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TITLE: MEXICO HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES, 1994
AUTHOR: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DATE: FEBRUARY 1995
MEXICO
The United Mexican States is a federal republic with a President
elected to a 6-year term, a bicameral Congress, and a
constitutionally mandated independent judicial branch. The
Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) has won every
presidential election in the last 65 years, many of which
involved credible allegations of fraudulent practices.
However, the August 21 elections and the January 1 uprising in
Chiapas were unparalleled events for human rights in Mexico.
Both highlighted progress and underscored issues still needing
to be addressed in human rights practices.
In Chiapas the Government initially reacted with force, but in
a significant departure from historical practice, it soon
adopted a plan which rejected a military solution to end the
insurrection of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation
(EZLN). With intense domestic and international media
attention focussed on Chiapas, the Government declared a
unilateral cease-fire 2 weeks after hostilities began, and
undertook face-to-face peace talks with the rebels in
February. The military perpetrated many human rights abuses
during the earliest phase of the conflict, and, as of year's
end, authorities had prosecuted no one for those abuses. The
talks broke off in mid-May; the Government, however, continued
its offer to reestablish a dialog with the EZLN. At year's
end, hostilities had not resumed. President Ernesto Zedillo,
who took office on December 1, renewed the call for negotiations
and accepted a mediation role for the National Mediation
Commission (CONAI). Direct talks resumed on January 15, 1995.
The August 21 elections were a significant step forward for
Mexico's democratic process. 35.5 million people--nearly 78
percent of registered voters--cast ballots in the August 21
elections. Despite widespread irregularities and the ruling
PRI's ability to benefit from government resources and
privileged access to the news media, numerous independent
observer groups, including the highly critical nongovernmental
umbrella group Civic Alliance and a joint delegation from the
National Democratic Institute, the International Republican
Institute, and the Carter Center, determined that these factors
did not alter the outcome. The elections featured several
innovations in the electoral system, including participation of
more than 80,000 accredited domestic observers, government-
invited foreign witnesses, and electoral organs under the
control of nonpartisan, civilian directors.
Mexican security forces, including the military, the federal
and state judicial police, federal highway police, and local
police are under the control of elected civilian officials.
However, the security forces, especially the police, continued
to commit human rights abuses.
Although economic reforms succeeded in reducing inflation and
restructuring the economy, a currency devaluation and financial
liquidity crisis at year's end will likely have a sharply
negative impact on economic performance in 1995, including a
fall in real wages. Serious income disparities and areas of
severe poverty remain. The North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) between the United States, Canada, and Mexico went into
effect at the beginning of the year.
Major human rights abuses included the violence and killings in
Chiapas, as well as extrajudicial killings by the police,
torture, and illegal arrests. Other abuses include glaring
prison deficiencies, discrimination and violence against women,
and extensive illegal child labor in the informal economy. The
Government attempted to end the "culture of impunity"
surrounding the security forces through reforms in the Office
of the Attorney General (PGR), continued support to the
National Commission for Human Rights (CNDH), and establishment
of state-level commissions for human rights. By year's end,
however, it had tried and punished few human rights abusers,
and abuses remained widespread.
Fulfilling his pledges to implement political and judicial
reforms, President Zedillo appointed a respected member of the
opposition National Action Party (PAN), Antonio Lozano, as
Attorney General with a mandate to implement reforms in law
enforcement. Zedillo also succeeded in enacting a package of
judicial reforms designed to improve the performance and
accountability of the Attorney General's office and the Supreme
Court.
RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
Section 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including
Freedom from:
a. Political and Other Extrajudicial Killings
A number of political activists were killed in 1994, but a
political motive was not clearly established in any of these
killings. A lone gunman murdered Luis Donaldo Colosio, the
ruling PRI's presidential candidate, at a political rally in
Tijuana in March. The authorities arrested, tried, and
convicted the gunman of murder at a trial held in a federal
prison, out of public view. The public prosecutor, Miguel
Montes, at one point declared that the murder was the result of
a conspiracy. He later recanted this statement and
subsequently resigned.
In September a gunman shot and killed Jose Francisco Ruiz
Massieu, the Secretary General of the PRI, on a Mexico City
street. The police arrested and detained a suspect who was
jailed pending trial, along with several co-conspirators.
However, Manuel Munoz Rocha, a PRI legislator and suspected
intellectual author of the killing, was still at large at
year's end. Deputy Attorney General Mario Ruiz Massieu, the
victim's brother, resigned his post in November, charging that
PRI and government officials obstructed his investigation. The
Attorney General's investigation into these charges did not
find the evidence sufficient for subsequent prosecution.
President Zedillo, saying that the Mexican people were not
satisfied with the results of the Government's inquiries into
the Colosio and Ruiz Massieu killings, or the 1993 murder of
Guadalajara's Cardinal Posadas, instructed Attorney General
Lozano to intensify efforts to resolve these crimes. In
December Lozano appointed a special prosecutor to look into all
three murders.
The leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), and to a
lesser extent other opposition parties, asserted that there
were political killings associated with the 1994 election
campaign. In July an unidentified car struck and killed a PRD
campaign organizer while he was jogging, and fled the scene.
In August unidentified gunmen killed another PRD activist in
Tapachula, Chiapas. In a possible assassination attempt, the
PRD's candidate for the governorship of Chiapas suffered severe
injury in August when a trailer truck collided with his minivan.
The candidate has fully recovered, but two other PRD officials
died in the incident, and two more suffered serious injury.
The Attorney General's Office has not determined whether the
incident was an accident or an assassination attempt.
The PRD claims that, in the past 6 years, 275 party activists or
members were the victims of political violence which, in some
cases, resulted in death. By mutual agreement with the PRD,
the CNDH dismissed 135 claims as unsubstantiated and proceeded
to investigate 140 claims. These included 90 involving the
murder of 115 persons, and 17 involving serious injury. The
CNDH investigation found violations of human rights by
Government authorities in 67, or 47.8 percent, of the 140
cases. The CNDH findings included recommendations on
redressing abuses. At year's end, the authorities had fully
implemented 18 recommendations and partially implemented the
remaining 49.
Police and vigilantes acting on behalf of local landowners
continued to commit extrajudicial killings while dislodging
peasant squatters from rural lands in several states. The
Government's response to squatter issues, including these
killings, has varied from state to state. To expand communal
land holdings, peasants for decades have invaded private lands
and petitioned for government recognition of the seizures.
