Pubdate: Sun, 18 Nov 2001 Source: New York Times (NY) Copyright: 2001 The New York Times Company Contact: http://www.nytimes.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298 Author: Ginger Thompson Bookmarks: http://www.mapinc.org/corrupt.htm (Corruption) http://www.mapinc.org/area/Mexico TOUGH ROAD FOR MEXICO'S TOP LAWMAN Former Military Man Finds Himself Under Fire Over Rights Cases MEXICO CITY, Nov. 17 -- He was once a lawyer in a general's uniform. Then he traded his stars for business suits. Now, nearly a year in office, Attorney General Rafael Macedo de la Concha has been pushed to the front lines of political combat. The assassination of a high-profile human rights lawyer, whose cases most often focused on crimes by the military, has stirred concern that Mexico's security forces even now abuse their power under the cover of impunity. Human rights activists also charge that Mr. Macedo, a brigadier general who once served as the chief of military justice, is more committed to protecting the military than exposing and stopping their abuses. Mr. Macedo's military case roster is marked by some of the worst episodes of violence by soldiers in last decade. But despite recommendations by the government's National Human Rights Commission to investigate and discipline soldiers involved in the attacks, soldiers were regularly protected from prosecution in civilian courts for human rights violations under Mr. Macedo's watch. Abandoning the secretive culture ingrained in him by 34 years of army service, Mr. Macedo responded to the wave of criticism and talked about his military career in an extensive interview this week. He said he considered himself a victim of a "campaign of disinformation." And he lamented, "My rights are violated when these things happen." But there is more than Mr. Macedo's reputation at stake. Confidence in the attorney general's office, where Mr. Macedo once said that even the walls were corrupt, had begun to rebuild this year and helped transform Mexico's image abroad. United States and Mexican law enforcement officials have forged new joint crime-fighting units, linked by trust, and have shared intelligence to capture important drug traffickers and to extradite fugitives. As Mr. Macedo's commitment to solving human rights disputes is questioned, so is the credibility of Mexico's first democratically elected president. Mr. Macedo is the first military man in almost a century to serve as the nation's chief civilian law enforcement officer. Political analysts said that his struggle to emerge from the closed cult of military life into the scrutiny of civil society mirrored the conflicted evolution of the Mexican armed forces. In straight, composed language, Mr. Macedo offered platitudes about the importance of the Mexico's struggle to establish the rule of law. "Openness is what this society demands and deserves," Mr. Macedo said. "Public scrutiny is crucial for all our institutions -- it is the only way we will be allowed to participate in this great new society." In fleeting lapses, however, Mr. Macedo, the son of a general who entered the military academy at 14, revealed glimpses of his core. Although he has been called to serve in a world without salutes and uniforms it seems there is no taking the soldier out of him. When asked to talk about his own views on some of the important human rights decisions ahead of the government, Mr. Macedo said such matters were beyond his authority. His role, he said, was to obey the orders of the president. "I am convinced that we must comply openly and plainly with all of the commitments Mexico has made on international human rights," he said. "But those decisions are not up to me. It is not up to me to decided what decisions to make on these matters. It is up to the government of my country, not the attorney general." Mr. Macedo, 51, portrayed himself as a dedicated foot soldier in the democratic transition led by President Vicente Fox, the first opposition politician to control the government in more than seven decades. He said in the hour-long interview that he was a man "committed to the respect and intense promotion of human rights." He boasted about charts showing that hundreds of federal agents had been dismissed from their jobs over the last year for corruption charges, and showing that the number of complaints filed against the attorney general's office for unfair treatment by the police had fallen nearly in half. He talked about his office's significant successes in nabbing members of the country's most important drug cartels. He also said that nearly 100 accused and convicted criminals had been extradited to the United States. "I want to restore the feeling among Mexicans that the attorney general's office is an institution of good faith," he said, "an institution that investigates instances of wrongdoing and turns them over to the courts." But in the ideologically divided cabinet of a president who promised Mexico a second revolution, Mr. Macedo's views on human rights seemed prone to caution. As Mexico struggles to stamp out corruption from every office of the government, Mr. Macedo expressed faith in Mexican institutions -- particularly the courts -- and warned against initiatives that might undermine their authority. He opposed the idea of establishing an independent truth commission to investigate the worst government abuses in recent history -- a principal promise of Mr. Fox's campaign. Mr. Macedo described the use of torture by law enforcement agents as isolated incidents by rogues, rather than signs of a systematic culture of abuse. He also said he supported Mexico's plans to submit to international courts only if they did not infringe on the Constitution. After Mr. Macedo's confirmation by the Senate, a headline in the weekly magazine Proceso lamented, "Despite it all, Macedo de la Concha is attorney general." His appointment sparked protests by human rights groups, who expressed fears that Mr. Macedo would cover up past military misdeeds and "militarize" the civilian police. "Although he has committed to defending human rights, Macedo de la Concha brings with him to the attorney general's office a number of unresolved matters from his time as chief of military justice," the Proceso story added, "complaints of torture, illegal arrests and disappearances conducted by soldiers that he failed to investigate." Concerns about Mr. Macedo's human rights record, however, were drowned out by the world's optimism about Mr. Fox. Analysts said Mr. Fox believed that Mr. Macedo's efforts against drug trafficking would win the confidence of the United States law enforcement agencies. In his former job, Mr. Macedo had been involved in the arrest and prosecution of three generals linked to drug trafficking, including the former Mexican antidrug chief, Jesus Gutierrez Rebollo, in 1997. It was believed that Mr. Macedo could end the conflicts that often erupted between the military and civilian security forces in the fight against drugs. Mexico's leading independent security expert, Sergio Aguayo, said President Fox believed that Mr. Macedo would impose discipline on an agency plagued by corruption and low-esteem. In the last 12 years, Mexico has had seven attorney generals. When Mr. Macedo took the job, he said, the agency had less than half the full complement of 3,500 federal agents. In the interview, Mr. Macedo said it would take years to make the agency clean and healthy. And so far he has turned to his army friends for help; appointing 12 former military officers to high-level positions in the attorney general's office. In an interview in Proceso in April, he said he invited civilians to join but "many of them are not willing to risk their prestige, nor their lives." But the assassination last month of a human rights attorney, Digna Ochoa, brought Mr. Macedo's military past back to haunt him. Ms. Ochoa, 37, a defender of peasant farmers and suspected guerrillas, was shot to death in her Mexico City office. Her biggest cases pitted her against Mr. Macedo's military justice system. She endured death threats for years. Mr. Macedo said he had never met her. But, he said, he was indignant about her killing and determined to pursue her murders, even if that pursuit lead to the military. "I will go as far as necessary," he said. "I have always lived up to my responsibility to guard the rule of law. That is my only interest." - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake