The 2025 Global Torture Index ranks Mexico as high risk for torture, citing systemic abuse, impunity, and institutional failure in law enforcement and detention systems.
Mexico has been ranked as a high-risk country for torture and ill-treatment in the newly released 2025 Global Torture Index by the World Organization Against Torture (OMCT), marking a damning assessment of the country’s ongoing human rights crisis. Drawing from 2023 and 2024 data, the Index outlines persistent and systemic patterns of abuse across Mexico’s law enforcement and criminal justice institutions, underpinned by rampant impunity and weak institutional oversight.
Torture in Mexico, according to the OMCT report, remains a widespread tool used in criminal investigations. Victims are often coerced into false confessions or implicated in crimes they did not commit. These practices are not isolated, the report stresses, but are part of a broader system that enables the fabrication of guilty parties and suppresses the truth through violence and intimidation.
Institutional Data Confirms Widespread Abuse
Data from the Technical Secretariat for Combating Torture of the Federal Public Defender’s Office shows 2,881 reported cases of torture between 2019 and 2024, affecting at least 3,506 victims. Additional survey results from INEGI’s 2021 National Survey of the Deprived of Liberty Population (ENPOL) paint an even darker picture: 42% of incarcerated individuals reported being beaten or mistreated while in the custody of the Public Ministry. Of these, 20% admitted they pleaded guilty only after enduring physical assault.
OMCT describes this situation as evidence of a “selective rule of law,” one that fuels arbitrary detentions and encourages the fabrication of evidence, rather than the pursuit of justice through lawful means.
Police Brutality and Militarization Exacerbate the Crisis
The Index also calls attention to the long-standing impact of Mexico’s militarized approach to public security, initiated in 2006 under the so-called “War on Drugs”. The continued deployment of military forces for policing duties has led to increased arbitrary arrests, extrajudicial killings, and torture.
Since the formation of the National Guard in 2019, these patterns have intensified. Data cited from the Prodh Center reveals that the National Guard used force in 421 incidents, including the use of firearms in 411 cases. By 2021, the Guard had reportedly been responsible for the deaths of 94 civilians.
Prisons: Sites of Violence and Neglect
The report’s “Prevention of Deprivation of Liberty” pillar rates Mexico at very high risk, with 34.5% of prisoners reporting physical violence by guards. One facility, Cefereso 16, stands out for its alarming record: 21 deaths in custody since 2021, including 13 suicides.
Despite 86 formal complaints filed by the National Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture (MNPT), the agency’s operational independence is severely compromised due to its dependence on the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH), limiting its ability to effect change or secure accountability.
Impunity as a Cornerstone of Torture
In 2023 alone, 4,592 investigations into torture were opened. However, only 18 cases (0.1%) reached a judge, and just 8 convictions were achieved. This minuscule rate of judicial follow-through underscores the deep-rooted impunity that protects perpetrators and leaves victims without justice.
The report places Mexico at high risk in the category of ending impunity, affirming the systemic failures in prosecuting those responsible for torture and abuse within the state apparatus.
Vulnerable Populations Face Higher Risk
The Index also flags heightened risks for vulnerable groups, with women, minors, and migrants suffering disproportionately.
- 43.82% of incarcerated women reported experiencing sexual torture.
- Among children and adolescents, 65.9% experienced psychological abuse, while 45.9% reported physical violence.
- Detained migrants often endure inhumane conditions, with one of the most chilling examples being the 2023 fire in a Ciudad Juárez detention center, which drew international condemnation.
The 2025 Global Torture Index calls on Mexican authorities to take urgent and meaningful action to dismantle the machinery of torture operating across its institutions. Without independent oversight, real accountability, and systemic reform, the use of torture in Mexico is unlikely to decline—and the country’s international human rights reputation will continue to deteriorate.
For now, the evidence paints a stark reality: torture is not only present in Mexico—it is part of the process.
The 2025 Global Torture Index ranks Mexico as high risk for torture, citing systemic abuse, impunity, and institutional failure in law enforcement . . .