With recent constitutional agrarian reforms, the Government
ceased distributing new lands to "ejidos" (government-owned
communes); the invasions continue nonetheless.
Police and vigilantes raided the Plan del Encinal community in
Ixhuatlan de Madero, Veracruz state, on September 8, forcibly
evicting residents and taking two community leaders into
custody. The mutilated bodies of the two were found in a
nearby river bearing numerous close-range gunshot wounds to the
head and chest. The Veracruz state human rights commission and
the Attorney General's office are investigating the case.
Veracruz state officials blocked an attempt by a team of
forensic experts and nongovernmental organizations (NGO's) to
conduct autopsies on the victims. The NGO's have appealed to
federal authorities for assistance.
In January while searching for a suspect involved in another
incident, the police allegedly shot and killed two farmers in
Jalisco state. The authorities arrested the six police officers
involved, pending further investigation.
Proceedings continued against a local police officer accused of
beating U.S. citizen Mario Amado to death in a Baja California
jail in 1992.
The Mexican military has not yet made public the resolution of
charges against 16 soldiers in the June 1993 killing of 5
suspected narcotics traffickers in Chihuahua.
Mexico is one of the countries cited by Amnesty International
where gays and lesbians are most likely to be victims of abuse
and violence. At least 12 homosexuals and 9 male prostitutes
have been killed in Tuxtla Gutierrez since 1991. Gay rights
advocates charged that police made little effort to solve these
murders. An independent prosecutor was appointed in April, but
authorities have not provided the prosecutor with adequate
resources to carry out full investigations.
b. Disappearance
There were no confirmed reports of politically motivated
disappearances in 1994.
The CNDH's annual report contained 461 cases of missing persons
in the Chiapas conflict alone, of whom 432 had been located by
May. As of year's end, the CNDH believed no more than 10
persons were still missing, but due to large movements of
people caused by the conflict, it was difficult to locate the
remaining persons.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment
Torture continues to be a serious human rights problem,
although the CNDH reported a 40-percent decline in torture
complaints over the previous year. The CNDH has noted that
8 out of 32 jurisdictions (31 states and the Federal District)
still do not have specific laws to prevent or punish torture.
Poorly trained and equipped to investigate crimes, police
officers continued to attempt to solve crimes by rounding up
likely suspects and then exacting confession from them.
Photographs of detainees with black-eyed, swollen faces still
appear in the local press. Even high-profile suspect Mario
Aburto, the accused gunman in presidential candidate Luis
Donaldo Colosio's assassination, claimed that police beat him;
press photos and reports shortly after his arrest lend credence
to his claims. CNDH representatives were present during his
subsequent interrogations.
The authorities punish few officials for torture, which
continues to occur mainly because confessions are the primary
evidence in many criminal convictions. The CNDH reported that
in the period from May 1993 to April 1994, the authorities
brought 53 cases against officials for the crime of torture; in
13 cases they declined to execute the arrest warrant, and
judges denied or canceled the arrest order in another 25
cases. By law the defendant must prove that a confession was
forced; but even a forced confession is not automatically
excluded from evidence. Many victims do not report, or do not
follow through on, their complaints against the police for fear
of reprisals.
Three young indigenous women charged that 10 soldiers beat and
raped them at a military checkpoint in Chiapas on June 4. The
military immediately denied the accusation, but brought seven
soldiers before a military court that is investigating the
matter. The law does not require civil trial of soldiers
involved in civil crimes, and the military continues to handle
the case. The CNDH and some human rights advocates agree that
the law gives the military jurisdiction over this case.
On November 16, various peasant organizations comprised of
Ch'ol and Tzeltal Indians organized a demonstration in the main
square of Palenque, Chiapas, in connection with a local land
dispute. An armed group that reportedly included ranchers,
local businessmen, and the Palenque municipal police forced the
peasants from the square. The police and vigilantes fired tear
gas at the demonstrators, burned their possessions, and
transported some of them out of town in trucks. State
government officials arrived later the same day and attempted
to establish a dialog between the two sides. CNDH
investigators arrived on November 18. Although the CNDH
received no complaints or reports of any missing persons,
Amnesty International reported that approximately 70 persons
disappeared. The captors released all the detainees after
holding them for a month and after beating all of them severely.
On November 20, demonstrations and violence in Comitan,
Chiapas, resulted in police tear-gassing demonstrators and the
kidnaping of a municipal police officer by protesters. Again,
the CNDH did not receive any missing person complaints, but
Amnesty International reported that unidentified forces
abducted 10 persons and held them approximately a month as
well, and then released them after being them. In both of
these incidents in Chiapas, no authorities brought any charges
of wrongdoing against either side, nor did any officials other
than CNDH initiate any investigation. The CNDH continued to
investigate these matters.
In 1989 an elite group of antinarcotics police was responsible
for the kidnaping and rape of at least 19 women in Mexico City.
Courts had sentenced only four of the dozen accused officers to
prison at the end of 1993. The authorities released the
remaining 8 officers after victims could not identify them.
In some cases police officers whom one state dismissed find law
enforcement employment in another. The CNDH discovered that
even when the authorities censured some officers in one law
enforcement job, they moved on to other positions and were
subsequently charged again with human rights abuses. In an
effort to remedy this situation, the CNDH publishes lists of
censured public servants in its annual report and monthly
newsletters.
Many prisons are staffed by undertrained and corrupt guards,
lack adequate facilities for prisoners and are overcrowded,
despite an early release program endorsed by the CNDH and legal
reforms reducing the number of crimes that carry mandatory
prison sentences. Prisoners complain that they must purchase
food, medicine, and other necessities from guards or bribe
guards to allow the goods to be brought in from outside. Drug
and alcohol use is rampant in prisons. Frequently, prisoners
exercise authority within the prison, displacing prison
officials. Conflicts between rival prison groups, often
involved in drug trafficking, continued to spark lethal
violence. While the authorities prosecuted a few prison
officials for abusing prisoners, it was more common to dismiss
them or to charge them with only minor offenses. In response
to these problems, the CNDH launched a nationwide campaign to
improve prison conditions. Federal and state governments have
begun to provide funding for the construction of modern
installations and to improve existing facilities.
