Mexico - March 2023

The head of Mexico’s Supreme Court, Norma Lucía Piña, received an online death threat that went viral on social media. Mexican judges and magistrates condemned the death threat on 2 March. The National Bar Association of Mexico similarly released a statement condemning the attack and demanded greater respect from government officials towards members of the judiciary. In the weeks following Piña’s election as head of the Supreme Court, and while stating the need to respect judicial independence, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador had voiced strong criticism and accusations of corruption against the federal judiciary. During his daily press briefings, he had even voiced his opinion that a “wave of judicial decisions that favour alleged criminals” coincided with the beginning of the Court’s new Presidency. After the dissemination of the threat against Piña, López Obrador insisted on the need to openly discuss corruption and has been criticised both for fuelling distrust in the judiciary, as well as for minimizing the incident.

Sources: El Economista, Cable News Network, InfoBae, Gobierno de Mexico (1), Gobierno de Mexico (2)

A fire broke out at an immigration detention centre in the border town of Ciudad Juarez, in the Mexican state of Chihuahua on 27 March. Mexico’s National Migration Institute confirmed that 40 migrants who were attempting to cross to the USA from Central and South America were killed and 29 were injured in what has become one of the deadliest incidents at a migrant facility in the country. While the circumstances surrounding the fire are still under investigation, Mexican authorities stated that it started after a group of migrants set fire to mattresses in protest at planned deportations. Authorities also announced that a criminal investigation for homicide was underway, and that a number of both private security and public servants at the centre had failed to release the migrants to save their lives. Human rights groups have called attention to the poor conditions and overcrowding of facilities and demanded a thorough investigation.

The incident has been condemned by several local and international human rights organisations, who have raised concerns about the conditions in migration facilities, the practice of immigration detention as well as the impact of USA migration policies on border towns in Mexico.

Sources: Associated Press, El País, Cable News Network, Al Jazeera, Reuters

Mexico’s Supreme Court announced on 24 March a temporary suspension of the “Plan B” electoral reform package which was approved by Congress last month and entered into force on 2 March. The suspension was requested by the National Electoral Institute (INE), which filed a constitutional challenge against the reform, alleging its approval violated legislative due process. INE has requested that the Court determine that the reform is unconstitutional.

The suspension was authorized as the case involves “the possible violation of the political-electoral rights of citizens” and will remain in effect while the constitutional complaint is resolved. In response to the determination, INE announced the postponement of its work modifying the regulatory and administrative instruments in line with the reform, and the federal government announced its plans to challenge the decision.

Sources: InfoBae, El País, Mexico News Daily, Capital 21