A promise unfulfilled? The Special Prosecutor’s Office in Mexico

Abstract

This report considers the work of the Special Prosecutor’s Office (SPO) in Mexico, established asa result of a Presidential Accord in November 2001 to deal with crimes that public servantscommitted against social and political groups. Although the report touches on the issue ofpolitical will, it has a primarily technical focus. It describes in detail the basic requirements ofinvestigation into what are referred to as “system crimes,” emphasizing the need for an approachthat differs from that used in the investigation of ordinary crimes. The report analyzes the SPO’sinterpretation of its mandate and its universe of cases and concludes that, in general terms, theSPO has sufficient resources to fulfill its mandate. It also considers the way in which the SPO hassought to address victim participation and the role it will play in a establishing an official recordof serious human rights violations.