Some prisons, contrary to law, do not separate male and female
populations. In at least one prison, the authorities allowed
male trusties access to women's cells, also a violation of the
law. At this prison, officials sometimes encouraged women to
form sexual liaisons with male prisoners and guards, as such
relationships, according to a state prison official, enhanced
the facility's peace and safety. In some cases, officials
coerced women into sexual relationships. The CNDH has 20
investigators dedicated to women's issues and has a program to
inspect prisons (it has visited 502 jails) and investigate
prisoner complaints.
d. Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile
Arbitrary arrest and detention continued to be among the most
common human rights abuses. The authorities arbitrarily
imprisoned 21 persons at the Cerro Hueco prison in March. Only
when the prisoners began a hunger strike to call attention to
their plight did the CNDH intervene. In the third week of the
strike, the authorities acknowledged that they had no grounds
for continuing the imprisonment, and released them.
A study by the National Indigenous Institute (INI) found that
courts had not yet sentenced 70 percent of indigenous
prisoners, half of whom the authorities held in pretrial
detention for longer than allowed by law. Over the past
5 years, the INI was able to have 8,000 indigenous prisoners
released from jails, but with new entrants the current
indigenous prison population stands at 5,400. The INI has
succeeded in convincing federal prosecutors to drop charges
against first-time offenders accused of drug cultivation,
arguing that indigenous defendants are often forced by drug
traffickers to grow the crops and do not understand the legal
significance of their actions.
Many detainees report that officials ask them to pay bribes for
release before formal arraignment; many of those arrested
report that they are able to bribe officials to have them drop
charges before they go before a judge. Corruption is rampant
throughout the system. Some wealthy drug traffickers have
avoided arrests or jail sentences by paying off police officers
and judges. In July police officers detained a U.S. citizen
and his son and drove them around Mexico City for several
hours. The officers released them after they handed over their
cash and valuables, warning them not to report the incident as
the officers knew where the two lived.
The Constitution provides that the authorities must present
anyone detained before a judge within 72 hours and must try the
person within 4 months if the alleged crime carries a sentence
of less than 2 years, or within 1 year if the crime carries a
longer sentence. The law requires prisoners awaiting trial to
be housed separately from those convicted. In practice, these
time limits are frequently ignored. According to the CNDH and
NGO's, the authorities often held criminal defendants with
convicted prisoners, and for longer than allowed by law before
going to trial.
To address these problems, the Government established the CNDH
in 1990. The overall number of complaints filed with the CNDH
increased by 16 percent in 1994, with 6,574 complaints filed
from January to August. Its recommendations have resulted in
the sanctioning of 1,484 public servants, the vast majority
members of public security forces. During the 12-month period
from May 1993 to May 1994, CNDH efforts resulted in sanctions
against 539 public servants, as follows: 119 penal actions; 54
dismissals; 35 declared incompetent for public service; 86
suspensions; 56 reprimands or warnings; 1 arrest; 1 fine; and
190 investigations pending. The CNDH publishes the names of
all sanctioned public servants. In some cases, authorities
applied multiple sanctions, but CNDH statistics list cases
under the most severe sanction applied. In Chiapas, the
Attorney General's office announced the dismissal of 60 percent
of all state police officers (510 of 850 agents) for crimes
while in uniform or when working as police without proper
registration.
The law does not permit exile, and it is not practiced.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial
Trial in the Mexican judicial system, which is based on the
Napoleonic Code, is a series of fact-gathering hearings at
which the court receives documentary evidence or testimony. In
addition officials may add notarized documents to the official
case file without authentication. While these hearings must by
law be open to the public, in practice the courts do not admit
the public. Journalists covering a judicial proceeding rely on
the statements of attorneys outside the courtroom as to what
occurred inside. A judge alone in chambers reviews the case
file and makes a final written ruling based thereon. The
record of the proceeding is not available to the public; only
the parties and, by special motion, the victim, may have access
to the official file.
In his first month in office, President Zedillo moved a package
of judicial reforms aimed at improving the performance of the
Mexican Supreme Court through the Congress and the 20 state
legislatures needed to amend the Constitution. These reforms
included Senate confirmation of Supreme Court justices and
relieving the Court of administrative duties.
While there is a constitutional right to an attorney at all
stages of criminal proceedings, in practice many poor
defendants are not adequately represented. Attorneys are not
always available during the questioning of defendants; in some
instances a defense attorney will attempt to represent several
clients simultaneously by entering different rooms to certify
that he was present although he did not actually attend the
full proceedings. In the case of indigenous defendants, many
of whom do not speak Spanish, the situation is often worse.
The courts do not routinely furnish translators for them at all
stages of criminal proceedings, and thus defendants may be
unaware of the status of their case.
Some human rights groups claim that activists arrested in
connection with land disputes and other civil disobedience
activities are in fact political prisoners. The Government
asserts that those charged in the sometimes violent land
invasions are fairly prosecuted for common crimes, such as
homicide and damage to property.
f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence
The Constitution protects the rights to privacy, family, home,
and correspondence. The law requires search warrants, but
there were credible claims that unlawful searches without
warrants are common. There were no known claims of forced
political membership and no substantiated claims of
surveillance or interference with correspondence.
g. Use of Excessive Force and Violations of Humanitarian
Law in Internal Conflicts
The Chiapas uprising prompted many claims of human rights
abuses. The CNDH issued an interim report in May finding that
there was reason to believe that the military had injured or
killed civilians in aerial attacks, and that there were summary
executions, illegal detentions, and torture. The military
denied any responsibility, and no military personnel or
government officials have been sanctioned. The CNDH has not
yet issued its final report on Chiapas.
On January 4, army fixed-wing aircraft fired rockets and
machine guns into villages around San Cristobal de las Casas,
killing and injuring several noncombatant residents. Army
personnel on the ground, untrained in managing close air
support, made inaccurate target identification and contributed
to the civilian casualties. The aircraft also fired on clearly
identified journalists in the area who were displaying a white
flag.
One of the first photographs to come out of the conflict was a
picture of five men apparently bound at the wrists and shot
point blank in the head. The five were lying in a bloody pool
on the floor of the market in the town of Ocosingo, some
wearing what appeared to be EZLN uniforms--green pants and
brown shirts. The federal Attorney General's Office determined
in April that someone had indeed executed the five, but it
exonerated the army, finding that the army was not in the
market at the time of death. National and international human
rights organizations widely criticized the PGR report, which
disregarded evidence that the investigators could not have
accurately fixed the time of death and that army elements
indeed were in the market on the day the five died. Also in
Ocosingo, the authorities later determined that 11 bodies found
in paupers' graves after the fighting ended included
noncombatant hospital patients and visitors; some witnesses
said the army gunned them down. Again, the military denied any
involvement; the PGR investigated the case but has yet to
charge anyone.
