E D I T O R I A L and O P I N I O N

11/17/2014

The Synthesis and Vision of Valuing Human Life Beyond the U.S. Border
By Jerry Brewer

Although there is a myriad of opinion and other pundit conjecture on the status and projected plight of
Mexico and the northern cone of Central America as it relates to crime and violence; murder with
impunity seems to lose its value within the discussions of crime turf, gangs, drug trafficking, and which
group is in control of the bloody onslaught.
In Mexico, the apparent unabated rates of homicide victims that include public figures, journalists,
police officials, migrants and other innocents is estimated to be nearly 80,000 known victims. Those
missing number in the thousands.
There are those that simply glance at the news and share their opinions on how borders need to be
enforced or how those nations should be governed better or policed more effectively, or how some
things should be decriminalized or legalized and all will be just peachy.
Where much of humanity fails is in the ambivalence of when the death toll is reported; as of recently;
that murder is more common in Latin America than in any other part of the world. A full one-third of
global homicides occur in Latin America even though the region has just 8% of the world's population,
according to United Nations data. Should the U.S. and the affected nations just secure their own
boundaries and wall out the mayhem- not in my backyard?
Where is the line drawn when the consensus of many that are intentionally or not intentionally informed
on victimization (deaths by intentional homicides) do not voice outrage outside of their own comfort
zones?

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As of 2014, Mexico has the 16th highest rate of homicides committed against women in the world. This
rate has been on the rise since 2007.
With many regions of Latin America now exhibiting characteristics as meccas of homicidal mania,
Mexico is, and quite possibly unfairly, being consistently labeled as the main purveyor of the tragic
phenomenon known as femicide.
While Mexico has sustained an incredible death rate- homicides that are attributed to the drug war;
women have been abducted, viciously tortured, raped, murdered, and disposed of as common garbage
and the barbaric acts categorized as incidents of femicide.
The facts are that sexual abuse and violence against women remain prevalent across Latin America from
Mexico to Argentina. Although acts of femicide have been common and reported throughout the world,
they have reached horrifying extremes in Guatemala and Mexico.
The majority of victims have been described as nearly all young and poorstudents, domestics, and
factory workers. Since 2000 far more than 3,800 women and girls were murdered in Mexico, and at
least 3,000 are still reported missing. Obviously, current date numbers could far exceed the previous
reported. Many of the victims of femicide have been described as virtually unrecognizable, due to
torture and extreme sexual mutilation.
Honduras and Guatemala have been described as having some of the weakest laws in protecting
women. There must be improved justice for women, with cultural image being a non-issue. Bodies
left in desert areas, empty lots, sewage ditches, and garbage dumps must be a world outrage of concern.
Last year, nearly 4,000 El Salvadoran women ended up in hospitals because of domestic and or sexual
abuse in the home. Some are even killed because they have spurned the sexual advances of gang
members. Incidents are described as massively under-reported due to fear that prevents more women
from coming forward.
El Salvador was previously known as the worlds capital for femicide At least 2,250 femicides have
been reported in El Salvador from 2010 to September 2014, according to the Organization of Salvadoran
Women for Peace (ORMUSA). Acts of Femicide continue to grow in Latin America.
With murder more common in Latin America than in any other part of the world; from a ranking of the
most violent cities compiled earlier this year by Mexico's Citizens' Council for Public Security and
Criminal Justice; Mexico and northern cone nations littered the top 50 worst cities for murder. San
Pedro Sula, Honduras was number one, with 187.14 homicides per 100,000 population. Mexican cities
along the U.S. border within the top 50 included Nuevo Laredo (30th); Juarez (37th); and Tijuana (47th).
In Mexico and the northern cone nations, arrests for murder and successful prosecutions are rare while
the number of deaths continue to mount measurably. Much of this attributed to a lack of policing
infrastructure and adequate training; especially in death investigations. Strategic and systematic crime
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scene processing must exist not only to meticulously identify those culpable of murder, but also to
properly identify the dead.
A homicide crime scene should be the most important criminal event that comes to the attention of
police and forensic investigators. A managed, careful, and intelligently guided examination of the crime
scene and of the forensically analyzable evidence found there give direction to and often determine the
success or failure of the investigation.
Human life and dignity must always have extreme value. Endemic murder must galvanize necessary
attention to ensure that competent investigations are conducted for successful prosecutions that result in
extended incarceration to serve as a deterrent to those that kill with impunity.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATES

United States of America

Jerry Brewer is C.E.O. of Criminal Justice

International Associates, a global threat mitigation
firm headquartered in northern Virginia. His website
is located at www.cjiausa.org TWITTER:

cjiausa

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