Evaluating Mexican Freedom of Information Requests on Central American Migrants Crossing through Mexico: Mixed Results

Members of the Caravan of Mothers walk along train tracks in Mexico, photo courtesy of El Universal

By Lydia White, M.A. candidate of International Affairs at American University, Washington, D.C.

[clic aquí para la versión en español]

On October 31, 2011, 33 women set off on a journey in search of missing relatives. Known as the Caravana de Madres Centroamericanas or the Caravan of Central American Mothers, and accompanied by relatives and activists, the women were searching for news of relatives who had crossed as undocumented migrants into Mexico seeking a better future in the US. Carrying placards with photos of their missing loved ones and calling on the Mexican government to aid in their search for information, the women traveled across Mexico stopping at migrant houses, churches, and government offices along the way. [1]

The mothers’ missing relatives are just a few of the tens of thousands of undocumented migrants, the majority of whom are Central American, who pass through Mexico every year on their way to the US.[2]^,[3] An estimated 22,000 of these migrants face kidnapping, extortion, sexual assault, and other abuses along the way, often at the hands of organized crime. Additionally, corruption and excessive force used by police, migration officers, and private security also threaten migrants as they travel north.[4]

The Caravan of Mothers is not the only recent campaign that seeks to raise awareness and discover information regarding Central American migrants in Mexico. At the hearing this March at the Inter American Commission on Human Rights regarding Central American Migrants in Mexico, Father Pedro Pantoja Arreola, director of the Casa Migrante in Saltillo Mexico, along with other activists from Honduras and El Salvador, called for the creation of a Truth and Justice Commission with a particular focus on identifying and repatriating the remains of deceased migrants in Mexico.[5]

How have Freedom of Information Requests aided the search for truth about the fates of Central American migrants in Mexico and the risks they face?

The Mexican freedom of information system, known as the Instituto Federal de Aceso a la Información y Proteción de Datos (IFAI) is one way to gather crucial information about this issue. The IFAI is the federal system under which people can request information via the Mexican Freedom of Information Law.[6] This report will review the results of a search of the IFAI online database for information requests that pertain to Central American migrants in Mexico.[7] Looking at a total of 68 requests relevant to the issue of Central American migrants in Mexico, we found that while important and detailed information was released in some cases, most of the requests were denied in whole or in part, and a number of worrying trends were revealed.

First, many of the successful requests related to rather mundane and non-crucial information while sensitive requests were denied or only partially fulfilled. Secondly, the Federal Mexican Police have, in at least two cases, withheld information related to human rights abuses on the grounds that it is classified and would be detrimental to national or public security– which is expressly forbidden[8] by Mexican freedom of information law. Finally, the Mexican National Migration Institute has displayed only limited cooperation with the IFAI process. This report will review these issues in further depth and also provide a general overview of the relative success of requests.

Migrants detained by a Mexican official, photo courtesy of CNN Mexico

Evaluating Responses to Sensitive Requests

The requests that relate to Central American migrants in Mexico cover a wide range of issues from requests on the costs of telephone lines installed in migration stations (IFAI no: 0411100006809) to the number of Immigration agents fired for committing human rights abuses against migrants (IFAI no 0411100021808).

Frequently, denials were in response to requests on sensitive issues. For example, a majority of requests about human trafficking, that were sent to the Center for Investigation and National Security, the Federal Police, the Ministry of Public Administration, the Ministry of Public Security, the Federal Attorney General’s Office, and the National Institute of Immigration (INM) were denied because the agencies claimed the information does not exist, the request does not fall under the purview of that government agency, the request would result in a breach of confidentiality, or that the request falls outside the freedom of information law.

However, not all requests on human trafficking were unsuccessful, and some of the responses that only partially fulfilled requests contained valuable information. The INM and the Ministry of Public Administration have each made at least one substantive release based on requests regarding trafficking. In the case of the INM, the release of statistics on INM agents fired for involvement in trafficking of persons (IFAI no. 0411100052107) contradicts responses to other related requests in which INM has claimed to have no information regarding trafficking. While the statistics released provided only the number of agents fired during a period in 2007, the information provides an important starting point for further requests.

