Mexico: Citizens Committee Demands End to 'Electoral Terrorism'

Mexico's Citizens' Committee for Electoral Observation has urged all political contenders and their respective parties and called on authorities, to avoid “encouraging a climate of violence with irresponsible statements, actions or omissions, or advancing violence and harm to the public peace."

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Mexico: 91 Politicians Murdered Leading up to General Elections

As of May 8, there had been 305 direct and indirect attacks against politicians and their family members in the lead up to Mexico's general election, which is scheduled to take place on July 1. Of that total, 93 resulted in the murder of a candidate and pre-candidates or the relatives of politicians, according to the committee.

The organization noted that “we do not want to experience electoral terrorism presented in the election of the State of Mexico that would inhibit the free participation of citizens.”

It emphasized that political violence perpetrated against women demanded a “particular response from the authorities and attention from civil society organizations.”

It also pointed out that women have suffered personally or through threats, kidnappings, murders and other violations solely for exercising their political rights and participating in the electoral process.

Figures presented by the Specialized Prosecutor's Office for the Attention of Electoral Crimes (Fepade) indicate that there have been 200 reported cases of political violence against women since 2016.

The Citizens' Committee for Electoral Observation, for its part, stated that they “demand that the authorities investigate, prosecute and punish, at every opportunity, with diligence and in accordance with the laws, those responsible for crimes against candidates and other political actors, communicators, and social activists.”

Earlier this month Abel Montufar, mayor of the municipality of Coyuca de Catalan and candidate of the Institutional Revolutionary Party for the local legislature of the state of Guerrero, next to Mexico City, was killed. He was the 91st politician murdered during the electoral campaign leading to the national elections scheduled for July 1, 2018.