Mexico ranks second to last, after the Philippines, in an international study of impunity in 59 countries that was published yesterday.
The study, carried out by researchers at the Universidad de las Américas Puebla (University of the Americas Puebla—UDLAP), looked at data pertaining to countries’ security, justice and human rights systems, as well as these systems’ efficacy and vulnerability to impunity. The research initially looked at the United Nations’ 193 member states and 14 additional territories, but only 59 countries were deemed to have sufficiently robust data in the three areas measured by the study to be included in the index.
Referring to Mexico, the report states that “Mexico does not need to devote ever more resources to increasing the number of police, but rather to the processes that would guarantee the efficacy of their actions.” Researchers found that while the country’s ratio of police per capita is significantly higher than the global average (355 per 100,000 inhabitants), there were only an average of four judges per 100,000—well below the global average of 17 per 100,000. Croatia, which the study found to have the lowest levels of impunity, had a ratio of 45 judges per 100,000 inhabitants.
Increasing the number of judges in Mexico’s judicial system “would have an immediate impact,” the report claims. “Increasing their numbers could reduce the number of prisoners awaiting sentencing and, consequently, reduce the overcrowding of prisons.” Researchers found that nearly half of Mexico’s prison population (46 percent) consists of detainees who have not been sentenced.
