More than Lack of Capacity: Active Impunity in Mexico

Abstract

Mexico faces a severe crisis of violations of physical integrity rights. In the past fifteen years, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed, over one hundred thousand have disappeared, and torture continues to be widespread. Observers emphasize the role of impunity as a critical causal factor. Negligence and lack of capacity have been considered as causes of impunity. This article elaborates the role of ‘active impunity’, understood as the deliberate efforts by investigative authorities to undermine criminal investigations on cases of human rights violations. Observing 12 cases of violations of physical integrity rights in Mexico, occurring between 2008 and 2021 in seven states of the country, the article shows that active impunity takes place and identifies some of the mechanism through which it is produced.