Several leading human rights organizations and the United Nations (UN) Committee on the Rights of the Child are expressing growing concern over the plight of children in Mexico as a result of the drug wars.
There is concern that Mexico is violating children’s rights and not thoroughly investigating deaths of minors from the four-year old drug cartel battle the Mexican government launched. There have been over 1,000 minors killed over the past four years since President Felipe Calderon started the military crack down on drug cartels.
The UN and others feel the government is not doing enough to ensure that children are not being recruited by cartels as petty criminals or paid assassins. There is also concern about the excessive force used by the Mexican Army that is patrolling the streets and lack of accountability when innocent victims are killed by the troops.