Truth Commission Documents 25 Years of State Violence During Mexican Dirty War |
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Mexico City, Mexico, August 19, 2024 - From 1965 to 1990, the Mexican State was responsible for “systematic and widespread” human rights abuses “against broad sectors of the population,” according to the recently published report of a truth commission on Mexico’s dirty war. On Friday, August 16, after nearly three years of investigation, the Commission for Access to Truth, Historical Clarification and the Promotion of Justice for Grave Human Rights Violations committed between 1965 and 1990 (COVEHJ in Spanish) presented Fue el Estado (1965-1990), the first of two planned reports on the 25-year dirty war period. Commissioners Abel Barrera Hernández, David Fernández Dávalos, and Carlos A. Pérez Ricart revealed their findings at the Centro Cultural Universitario Tlatelolco in Mexico City. The commissioners accused the Mexican State of unleashing a violent counterinsurgency campaign against perceived opponents—not only armed guerrillas, but a range of dissident groups the government believed threatened the political, economic, and moral stability of Mexico’s ruling party. Fue el Estado stresses the importance of access to declassified U.S. documents and recommends that the Mexican government request a large-scale declassification of additional U.S. secret archives from the dirty war period. The commissioners urged the incoming government of President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum—who will take office on October 1—to make the request a priority. |
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