MEXICO CITY — On Wednesday, members of Mexico’s ruling party opted to reelect Rosario Piedra to lead the National Human Rights Commission, despite significant dissent regarding her tenure and reluctance to criticize the government for alleged human rights violations.

This decision was made during a congressional vote, reflecting the Morena party’s ongoing efforts to diminish independent regulatory entities. The party has also suggested the elimination of various oversight and transparency agencies, asserting that maintaining these organizations incurs excessive expenses.

Civic and nonprofit organizations dedicated to human rights have predominantly voiced strong disapproval of Piedra’s reelection.

“This reelection is an unearned accolade for a history characterized by inaction, a loss of autonomy, and the erosion of the institution,” remarked the Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez human rights center through its social media platforms.

Piedra, who has been a staunch supporter of ex-President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, claimed that none of the fatalities attributed to the military during his presidency were unlawful or unmerited. She mirrored the former president’s enthusiasm in criticizing independent human rights organizations.

Since her initial appointment in 2019, Piedra has largely neglected to investigate accusations of massacres or extrajudicial killings carried out by military personnel and the militarized National Guard, which received extensive authority under López Obrador’s government.

Although the Commission received over 1,800 citizen complaints against the armed forces between 2020 and 2023, it only made 39 recommendations, with most involving cases of military misconduct from prior administrations.

The rights commission is empowered to issue nonbinding recommendations to government bodies. If such entities disagree with these suggestions, they are required by law to provide an explanation.

Piedra has aimed the commission’s focus primarily at issuing recommendations concerning inadequate care at state-run hospitals. However, these recommendations fall short since they do not tackle the primary issue of underfunded and ill-equipped medical facilities that struggle with excessive patient loads.

At times, Piedra seemed to act as though human rights violations were nonexistent during López Obrador’s presidency. In 2019, she expressed disbelief upon being inquired about journalist deaths, despite nearly a dozen killings occurring in the first year of López Obrador’s term.

Piedra hails from a notable activist lineage, with her mother founding one of Mexico’s earliest organizations to advocate for families whose relatives were abducted and disappeared by the government during the 1960s and 70s. Nonetheless, even her mother’s group, the Eureka Committee, chose not to endorse Piedra’s reelection.

“Her actions seem to promote impunity for those committing government-sanctioned violence and compliance with erasing human rights abuses,” the committee stated in its official response.

Piedra deviated from traditional norms in two significant ways: she was affiliated with the ruling party upon being first elected in 2019, whereas previous appointees have typically been nonpartisan experts in human rights. Additionally, she has shown open support for government actions and policies, contrasting with the more critical stance adopted by her predecessors regarding the administration.

This year, Piedra did not qualify for the elimination round during the congressional evaluation for the position but was nonetheless included on the final ballot. Moreover, she allegedly submitted a falsified letter of recommendation after a bishop and rights advocate noted the letter attributed to him was not signed by him.

Under the leadership of the newly inaugurated President Claudia Sheinbaum, a committed ally of López Obrador who assumed office on October 1, Piedra will continue her role. On Sheinbaum’s initial day in power, six migrants were killed by the army near the Guatemala border, followed ten days later by the killings of three civilians in Nuevo Laredo by soldiers and the National Guard during a suspect pursuit.

Sheinbaum’s first three weeks were marked by the murder of a threatened priest, as well as an incident in Sinaloa state where soldiers killed 19 suspects linked to drug cartels without incurring any injuries themselves, evoking historical memories of human rights violations, such as the 2014 event where soldiers killed multiple cartel suspects after they had surrendered.

This ostensibly left-leaning government has been quick to denounce human rights organizations and activists who reveal abuses. In June, a volunteer advocate for missing persons found a site in Mexico City containing human remains, which embarrassed officials from the ruling party who had previously overlooked searches for clandestine burial grounds. The city prosecutors responded by fiercely criticizing her, alleging that “the chain of custody” of the evidence had been compromised, potentially leading to legal complications.