A Nice Blow Against Impunity in Mexico

This is unquestionably good news:

Federal authorities arrested [Miguel] Nazar Haro in Mexico City to face charges for his alleged participation in the 1975 forced disappearance of Jesús Piedra Ibarra, a member of a leftist guerrilla organization. It is the first arrest obtained by the special prosecutor that Mexican President Vicente Fox appointed in November 2001 to investigate and prosecute human rights violations committed under previous governments. A federal judge must now determine whether the case will go to trial. "This arrest marks an important break from three decades of impunity for some of the worst human rights violations in Mexico," said José Miguel Vivanco, executive director of the Americas Division of Human Rights Watch. "After two years of investigating these crimes, the special prosecutor is a step closer to actually prosecuting one of them."

Whether or not Naza Haro is guilty, this is good news simply because it is further evidence of the chipping away of impunity in latin America. The problem has not been whether anyone could be convicted of such crimes, but whether anyone would even be arrested. This is only a first step, but an important one. Congratulations to President Fox and Prosecutor Ignacio Carrillo Prieto!