I think it is an example of what is happening in the country. When the rapporteur against torture visited a number of state prisons and federal prisons in Mexico, he met with organizations of the civil society, spoke directly to victims of torture, travelled with a team of experts on torture, and met with the authorities. He collected data and from that data he concluded that there is a generalized practice of torture in Mexico in the context of criminal investigations.
He concluded that this practice happens generally within the first few hours after detention by the police, by marines, by members of the military before the person who is detained is taken to the Office of the Public Prosecutor of Mexico.
The Mexican government's reaction to the report was to deny it and to say that Juan Mendez, the special rapporteur, did not know what he was saying. That concerns us, because it was a serious study of what was happening in Mexico, and we think that ignoring the crisis will not help us take any steps in the right direction.
We are here in this honourable Parliament to say that we are worried about the Canadian government's absence when it comes to commenting on what's happening in Mexico.