing 
denuncias, publication of crime statistics on the web, and 
 
MONTERREY 00000141  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
enhanced oversight of taxis (which sometimes act as look-outs 
for both organized and common crime).   San Pedro has also 
embraced innovative programs such as Culture of Lawfulness 
training in values and "DARE" drug awareness instruction in its 
school system. 
 
 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Comment.  The low number of complaints reported by the 
CEDH of Mexican military abuses is consistent with conversations 
that poloff's have had with public official and various NGO's. 
In the two years the Mexican military has had a presence its 
favorable ratings have remained consistently high.  Even though 
state and local officials often talk of cleaning up their police 
forces, corruption and police abuses remain and the military is 
still the most effective means of combating crime. 
WILLIAMSON