Human Rights follow up

Mexico's human rights commission on Wednesday said it was investigating allegations that soldiers opened fire on a car at a checkpoint south of the Texas border, killing a man and wounding a U.S. citizen.

Jose Antonio Barbosa Ramirez solicited the National Human Rights Commission's help after the Mexican army opened fire on a car he was traveling in with his brother-in-law, Sergio Meza Varela, early Saturday morning in the border city of Reynosa in Tamaulipas state, the commission said in a statement.

The statement said the men had been drinking and doing drugs and decided to drive around the city. At about 4 a.m. Saturday, they were chased by a military-style Jeep and ended up at an army checkpoint where they attempted to flee by putting the car in reverse.

Barbosa, who said he was a U.S. citizen living in Reynosa, then felt a pain in his arm, lost control of the car and crashed into a pole. The soldiers fired more than 10 shots at the pair, the statement said.

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Importance: Another bad hit for human rights in Mexico. The troops that Calderon has sent to control drug trafficking have been accused of several violations of rights including torture and rape. The High Commissioner for the human rights commission has vocalized his warning about using military for the persecution of domestic crimes, but it has fallen on deaf ears.

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Mexican Human Rights

MEXICO CITY — A leading international organization charged Wednesday that the Mexican government's human rights commission has proved largely impotent in preventing abuses of its citizens.

Human Rights Watch, the New York-based organization, said in a report that Mexico's National Human Rights Commission, a semi-autonomous body, has proved adept at criticizing violations of citizens' rights but has failed to halt or prevent the practices.

"The commission could have a much greater impact on human rights in Mexico, but it doesn't," Jose Miguel Vivanco, the group's director for the Americas, said. "While it does a decent job documenting abuses and identifying problems, it doesn't take crucial steps needed to bring about change."

"The (commission) should be a catalyst for human rights progress, not merely a chronicler of the status quo," Vivanco said.

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Importance: Once again corruption in the Mexican government is detracting from the country's over all level of democracy and freedom. Currently, Calderon is touring the U.S. to promote better treatment of Mexican immigrants to the U.S., but apparently his efforts are needed just as much in Mexico itself.

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