Officials in Mexico claim leaked Dirty War report isn't final copy

March 2, 2006

A leaked draft of a report on instances of state repression during Mexico's "dirty war" has been called into question by top officials. The document will be officially published next month. Report author, Ignacio Carrillo, assigned to the task by President Fox, commented by saying, "He will have to render his report. It will be placed in an open, public place," and "that will be there for history, but legally it's over." This being a reference to the fact that the Supreme Court has ruled that it is too late to prosecute possible offenders.

Carrillo claims, however, that his report is similar to the recently leaked draft. He said, "It's not going to totally contradict the draft." The draft was published by a Mexican magazine, claiming that the public has a right to know. The basis for the report is recently declassified military documents from the years 1964 – 1982. Carrillo also claims that his work was hindered by resistance from the courts, bad resources, and people involved being unwilling to cooperate.

The Dirty War refers to the use of state terrorism in Latin America in a period from the 1960s to the 1980s, usually targeted at groups opposed to the government (usually leftist groups). Much controversy exists in the region about what is to be done with alleged offenders in the Dirty War.