Pat Dollard

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Arizona Republic:

MEXICO CITY – The U.S. government punished Mexico on Friday for human-rights abuses in its war against drug cartels, cutting $26 million from an upcoming $175 million aid payment, and demanded that Mexican soldiers be tried in civilian courts.

It is the first time the U.S. State Department has withheld funds over human-rights abuses since launching the $1.4 billion Merida Initiative aid program in 2008.

The decision comes amid a growing record of killings and torture by Mexico’s military, which has taken a leading role in Mexican President Felipe Calderón’s efforts against drug cartels. At least 21,000 people have died in drug-related violence since the crackdown began in December 2006.

As The Arizona Republic reported on Sunday, complaints of abuse by Mexican soldiers are soaring as the fighting continues, from 206 complaints in 2006 to 1,833 in 2009. The number of “grave violations” by soldiers confirmed by Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission – usually involving death, torture or rape – went from zero in 2006 to 30 in 2009.

The Obama administration wants Mexico to try soldiers accused of abuses in civilian courts, strengthen its laws against human-rights violations and establish ways to give citizens groups a greater say in the anti-drug strategies, said Harry Edwards, a spokesman for the State Department.

“We’re going to be looking in particular at a couple of areas where we think improvement is essential,” Edwards said.

The recommendations are outlined in a report the department sent to the Senate covering Mexico’s human-rights record, Edwards said. The State Department has not released the report.

The Mexican Foreign Ministry said in a written statement that it is making progress on human rights and that it rejects any “unilateral frameworks for evaluation and unacceptable conditions placed on the government of Mexico.”

The National Human Rights Commission, a government agency, says the military has gone to lengths to cover up recent abuses.

In June, the commission accused soldiers of planting guns, vehicles and cadavers to make it appear as though an unarmed family that came under fire along a Mexican highway was part of a gunbattle. Two boys ages 5 and 9 were killed in the April 3 shooting.

In August, the commission’s investigators accused the military of planting weapons on the bodies of two graduate students from the prestigious Tec de Monterrey University after they were caught up in a March 19 gunbattle between soldiers and traffickers.

The army denies altering the scene of either shooting.

Under the terms of the Merida Initiative, the State Department is supposed to withhold 15 percent of anti-drug aid unless Mexico meets four conditions: ensuring that soldiers accused of human-rights abuses are prosecuted in civilian courts, improving the accountability of the Federal Police, enforcing a ban on torture, and consulting with civil groups about the anti-drug strategy.

This is the first time the State Department has blocked any money. On Friday, the agency said it was releasing $36 million in previously budgeted funds even as it imposed the 15 percent penalty on future funds.

Human-rights groups gave mixed reactions to Friday’s announcement, applauding the $26 million penalty but saying the State Department should have withheld the $36 million as well.

“This is a pretty strong message from a very close ally signaling that the Mexican state urgently needs to reform its system of military jurisdiction,” said Stephanie Brewer, director of international affairs for the Miguel Agustin Human Rights Center in Mexico City.

Other activists said it’s too early to tell whether the United States will continue to pressure Mexico.

“It’s a step in the right direction, but it’s not there 100 percent,” said Kathryn Striffolino, advocacy associate director for the Americas at Amnesty International USA.

Reporter Sergio Solache contributed to this article.