Past state administrations, both in Coahuila and Veracruz, Mexico, have been exposed not only for billion dollar diversions of public resources but also for protecting and/or colluding with criminal organizations and an increase in grave human rights violations at the hands of state security forces.
However, the link between economic crimes and grave human rights violations has not been carefully studied beyond its implications in terms of corruption and impunity.
Specifically, the role of companies within macro-criminal structures — for example, to launder profits unlawfully obtained by armed criminal actors — is often ignored.
Visit the website Ilicit Flows: https://flujosilicitos.colaboratorio.org
Empower was commissioned to conduct strategic research about corruption and collusion between public officials and violent actors in state prisons in Mexico. This project analyzed the role of the prisons within wider criminal networks in four states: Nuevo León, Durango, Tamaulipas, and Chihuahua.
This research supports our partners' efforts to achieve truth and justice in Mexico by calling for investigations into allegations of grave crimes and seeking legal remedies and reparations for victims.
Using data about forced disappearances and other grave human rights violations, Empower conducts cartographic analysis to find the locations where the forced disappearances took place, identify likely perpetrators and collusion by government officials, and reveal possible links to megaproject investment, among other variables.
This research contributes information to aid the quest for truth and justice for grave crimes in Mexico.