The one request sent to the Mexican Navy regarding persons detained for their involvement in trafficking received a response that, although incomplete, contained important information about persons detained for involvement in human trafficking in 2009 and 2010 (IFAI no. 0001300065410). This promising result indicates that further requests to institutions such as the Navy may also have positive outcomes.

a page from a declassified document released by IFAI in response to a freedom of information request, request number 0411100021808.

(Click here to see copy of the complete document)

Classified Information and Human Rights Abuses

One important aspect of the freedom of information law in Mexico is that classified information regarding human rights abuses cannot be withheld. As Article 14 of the law states, “Information may not be classified when the investigation of grave violations of fundamental rights or crimes against humanity is at stake.” [9] However, the Mexican Federal Police have routinely denied information requests pertaining to human rights abuses against Central American migrants in Mexico. Of the two IFAI requests whose full responses can be accessed online (IFAI no. 0413100001611 and IFAI no. 0413100001711), the Federal Police have invoked Article 13 section 1 which states that information can be classified if it compromises national security, public security, or national defense. [10] The police argue that they cannot release information about abuses against migrants because it could endanger criminal investigations. Debates over the relative primacy of protecting victims’ and investigators’ rights over the need to make information public are not unique to Mexico, and have emerged in discussions regarding human rights and access to information across the region.[11]

Migrants cross Mexico aboard a freight train, photo courtesy of Comunica Campeche

Cooperation with the Mexican National Institute of Immigration

While the INM should be applauded for the release of important statistics and information, there is room for improved cooperation with the IFAI. For example, the INM frequently denies requests for being outside the purview of the INM when this is clearly not the case. A request for interactions between INM agents and kidnapped migrants (IFAI no. 0411100071311) was denied because the INM claimed it did not fall under its purview, despite frequently published news stories regarding the rescue of kidnapped migrants by Grupos Beta, who are part of INM. Requests for denunciations received by the INM and the number of INM agents who have been prosecuted for crimes committed while working for the INM, have received similar responses. In at least one case, an appeal overturned the INM’s denial of a request based on it being outside the purview of this agency (IFAI no. 0411100023006). In this case, the request was for INM installations known as Beta Towers, which are designed to provide migrants with water and shade until Grupos Beta personnel can contact them.

A Breakdown of Request Results

A total of 68 requests about Central American migrants’ human rights issues were identified, but only 52 of these requests had responses that were evaluated. It was not possible to evaluate the remaining 16 responses because they were not available online due to technical errors (4 requests) or because the responses had been mailed or made available only in hard copy. Of the requests that were evaluated, only 23% received full and satisfactory responses. A further 19% of responses were incomplete or contained irrelevant information and nearly 60% of requests were denied. [See figures 1&2]. Released information covered a wide range of topics and ranged from partial statistics on Immigration agents sanctioned for involvement in human trafficking in 2007 (IFAI no. 0411100052107) to the amount of money spent on alimentary and sanitation purchases by the Iztapalapa Migrant Detention Center in Mexico City in 2005 (IFAI no.0411100060005).

Conclusion

Mexico has one of the stronger systems for accessing information, and indeed, a number of the requests analyzed in this report received responses containing valuable information. Despite this, the Mexican IFAI still has some urgent weaknesses that impede the release of crucial information regarding human rights issues of Central American Migrants. For example, information was denied on the basis of it potential threat to national and public security even though the Mexican government, by law, is required to release information related to human rights violations. The activism of groups like the Caravan of Women and other and civil society actors who work on migrant issues highlights the pressing need to hold the Mexican government to its own freedom of information laws in order to gain information to aid the vulnerable population of Central American migrants and their families.

Methodology

This report identified and analyzed 68 requests in the IFAI online database. The requests were selected by searching the IFAI requests database[12] for requests that might be relevant to Central American migrants in Mexico. The analyzed requests were submitted between August 26, 2004 and February 23, 2012. The terms “migrantes”, “indocumentados”, “estaciones de migración”, “agents del INM”, “trato de personas”, and “giros negros” are examples of terms used to find requests but only results that pertained directly or potentially to Central American migrants were used. Therefore, requests regarding issues related to Mexican illegal migrants in the US, immigrants in Mexico generally, or other issues were not included. In the case of an exact duplicate request to the same government agency sent on the same day that appeared to be an accidental duplicate submission, only the request that was processed was used. [See appendix A for a list of all requests (by request number) analyzed in this report.]

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