Juan E. Méndez, UN Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, concluded that torture and ill-treatment "are widespread" in Mexico.
In a report sent to the House of Representatives, he said that torture and ill-treatment usually occur "to punish or to extract confessions or information" from detainees.
Méndez, who visited Mexico from April 21 to May 2, said that there is evidence of the involvement of police and ministerial authorities and even the Armed Forces, apart from "tolerance, indifference or complicity of doctors, public defenders, prosecutors and judges who do not always fulfill their obligations under the absolute prohibition of torture."
In one of the recommendations the rapporteur said: "Impunity in torture and ill-treatment cases incentivates their repetition and aggravation. The state must urgently develop means to investigate and punish such actions."
In an appendix, he explained that most of the cases that were analyzed belong to detainees of low socioeconomic and educational level, and vulnerable social groups.
In general, "the detainees reported torture or ill-treatment within the prison, as well as during the arrest, transport and interrogation."
After the extrajudicial execution of 22 civilians in the municipality of Tlatlaya, State of Mexico, allegedly by Army soldiers, he recommended to permanently withdraw military forces from public safety tasks and to restrict their participation to support operations under the supervision of civil courts, apart from eliminating preventive arrests.
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