In Morelia residents reported that the military entered a
communal farm of 100 families on January 7, forcing the men to
lie face down in the village square while they led some away
for questioning and beatings. Witnesses said they saw a
military ambulance take away the bodies of three men, two of
them in their sixties. Residents discovered the remains of the
three on the outskirts of the community on February 10. The
army denied any responsibility, claiming that the remains were
not human and that no military troops were in Morelia on
January 7. The army admitted, however, that troops were there
on January 6. U.S. pathologists confirmed the identity of the
remains, but the Government did not file charges and closed the
case.
There were also complaints that the EZLN committed human rights
abuses. The CNDH declined to investigate the charges, since
the EZLN is not a government entity. The EZLN kidnaped and
held for 2 months a former governor of Chiapas, releasing him
after a "people's tribunal" found him guilty of crimes against
the people. At times the EZLN collected "war taxes" at road
blocks in the areas it controlled and confiscated the private
property and livestock of ranchers. The EZLN announced in
October that it would welcome an investigation by NGO's into
allegations that it had committed human rights abuses against
civilians. The EZLN also said it was opening an office to
train its soldiers and to receive complaints of human rights
abuses.
Some large landowners in Chiapas established private militias
to defend their property from peasant land invasions. Local
authorities have not impeded establishment of these militias,
which often employ police and military personnel.
Section 2 Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press
The Constitution provides for freedom of speech and the press.
Since 1990, reforms and internal changes have made the media
more professional, freer of the Government and more
competitive. The Government relinquished its control over
newsprint, banned the practice of overtly paying for favorable
news coverage, and ceased to pay for journalists' travel
expenses during trips.
There remained significant restrictions on these freedoms. The
Government used its control of a significant advertising
budget, and its ability to reward favored journalists by
providing them access to officials, to discourage unfavorable
reports. There continued to be some self-censorship by the
media. The Government controls broadcast license renewals, and
some have charged that the Government delayed renewing licenses
for stations that are critical of the Government or the PRI.
On at least four occasions, radio station owners preempted any
possible problems with license renewals by firing employees who
had broadcast critical stories. Journalists are also reluctant
to undermine their access to government officials by
criticizing them too freely. Many media outlets depend heavily
on government advertising and do not wish to prejudice such
income.
The media have also changed internally. Some new daily
newspapers and magazines are demanding higher education levels
from their reporters and paying them accordingly. Some print
media are also implementing strict accounting procedures,
making the acceptance of bribes more difficult. The electronic
media are lagging behind their print competitors in the
emphasis on training.
To a surprising degree, both print and electronic media
provided full coverage of the Chiapas uprising. For example, a
cable television network broadcast a lengthy interview of EZLN
leader Subcomandante Marcos. A provincial radio station
broadcast the peace talks between the EZLN and the government
team live, despite government admonitions that it not do so.
The EZLN also sought to control coverage of the talks, and
barred two television networks--one Mexican and one
American--from its press conferences, claiming the networks
were biased in favor of the Government.
The August election gave journalists an opportunity to
demonstrate independence. Although only approximately
10 percent of the population regularly reads a newspaper (or
perhaps because of this) the move away from the traditional
pro-PRI party line was more notable in the print media.
Several independent studies found that the two primary
opposition candidates for president received substantially more
coverage during the 1994 campaign than during any other
previous election. Still, the amount of coverage of the ruling
party candidate greatly exceeded that of the opposition, and
its tone was more favorable. Studies of radio and television
election coverage, which was justly criticized in the past as
inequitable, found that electronic media coverage of the
opposition also increased this year, although less dramatically
than that of the print media. The coverage afforded the ruling
party candidate was generally favorable; coverage of the
opposition was far more negative.
On election day, the main cable television company (controlled
by Televisa, the country's largest broadcaster and consistently
accused of progovernment bias) blacked out foreign programming
until all polling places were closed. The electronic media
made some efforts to balance coverage. For example, Televisa
gave equal amounts of free air and production time to all the
presidential candidates near the end of the campaign period.
Violence against journalists continued. Assailants killed
three reporters in the state of Morelos; all were severe
critics of the departing state administration at the time of
their deaths. Government authorities are investigating these
cases, and the CNDH is also pursuing one. In 1990 the CNDH
initiated a limited program to investigate complaints of human
rights abuses by government officials against journalists; in
1994 the CNDH made it permanent. The program, consisting of
three phases to date, involved a total of 100 cases through
September 28. The complaints involved abuses that ranged from
unlawful termination of employment to murder. The CNDH
concluded all but four cases in the three phases of the program
(many on administrative grounds). It resolved 9 cases to the
satisfaction of the affected journalist; 21 others resulted in
punishment of government officials for illegal acts, and the
CNDH recommended that the Government take further action
against the accused official in 16 cases. The CNDH
discontinued 25 cases because victims did not pursue their
allegations.
There continued to be incidents of outright intimidation. For
example, armed intruders invaded and ransacked the offices of
the Roman Catholic Diocese in Ciudad Juarez in August. Because
they took only a small amount of cash but left other valuables,
it did not appear that the motive was robbery. The event
followed a meeting at which the Bishop had pressured the
Attorney General to pursue the case of murdered Archbishop
Posadas more rigorously.
In late January, the curator of a Matamoros museum gave
organizers of a photographic display portraying the conflict in
Chiapas 1 hour's notice to remove the display after the
commander of the Plaza Guard in Matamoros, Brig. Gen. Gonzalez
Garcia Silva, intimated his displeasure at the exhibit. The
curator claimed that the expulsion was necessary in order to
conduct a previously scheduled fumigation, but the short notice
and the coincidence with the General's visit indicate otherwise.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association
Citizens have a constitutional right to assembly and
association which they freely and frequently exercise. The
only requirement for holding demonstrations is that groups
wishing to meet in public areas must inform local police
authorities.
c. Freedom of Religion
The Constitution provides for the right to practice the
religion of one's choice, and the authorities generally
respected this right. (However, see Section 5 concerning
religious discrimination.) Mexican law bars clergy from
holding public office and from advocating partisan political
positions.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign
Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation
The Government does not generally restrict movement into, out
of, or within the country. However, military checkpoints
remained in place throughout the year in areas around EZLN
strongholds (see Section 1.g.). At the beginning of the year,
the military at these checkpoints sometimes harassed volunteers
with relief caravans carrying food and medicine to EZLN-held
territory; the situation later improved somewhat. Similarly,
the military delayed several U.S. citizens working with human
rights groups at the checkpoints.
The Government admitted 45,000 Guatemalan refugees fleeing from
the civil war in that country and, as the Guatemalan conflict
subsides, is steadily repatriating them. In 1994 Mexico agreed
to accept Cuban refugees for the first time; only Cubans who
have relatives in Mexico able to support them, however, are
eligible. The Cubans would not be issued work permits. The
authorities generally do not inform asylum seekers at the
borders of their right to apply for asylum; the United Nations
High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that the authorities
expel about 100,000 aliens annually for illegally entering the
country.
Section 3 Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens
to Change Their Government
Under the Constitution, citizens have the right to change their
government through periodic elections. The PRI dominates
Mexican politics and has controlled the Government since the
party was founded in 1929. It has won every presidential
election since then and has maintained power, in part, by
relying on public patronage, use of government and party
organizational resources, and, in the past, electoral fraud.
Mexico held nationwide federal elections on August 21, as well
as state and local contests in seven states. Voters elected
the PRI candidate, Ernesto Zedillo, with approximately
50 percent of the vote. Diego Fernandez de Cevallo, the
candidate of the right-of-center National Action Party, came in
second with almost 26 percent of the vote, while Cuauhtemoc
Cardenas of the leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution
obtained 16 percent. The PRI holds 95 of a total of 128 Senate
seats and 300 seats in the 500-member Chamber of Deputies.
Opposition parties increased their seats from 3 to 33 in the
Senate and from 180 to 198 in the Chamber of Deputies. Two
seats remained unfilled due to legal challenges to election
results.
The elections were generally peaceful and orderly. The
Government spent hundreds of millions of dollars funding the
operations of the quasi-independent Federal Electoral Institute
(IFE), whose governing council was placed under the control of
nonpartisan, civilian directors. The IFE oversaw the
compilation of a new voter registration list and distribution
of more than 40 million new voter identification cards. The
IFE trained hundreds of thousands of polling officials, all
chosen by lottery, and, working with the election assistance
unit of the United Nations, helped prepare the more than 80,000
independent election observers, most of them affiliated with
NGO's and civic and labor organizations.
Some domestic observer groups, Mexican media outlets, and major
political parties conducted "quick count" operations which
confirmed the official results. Some international observers,
including the National Democratic Institute and the
International Republican Institute, praised the Government and
the IFE for the handling of the elections, but also pointed out
numerous irregularities. They criticized the progovernment
bias in the media and the use of government resources in
support of the ruling party. The PRD and some NGO's claimed
that the Government and the PRI perpetrated widespread fraud,
including stuffing ballot boxes and multiple votes. These
groups, however, have yet to substantiate their claims.
Election courts overturned results in a handful of
congressional and mayoral races because of irregularities or
fraud. In cases where electoral courts determine fraud, they
void the results of the voting stations in question and
determine the outcome according to the returns from other
stations in the district.
A severe failure in the electoral process was the lack of any
meaningful prosecution of those accused of electoral crimes.
The Government appointed a special prosecutor for electoral
crimes, but the prosecutor was slow in dealing with some 400
complaints, including dozens accusing state governors and other
officials of using government resources to support candidates.
The special prosecutor brought charges only against a grammar
school principal and one candidate for requiring parents to
attend the candidate's campaign rally in order to retrieve
children's report cards. Even in this case, a local judge
canceled the arrest warrants, and the principal and the
candidate face no criminal proceedings.
On the other hand, newly appointed Attorney General Lozano has
asked the Chamber of Deputies to strip congressional immunity
from two PRI Federal Deputies so that the special prosecutor
for electoral crimes may prosecute them for electoral
offenses. This is the first time an Attorney General has made
such a request in connection with electoral crimes.
One of the continuing major obstacles to election reform is the
deeply entrenched antidemocratic tradition of unchecked power
exercised by local bosses ("caciques") over peasants in rural
areas. These bosses often exercise control over virtually
every aspect of peasants' lives, including how they vote. One
NGO that studied the results of the August 21 elections in a
remote district found that there were 30 percent more votes for
the PRI in polling places where no independent observers were
present.
Section 4 Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations
of Human Rights
Although the CNDH is the official human rights ombudsman of the
Government, it is nominally independent of government control.
It has been very vocal and active in many cases, but
ineffectual in others, most notably the problems in Chiapas.
NGO representatives charge that in addition to the obvious
problem of lack of any enforcement authority, the CNDH lacks
autonomy and has become too large and bureaucratic. They also
criticize the state commissions for being ineffectual. In the
Chiatas conflict, NGO's contended that PGR and CNDH activities
were frequently inadequate and even negligent, and that the PGR
in particular was more interested in protecting the army's
reputation than in conducting independent and thorough
investigations of alleged military abuses.
In the wake of the Chiapas uprising, numerous international
NGO's visited Mexico to investigate allegations of human rights
violations. While some of these organizations complained about
government limits placed on access to conflict areas, the
situation steadily improved. In April one Mexican NGO
complained that the military Attorney General's office had
asked it to answer questions regarding the factual basis for
the group's assertions regarding a human rights case against
the army. It also asked for details on the group's activities
in Chiapas and when the organization intended to leave the
state.
Upon publication of the CNDH annual report in June, the
Commission's president highlighted the problems of government
inaction on more than half the Commission's recommendations, of
state governors not supporting state commissions, and "severe
financial problems." In particular, the CNDH cited 103
recommendations which authorities had been "negligent" in
implementing. Then President Salinas publicly called for
implementation. By the end of July, the CNDH reported that
enough progress had been made in 70 of the 103 recommendations
(20 by full implementation) that it no longer considered the
authorities as negligent.
In July military authorities prevented 20 members of an
international human rights delegation from traveling to the
Chiapas community of Morelia. An immigration official at the
scene stated that his superiors had declared the community
off-limits to foreigners.
