USG SECURITY INITIATIVES SEEK TO BOLSTER NUEVO LEON STATE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 MONTERREY 000029 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 2020/01/28 TAGS: EAID KCRM SNAR PGOV PHUM MX SUBJECT: USG SECURITY INITIATIVES SEEK TO BOLSTER NUEVO LEON STATE CLASSIFIED BY: Bruce Williamson, Consul General; REASON: 1.4(B),(D) ¶1. (C) Summary: Key USG-funded projects aimed at strengthening the rule of law have begun to take hold in Nuevo Leon, gaining acceptance among state leaders. Despite problems in getting potential candidates past internal vetting requirements, the state is moving ahead with plans to send 15 investigative officers to FBI-sponsored (and NAS funded) anti-kidnapping training in Houston in May. At least partially driven by business interests, Nuevo Leon is moving, albeit slowly, towards implementing a Merida Initiative-funded Culture of Lawfulness Program (COLP). Meanwhile, a USAID contractor has just signed a MOU with the state government regarding implementation of justice sector reform, which would, inter alia, offer training programs for attorneys and judges on the constitutionally mandated oral trials system. Finally, although progress on a NAS/ONDCP-funded drug court pilot program is currently stalled, high-level state government interlocutors believe that the Governor will eventually endorse the project. While Governor Medina has come under public criticism for the delay in offering a comprehensive public security strategy, his aides note that the sheer number of proposals being floated - combined with the state's lack of budget resources - means that policymakers need to carefully review all alternatives. End summary. ¶2. (C) Notwithstanding public criticism to the effect that new Nuevo Leon Governor Rodrigo Medina has been slow to roll out his public security program, the U.S. Consulate and other USG entities are working with the state on a variety of training and rule of law initiatives. Among those the state has currently engaged or is actively considering are the Culture of Lawfulness Program (COLP), assistance in implementing oral trials, a drug court initiative, and anti-kidnapping training for law enforcement investigators. Gaining Traction on a Culture of Lawfulness Program (COLP) -------------- -------------- -------------- ¶3. (C) In mid-December, Governor Medina dispatched two executives from the Secretariat of Government to Washington for week-long meetings with Dr. Roy Godson, one of the creators of the Culture of Lawfulness program and head of the National Strategy Information Center NGO, and academics from Monterrey Tec and the Autonomous University of Nuevo Leon. During those sessions, the group set the parameters for a comprehensive assessment of the state's current Culture of Lawfulness programming and its future needs, all in preparation for the implementation of a multi-sector (government, business, labor, academia, the media, etc.) Merida-funded COLP project. One of those executives, state Public Security Secretariat official Humberto Dingler, told PolOff on January 21 that the state planned to incorporate the COLP as one element of a plan the state government was devising to address high crime rates in targeted neighborhoods by, among other initiatives, increasing civil society awareness and interaction with local authorities. ¶4. (C) Dingler added that although Godson and Governor Medina had hoped for a March completion date for the initial assessment, his office would not be able to complete it until April, at earliest, and possibly later. However, he was confident that the program would be included in the state's overall plan to tackle crime, which he said his office is still developing. While Governor Medina has come under public criticism for the delay in offering a comprehensive public security strategy, his aides note that the sheer number of proposals being floated - combined with the state's lack of budget resources - means that policymakers need to carefully review all alternatives. Private Sector Interest in COLP -------------- ¶5. (C) The Monterrey private sector supports the concept of COLP MONTERREY 00000029 002 OF 003 as the Executive Director of CAINTRA, one of Monterrey's most important industry associations, has told Consulate officials that the business community is willing to offer whatever help is needed. Meanwhile, Mauricio Ramos, a respected security expert working with the private industry funded anti-kidnapping organization Planning Consultants (based in Monterrey) has offered his entity's support as well. Ramos heads a parallel 'Group of Ten' (i.e., the city's elite companies) effort aimed at bolstering the capabilities of the state's anti-kidnapping unit, pushing for changes in the state's governing penal code, and promoting greater transparency and civic awareness. ¶6. (C) Ramos explained that, after ruling out vigilante actions, Group of Ten CEOs had formed Planning Consultants to work with authorities to address the city's growing kidnapping problem using existing legal frameworks. He said that Nuevo Leon Governor Medina had agreed to include a crime reduction program developed by his organization that calls for involvement by all segments of civil society - including academia, business, church, and media organizations - in the state's overall public security strategy. ¶7. (C) Key among Ramos' goals is the creation of a long-term