Mexico City, Mexico – Mexico’s ruling party Morena wins overwhelming majority in lower house of Congress voted Expands the list of crimes listed as grounds for automatic pretrial detention.
MORENA representatives and allies in the House of Commons voted 335-108 to quickly pass a bill that would add crimes such as racketeering, trafficking in fentanyl and its precursors, and sexual violence crimes to the categories subject to pretrial detention. list of criminal acts.
The judicial mechanism allows suspects to be sentenced to up to two years in prison, but in practice, suspects are imprisoned for much longer, it is estimated 40% of the nation’s prison population Approximately 90,000 people remain incarcerated without conviction.
As of now, Mexican law recognizes intentional homicide, rape, kidnapping, crimes committed by violent means such as the use of weapons and explosives, crimes that threaten national security, the free development of personality and public health, as well as organized crime related to pretrial detention.
This reform will include Pretrial detention is automatic in cases of racketeering, illegal activity related to fentanyl and other synthetic drugs, and serious crimes such as smuggling, as well as any activity related to false tax invoices.
However, human rights groups warn that the final approval of the pretrial detention law is further endangering the human rights of the Mexican people.
“The reforms to pre-trial detention approved by the House of Commons are harmful and regressive. Automatically detaining individuals violates human rights, undermines the ability to investigate crime and ignores international rulings and recommendations,” Wrote United Nations human rights agencyX.
The bill is inherited from the previous administration of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who earlier this year pushed for a 20-member bill while still in office. a package of constitutional reforms.
López Obrador’s Morena party won an absolute majority in the House and Senate after the June election, and is capable of quickly advancing 20 reforms promised by the former president, including the National Guard’s affiliation with the military, electoral Supreme Court justices elected by referendum, now possible pretrial detention reform.
The motion passed by MPs in the lower house will be submitted to the Senate next week, where MORENA and its allies have the 87 votes needed to quickly advance the reforms and enshrine them in the constitution.
Due to high levels of impunity, pretrial detention has been ruled a violation of human rights, as evidenced by the ruling of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR).
Additionally, international human rights watchdogs such as the World Justice Project, which analyzes the strength of justice systems around the world, report that Mexico’s criminal justice system ranks Ranked 132 out of 142 countries.