The National Network of Civil Organizations for Human Rights
reported 86 incidents of harassment of human rights advocates
from April to July, including 10 detentions and 20 cases of
illegal search. Military forces conducted searches beyond
their authority, and police conducted searches without
warrants. The report specifically implicated authorities in
many, but not all, of the 86 cases. Many NGO's working on
campaign reform issues reported receiving death threats.
Defense Minister Antonio Riviello imprisoned Gen. Jose
Francisco Gallardo Rodriguez in November 1993 on a range of
charges, including embezzlement and dishonoring the military.
The embezzlement charges, which Gallardo claims were abandoned
for lack of evidence, date back 5 years. Gallardo maintains
that military authorities are persecuting him because of an
academic dissertation calling for the establishment of a
military human rights ombudsman's office. The authorities
continued to hold Gallardo under extraordinary security.
Section 5 Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion,
Disability, Language, or Social Status
The Constitution states that men and women are equal before the
law. It also provides that education should sustain the ideals
of "fraternity and equal rights of all mankind, avoiding
privileges of race, sects, groups, sexes, or individuals."
Women
Although the Constitution provides for equality between the
sexes, neither the authorities nor society in general respect
this in practice. The most serious violation of women's rights
involves domestic and sexual violence, which is believed to be
widespread and underreported. Domestic assault is a crime, but
in 10 states the "right to correct" wife and children is not a
crime unless this abuse involves cruelty or unnecessary
frequency. Women are reluctant to report abuse or file
charges, and even when notified, the police are reluctant to
intervene in what is considered a domestic matter.
The Attorney General's Office operates rape crisis centers
located in the Federal District and the states of Mexico,
Queretaro, and Baja California. Few women, however, avail
themselves of the centers' services. In 1993 only 3,400
approached the Mexico City center; the city has a female
population of at least 10 million.
The legal treatment of women's rights is uneven. Women have
the right to own property in their own names, and to file for
separation and divorce. However, in some states a woman may
not bring suit to establish paternity and thereby obtain child
support, unless the child was a product of rape or
cohabitation, the child resides with the father, or there is
written proof of paternity.
The Labor Code provides that women shall have the same rights
and the same obligations as men, and that "equal pay shall be
given for equal work performed in equal posts, hours of work
and conditions of efficiency." According to a 1994 CNDH study,
employers frequently required women to certify that they were
not pregnant at the time of hiring.
The CNDH study also found that the largest number of complaints
received involved negligence or abuse during childbirth by
medical personnel and charges of forced sterilizations. The
study noted that most sterilizations occurred in public
hospitals when the patients were poor, illiterate, and not
informed of the consequences of the medical procedure. The
CNDH recommended that medical administrators train their staff
to be more aware when dealing with such patients.
Children
There is no societal pattern of abuse against children, but
children's advocates report many cases of such abuse. Children
under the age of 18 make up 40 percent of the population. An
estimated 12,000 live on the streets, many having left or been
driven from their homes by alcoholic or drug-addicted parents.
The children themselves often become involved with alcohol,
drugs, prostitution, and petty thievery. While the Government
and NGO's conduct a number of programs for street children, the
problem is exacerbated by corrupt police who pressure street
children to commit petty crimes and extort the profits from
them. The CNDH has a program for protection of children's
rights which includes educating children on their rights and
reviewing legislation to ensure compliance with international
conventions on children's rights.
Indigenous People
The indigenous population has long been the object of
discriminatory treatment, which contributed to the social
inequities in Chiapas that led to the January rebellion. That
uprising focused unprecedented interest on the demands of
Indians in that state for increased economic and social
rights. As peace talks developed, it was clear that the EZLN's
basic demands included that the Government enact measures to
protect indigenous cultures, establish self-governing
autonomous regions in indigenous areas, and provide more
opportunity for employment in indigenous areas. Although the
peace talks stalled, the Government appeared willing to
consider these demands, not only for the Indians of Chiapas but
for all of Mexico's indigenous groups. In December the Zedillo
administration initiated a program to implement land reform
laws in Chiapas and targeted tens of thousands of hectares for
distribution to peasants.
The Government, through the INI and the CNDH, operates programs
to educate indigenous groups, many of members of which do not
speak Spanish, about their political and human rights, and it
generally professes respect for their desire to retain elements
of their traditional lifestyle. The CNDH received 137
complaints from indigenous people. At year's end, it had
resolved 73 complaints and 64 were pending.
Some 131 NGO's in Mexico are dedicated to the promotion and
protection of indigenous rights. Indigenous people do not live
on independently governed reservations, although some
indigenous communities exercise considerable local control over
economic and social issues. These communities apply
traditional law to resolve a variety of disputes, including
allegations of crimes. However, these groups remain largely
outside the country's political and economic mainstream, a
result of longstanding patterns of economic and social
development, and in many cases their ability to participate in
decisions affecting their lands, cultural traditions, and the
allocation of natural resources is negligible.
The 1992 reforms in agrarian law were expected to promote
economic development in the countryside, but indigenous groups
generally perceived the reforms as intended to break up
indigenous communal landholdings and prevent the groups from
obtaining title to new lands. As noted earlier, despite the
1991 amendment to the Federal law which requires an interpreter
to be present at every stage of criminal proceedings, the
courts continued to try and sentence indigenous people without
the benefit of interpreters. Knowledge of the Spanish language
is essential to work outside indigenous areas, and non-Spanish
speakers are frequently taken advantage of in commercial
transactions involving bilingual middlemen.
Although the law provides some protections for the indigenous,
and the Government provides Indian communities support through
social and economic assistance programs, the legal guarantees
and social welfare programs are not sufficient to provide the
Indians the basic support and standards they expect.
Religious Minorities
In the wake of the Chiapas conflict, several Catholic leaders
and groups accused of inciting the EZLN armed uprising received
death threats. San Cristobal city officials reportedly
orchestrated an effort in concert with other prominent figures
to have the Bishop, considered by many observers as sympathetic
to the EZLN, removed from office and expelled. In the Chiapas
town of Altamirano, town leaders and other citizens accused
Catholic nuns operating a clinic of being EZLN supporters and
subjected them to intimidation designed to make them leave the
community. Military and civil police authorities allegedly
allowed the intimidation to proceed. The CNDH is investigating
both cases.
The Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) complained that the
Government selectively leaked documents alleging Jesuit ties to
the Chiapas uprising and other armed movements. For example, a
Mexico City daily published what it said was information from
Mexican intelligence authorities claiming that EZLN leader
Subcomandante Marcos was a Jesuit priest. The story was
quickly proven untrue, but the Attorney General's Office
declined to prosecute the newspaper for libel. The Government
also rejected the Jesuits' request that it issue statements
correcting this and other media stories linking the order to
the EZLN. The Jesuits also complained about unauthorized raids
on Jesuit facilities in Veracruz, Chiapas, and Guererro. In
the Guererro case, 6 heavily armed intruders allegedly broke
into a retreat house and held priests, lay workers, and 20
novices hostage while they cut phone lines, ransacked the
premises, and took away documents. The local police refused to
investigate unless the Jesuits could identify the individuals
who took part in the raids. The Jesuits also received numerous
bomb and death threats; in one instance the caller ominously
alluded to the 1991 mass murder of Jesuits in El Salvador.
In the highlands of Chiapas and other indigenous areas, elected
officials sometimes acquiesced in or actually ordered the
expulsions of Protestants belonging primarily to evangelical
groups. In many cases the expulsions involved the burning of
homes and crops, beatings, and, occasionally, killings. The
most significant example of religious expulsions occurred in
San Juan Chamula, Chiapas, where authorities expelled an
estimated 15,000 evangelicals over the past 20 years.
In August state authorities and the CNDH worked out an
agreement for about 500 evangelicals to return to San Juan
Chamula. An earlier attempt to return to the community at the
beginning of the year was unsuccessful, as the residents beat
the returnees and drove them out of town. The evangelicals
later retaliated by holding the town mayor hostage; one person
was killed when the mayor was rescued. In October a mob
murdered three evangelical returnees. The authorities
immediately arrested four suspects but later released them.
Both sides are armed, and state officials and human rights
groups continued to monitor the situation at year's end.
People with Disabilities
The law requires access for handicapped persons to public
facilities in Mexico City, but not elsewhere in Mexico. In
practice, however, most public buildings and facilities do not
comply with the law. Special education programs for people
with disabilities are not widely available.
Section 6 Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association
The Constitution and Federal Labor Law (FLL) provide workers
the right to form and join trade unions of their choice. About
30 percent of the total work force is organized, which implies
an effective unionization rate nearly twice that high, since
only about half the work force is employed in the formal
private or public sector, accessible to union organization.
No prior approval is needed to form unions, but they must
register with federal or state labor authorities to obtain
legal status to function effectively. Registration
requirements are not onerous. There are credible allegations,
however, that federal or state labor authorities occasionally
withhold or delay registration of unions hostile to government
policies, employers, or established unions, or register
extortionists or labor racketeers falsely claiming to represent
workers. To remedy this latter problem, Labor Secretariat
(STPS) officials require evidence that unions are genuine and
representative before registering them.
The International Labor Organization (ILO) Committee of Experts
(COE) found that certain restrictions in federal employee labor
law, a separate section of the Constitution and FLL, violate
freedom of association. At the request of federal employee
unions, the law allows only one union per jurisdiction and
forbids reelection of union officials--provisions acceptable in
union statutes but not in law. The COE welcomed the fact that
privatization of most banks ended these legal restrictions on
their unions.
Mexican unions form federations and confederations freely
without government approval. Most belong to such bodies.
They, too, must register to get legal status. Questionable
delays occur occasionally, but none were reported in 1994.
The largest trade union central is the Confederation of Mexican
Workers (CTM), organizationally part of the ruling PRI. CTM's
major rival centrals and nearly all the 34 smaller
confederations, federations, and unions in the Labor Congress
(CT) are also allied with the ruling PRI. However, the
teachers' union, a large CT affiliate, severed its ties to the
PRI to free its factions to cooperate openly with other
parties. Rivalries within and between PRI-allied centrals are
strong. There also are a few small labor federations and
independent unions outside the CT which are not allied to the
PRI.
Unions are free to affiliate with, and are often active in,
trade union internationals.
Union officers help select, run as, and campaign for, PRI
candidates in federal and state elections, and support PRI
government policies at crucial moments. This gives the unions
considerable influence on government policies, but limits their
freedom of action to defend member interests in other ways,
particularly when this might threaten the Government or the
PRI. After the 1991 federal elections, the proportion of CT
Senators and deputies fell to under 10 percent, but in 1994 the
CT, and especially the CTM, regained some lost congressional
nominations, and nearly all labor candidates won handily.
The Constitution and FLL provide for the right to strike. The
law requires 6 to 10 days' advance strike notice, followed by
brief government mediation. If federal or state authorities
rule a strike "nonexistent" or "illicit," employees must remain
at work, return to work within 24 hours, or face dismissal. If
they rule the strike legal, the company or unit must shut down
totally, management officials may not enter the premises until
the strike is over, and the company may not hire striker
replacements. The law permits public sector strikes, but they
are rare. Provisions for maintaining essential services are
not onerous.
Most strike notices precede successful collective bargaining
and are never implemented. During 1993, 7,200 strike notices
were filed with federal labor boards, and 148 legal strikes
occurred. The authorities ruled only two nonexistent and none
illicit; two were withdrawn, they transferred 309 to state
boards (not federal jurisdiction), and put 702 on file awaiting
further information.
There were credible allegations that federal or state labor
authorities occasionally stretch legal requirements to rule
strikes nonexistent or illicit, or use delays to prevent
damaging strikes and force settlements, but there was not a
consistent pattern. The Constitution and FLL protect labor
organizations from government interference in their internal
affairs, including strike decisions, which can also protect
undemocratic or corrupt union leaders. The law permits closed
shop and exclusion clauses, allowing union leaders to vet and
veto new hires and force dismissal of anyone the union expels.
Such clauses are common in collective bargaining agreements.
Employer organizations have pushed for labor law reform which
would limit union leaders' powers, but unions have successfully
resisted. However, the Government has induced de facto reform
through tripartite national pacts (see below) and collective
bargaining at the enterprise level.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively
The Constitution and FLL strongly uphold the right to organize
and bargain collectively. Interest by a few employees, or a
union strike notice, compels an employer to recognize a union
and negotiate, or ask the federal or state labor board to hold
a union recognition election. FLL pro-union provisions lead
some employers to seek out independent, "white," or company
unions as an alternative to mainstream national or local
unions. Representation elections are traditionally open, not
secret. Management and union officials are present with the
presiding labor board official when each worker openly declares
his or her vote. Such open "recounts" are prevailing practice,
but not required by law or regulation. Secret ballots are held
when all parties agree.