program that transcends elected administrations and restores public faith in legal authority. His organization's program also includes strategies to reinforce political will, rebuild institutions, train law enforcement officials, judges and prosecutors, and create a crime prevention public consciousness. Ramos believed COLP assistance would be important in accomplishing many of these objectives. FBI Anti-Kidnapping Training -------------- ¶8. (C) Fifteen Nuevo Leon State police investigators will participate in Merida-funded anti-kidnapping training in Houston from May 3 - 21. Once training is completed, the officers are to form the core of a new elite anti-kidnapping unit, which will also likely receive support from private sector sources in terms of equipment and salary supplements. Implementation of the FBI-organized, NAS-funded program, which will also include state police from Tamaulipas, has been delayed a bit, partly because eight of the 15 original candidates from Nuevo Leon failed federal Secretariat of Public Safety (SSP) polygraph tests and the state must now recruit replacements. (Note: Post does not know the specific protocol SSP used for the tests or the expertise of the technicians conducting the examinations. End note.) Oral Trials: Another Key Component -------------- --- ¶9. (SBU) On January 21, Luis David Ortiz, Director of Management Systems International (MSI),told the Consul General that his Merida Initiative-funded organization is assisting the federal government and states in adopting the new constitutionally mandated oral trial system, which must be in place by 2012. MSI is counseling state governments in drafting new codes, guiding legislative changes, and training prosecutors, defenders and police about the oral trial system. MSI is also promoting the "Rule of Law III" project that focuses on human rights and treatment of detainees. MSI and the state of Nuevo Leon have recently signed an MOU which calls for MSI to assist the state in its ongoing justice sector reform efforts. ¶10. (SBU) Nuevo Leon, he said, began oral trials early, but still only applies the process to a fraction of proceedings, usually for lesser crimes. MSI's goal is to help the state government MONTERREY 00000029 003 OF 003 implement oral trials in the state on a large scale, and to this end is in the processing of opening an office locally. (Note: USAID administers funding for MSI, which is headquartered in Mexico City. End note.) ¶11. (SBU) Ortiz acknowledged that local bar associations were key to overcoming attorney resistance to moving the country from a written to an oral trial system. He observed that reaching attorneys would be laborious - Nuevo Leon, for example, has 2 main bar associations and 28 smaller ones. However, he believed that helping university law schools develop new training courses as well as on-line instruction, has -- and will continue to help -- reach many attorneys. (Comment: Many cases adjudicated under Mexico's written trial system have lingered for years, often posing undue financial and emotional burden on litigants and eroding public confidence in a vaguely understood, opaque judicial system. Courts have even had to dismiss some cases because key witnesses died during the years it took to decide cases. For those cases in which the oral trial system has already been implemented in Nuevo Leon, the length of trials has been dramatically shortened and greater transparency has been added to the process. End comment.) Drug Courts -------------- ¶12. (C) Nuevo Leon, under the administration of former Governor Jose Natividad Gonzalez Paras and in conjunction with the federal Attorney General's Office (PGR),committed to the implementation of a drug court pilot program, whereby instead of receiving jail time those apprehended for drug use are diverted to treatment and rehabilitation centers. Under ONDCP and INL auspices, USG officials conducted training of local judicial officials in August ¶2009. The program, however, has yet to be endorsed by new Governor Medina and remains in limbo. (Comment: Post believes the Medina administration is not hostile to this initiative but lost focus on the program in the flurry of activity inherent in establishing a new state government. End comment.) Indeed, on January 25 Secretary of Government Javier Trevino -- in effect, the Governor's deputy - told Consul General that he felt that the drug court initiative would eventually be given the green light to move forward. Comment -------------- ¶13. (C) While the new state government appears determined to put a home-grown face on its anti-crime initiative, it has been receptive to USG outreach, particularly the COLP program and police training programs. Kidnapping prevention is the core reason that the heads of some of Monterrey's most influential companies founded Ramos' Planning Consultants. The business sector continues to offer its support where needed. For instance, in the absence of a modern state police training academy, the FEMSA corporation - one of the city's most successful firms - is making its state-of-the-art security training facilities available to state personnel. Nonetheless, no matter what the level of outside support, either from the private sector or the USG, reforming the state's corruption-riddled criminal justice institutions is a long-term proposition that will take considerable time, effort and resources. WILLIAMSON