Mexico's human rights crisis /

Bringing together some 15 well-informed scholars, Anaya-Muñoz (Instituto Technológico y de Estudios Superiores de Occidente, Mexico) and Frey (Univ. of Minnesota) provide an exhaustive, sobering analysis of the three major types of human rights violations in Mexico: extrajudicial executions, disappearances, and torture. Part of the "catastrophic violence" Mexico has experienced for several years, these violations are carried out by Mexico's police and military, which have impunity from criminal prosecution. The roots of the crisis are in the early 2000s, with the escalating drug trade and a strong-arm presidential policy to stamp out gang-related killings by imposing its own violence, which led to an ever-increasing spiral of death. The editors divide the 12 essays into three sections, each comprising four essays. Part 1 examines the roots of the crisis. Particularly noteworthy here are discussions of "femicide" (gender-related violence aimed directly at women and girls) and systematic violations of women's reproductive rights. Part 2 focuses on migrants seeking asylum, whether from various parts of Mexico or Northern Triangle countries (El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras). The last part illuminates the institutional context for promoting and protecting human rights. Although Mexico's Human Rights Crisis is first-rate, a concluding section drawing together lessons learned and suggesting potential means of improvement would have been welcome. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. --Claude E. Welch, emeritus, University at Buffalo, SUNY