UN Subcommittee for the Prevention of Torture concludes visit to Mexico

Jessica Xantomila and Jared Laureles

La Jornada Newspaper
Saturday, January 31, 2026, p. 7

The third official visit to Mexico of the United Nations (UN) Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture concluded yesterday, and its objective was to examine the measures adopted by the country to confront this crime and evaluate its impact.

The activities were confidential, but the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) detailed that the delegation held meetings with the participation of 20 federal agencies.

“The Mexican State reaffirms its openness and cooperation with international human rights mechanisms, as well as its commitment to guarantee the protection and promotion of the fundamental freedoms of all people” in the country, they highlighted in a statement.

In the coming days, the UN delegation of experts is also expected to issue a closing message. The report will be confidential, and it will be up to the Mexican government whether to make it public.

The group of experts, which began work on January 25, maintained a constructive dialogue with Mexican authorities, in particular with the SRE, the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Security and Citizen Protection and the Attorney General’s Office of the Republic, in order to strengthen the public policies and actions that the State has undertaken in the prevention and eradication of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

The subcommittee, they added, visited detention centers in different states to monitor the situation in which people deprived of liberty are found.

Among Mexico’s efforts to eradicate this scourge, they cited the promulgation of the General Law to Prevent, Investigate and Punish Torture (2017) and the National Law of Criminal Execution (2016), as well as the National Program to Prevent and Punish Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.