Improving Human Rights

On Sunday Santiago Creel had a column with some understandable (though still a bit unnecessary and therefore nettlesome) auto-back-patting regarding the last week's human rights bill:

With what the Senate passed, this faculty [of investigating human rights violations, presently held by the Supreme Court] passes to the National Commission on Human Rights [CNDH], which, beyond from investigating, will be able to present criminal complaints that will be allowed to arrive at the final consequences in every case, which is to say, the fixing of concrete responsibilities, the application of penalties and something very important: it will also have to compensate the harm to victims.

Additionally, it establishes that the authorities that reject the recommendations of the CNDH must...publish the reasons for their decision and could also be called to testify before the Senate to explain their denial.

Similarly, the bill mandated the unification of the criteria so that state commissions enjoy full autonomy and their presidents are elected through a procedure of public consultation, to avoid these organizations being subordinated to the governors.

It closes with the final line:

With this reform the PAN senators return to our origins, defend our principals, and advance the political philosophy, founded in a humanist vision, whose fundamental basis is respect for the dignity of the individual.

One wonders if a Creel presidential campaign would hammer the idea that the Calderón administration was a bastardization of the PAN's traditional value base.

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