[JURIST] Mexico's "scorched-earth" campaign in the 1960s and 1970s resulted in crimes against humanity, including genocide, torture, executions and disappearances, according to a draft report [text, in Spanish] made public by the National Security Archive at George Washington University. The report, commissioned by Mexican President Vicente Fox [official website, in Spanish], was presented to special prosecutor Ignacio Carrillo Prieto in December but has not yet been officially released publicly.

The report outlines alleged crimes committed by Mexican military and security forces under three different presidents during the nation's 18-year "dirty war" [National Security Archive backgrounder], including the execution of hundred of citizens and suspected guerrillas, and a campaign to deny food to residents where leftist guerrillas operated. Carrillo has been investigating government rights abuses [JURIST report] committed during the "dirty war" but has been unsuccessful in persuading a court to issue an arrest warrant for former President Luis Echeverria. Hector Tobar of the Los Angeles Times has more.