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)

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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

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5. (C) The Monterrey private sector supports the concept of COLP

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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