Annual national pacts negotiated by the Government and major
trade union, employer, and rural organizations have voluntarily
limited free collective bargaining for the past decade. These
pacts were intended to stop inflation and to support the
Government's free market economic reforms and structural
adjustment policies. The mainstream labor organizations
reluctantly accepted drastic reductions in members' real
incomes in the late 1980's, although these regained some lost
ground over the last 5 years.
The record in internal union democracy and transparency is
mixed. Some unions are democratic, but corruption or
authoritarian and strong-arm tactics are common in others. In
1994 dissidents protested, alleging such practices in four of
Mexico's strongest unions. For example, they alleged fraud
when the railroad union, an independent CT member, elected
officers in October by secret ballot, although these
allegations appeared unsubstantiated. Three of the strongest
national CTM unions--petroleum, electric, and sugar
workers--have dissident movements which accused leaders of
undemocratic or strong-arm tactics. Electric union dissidents
succeeded in pressuring the leadership into giving them several
regional leadership posts.
The public sector is almost totally organized. Industrial
areas are heavily organized, but states with little industry
often have few unions. The law protects workers from antiunion
discrimination, but enforcement is uneven, especially in states
with low unionization.
Unionization and wage levels in the in-bond export sector vary
by area, but, especially in the west, are lower than in most
other industries. Some observers allege poor working
conditions, inadequate wages, and employer and government
efforts to suppress unionization. There is no evidence the
Federal Government opposes unionization of these plants, which
tend to be under state jurisdiction, but some state and local
governments, as well as some employers, are known to discourage
unions.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor
The Constitution prohibits forced labor. There have been no
credible reports of forced labor for many years.
d. Minimum Age for Employment of Children
The law bans child labor and sets the minimum legal work age at
14. Although the activities of those aged 14 and 15 are so
restricted as to be uneconomic (no night or hazardous work,
limited hours), the ILO reported that 18 percent of children
aged 12 to 14 work, often for parents or relatives. Enforcement
is reasonably good at large and medium-sized companies,
especially in export industries and those under federal
jurisdiction. Enforcement is inadequate at the many small
companies and in agriculture. It is nearly absent in the
informal sector, despite government efforts. Most child labor
is in the informal sector (including myriad underage street
vendors), agriculture, and in rural areas.
The Government increased obligatory school years from 6 to 9 in
1992 and made parents legally liable for their children's
attendance, as part of a reform to upgrade Mexican labor force
skills and long-term efforts to continue increasing educational
opportunities for youth.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work
The Constitution and the FLL provide for a daily minimum wage.
The tripartite national minimum wage commission (government,
labor, employers), sets minimum wage rates each December,
effective January 1. On January 2, 1995, after the year-end
exchange rate crisis and peso float, the 1995 minimum daily
wage in Mexico City and nearby industrial areas, Acapulco,
southeast Veracruz state's refining and petrochemical zone and
most border areas, was $3.27 (16.34 new pesos). Minimum wage
earners are actually paid $3.70 (18.48 new pesos) by their
employers due to a supplemental 14 percent fiscal subsidy
(negative income tax or tax credit), which employers then
subtract from their own taxes. These income supplements to the
minimum wage, agreed in the annual tripartite pacts, are for
all income less than four times the minimum wage, decreasing as
wages and benefits rise. In Guadalajara, Monterrey, and other
advanced industrialized areas, the 1995 minimum daily wage
(before the fiscal subsidy) was $3.04 (15.18 new pesos). In
other areas, it was $2.76 (13.79 new pesos).
There are higher minimums for some occupations, such as
building trades. Few workers (12 percent, including most
waiters and hotel workers, who depend on tips) earn only the
minimum wage. Industrial workers average three to four times
the minimum wage, earning more at bigger, more advanced, and
prosperous enterprises. The 1995 minimum daily wage in pesos
was increased by 7 percent (4 percent for projected inflation
and 3 percent for productivity), plus a 3-percent increase in
the fiscal subsidy--a 10-percent total increase. The 1995
minimum daily wage is for the whole year, but inflation
projections have been revised upward and any of the three
parties can ask that the board reconvene during the year to
consider a changed situation, although labor and employers
agreed not to do so during the first months of 1995. On
January 3, 1995, labor, employers, and the Government agreed to
establish a committee to study further tax changes.
The law and contract arrangements provide workers extensive
additional benefits. Legally required benefits include
individual retirement accounts, social security (IMSS)
coverage, individual worker housing accounts, substantial
Christmas bonuses, paid vacations, and profit-sharing.
Employer costs for these benefits run from about 27 percent of
payroll at marginal enterprises to over 100 percent at major
firms with generous union contracts.
The FLL sets 48 hours as the legal workweek. Workers asked to
exceed 3 hours of overtime per day or work overtime on
3 consecutive days must be paid triple the normal wage. For
most industrial workers, especially under union contract, the
true workweek is 42 hours, although they are paid for 6 full
days. This is why unions jealously defend the legal ban on
hourly wages.
The law requires employers to observe occupational safety and
health regulations issued jointly by STPS and IMSS, and pay
contributions which vary according to their workplace safety
and health experience ratings. FLL-mandated joint (management
and labor) committees set standards and are responsible for
workplace enforcement in plants and offices. These meet at
least monthly to consider workplace needs and file copies of
their minutes with federal labor inspectors, who assumed
jurisdiction for all such inspections in 1987, supplanting
state inspectors and strengthening inspection considerably.
The inspectors schedule visits largely in response to these
workplace committees.
Individual employees or unions may also complain directly to
inspectors or safety and health officials. Workers may remove
themselves from hazardous situations without jeopardizing their
employment. Plaintiffs may bring complaints before the Federal
Labor Board at no cost to themselves.
STPS and IMSS officials report compliance is reasonably good at
most large companies. Federal inspectors are stretched too
thinly for effective enforcement if companies do not comply
voluntarily and fulfill their legal obligation to train workers
in occupational health and safety matters. There are special
problems in construction, where unskilled, untrained,
poorly-educated, transient labor is common, especially at many
small sites and companies. Many unions, particularly in
construction, are not organized effectively to provide training
and to encourage members to work safely and healthily, to
participate in the joint committees, and to insist on their
rights.
(###)
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