Mexico is worst in Latin America on impunity index

Mexico is the worst country in Latin America for impunity, according to a study by the Universidad de las Américas Puebla (University of the Americas in Puebla, or UDLAP).

 Mexico topped the Global Impunity Index for Latin America and was the fourth worst country among the 69 that were analyzed worldwide.

 The index measures systems of security, justice and the protection of human rights and structural capacity to come up with its numbers.

 Mexico placed fourth behind first-place Philippines, India and Cameroon.

 One factor in this country’s low standing was its low investment — less than 1% of Gross Domestic Product — in security and justice. In comparison, more advanced countries spent as much as 4%.

 A result is that Mexico has on average 4.2 judges per 100,000 population, whereas the Latin American average is eight. In Africa it is six and in Europe 23.

 But Mexico’s 4.2 average is skewed by a much higher proportion of judges in Mexico City and the state of México.

 The head of UDLAP’s international relations department said in the case of the state of Puebla the figure is less than two. “You have few judges and you concentrate them in the same place,” said Juan Antonio Le Clercq Ortega. “The question is, who are you serving?”

 Another factor highlighted by the study is that although Mexico has 359 police for every 100,000 inhabitants, higher than the average of the countries analyzed, they are poorly distributed, and again concentrated in Mexico City and the state of México.

 On top of that, police are not adequately prepared to carry out their work.

 The study recommends Mexico spend more money on security, justice and the penal system.