Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you for being here today.
As I review the centre's documents, I see a theme I'd like you to comment and elaborate on a little bit more, if you could. I'll just read a couple of brief quotes.
One states that “The army operates without meaningful control by civilian institutions”. Elsewhere it reads that “under Mexico’s Constitution, military courts do not have jurisdiction in these cases, but due to the power of the military, the civilian authorities give up their jurisdiction and allow the military prosecutors and courts to take charge. ”
In a third document, a report from your centre, it states:
The glaring lack of civilian control over the armed forces, in particular the unconstitutional use of military jurisdiction to investigate human rights crimes, and the increased militarization of cities and communities has led to more impunity. This impunity conceals increasing abuses committed by military forces against civilians, as the current system does not allow independent and impartial authorities to investigate
Clearly, there is a theme here of the military not being subject to constitutional oversight by civilian authorities. I'm wondering how that has been allowed to happen. And what can be done to change that to allow the civilian authorities to regain their proper position?