(May 3, 2021) On April 22, 2021, the Mexican government announced that it had approved the release from prison of five convicted individuals as provided by the Amnesty Law adopted one year earlier. The Amnesty Law grants persons incarcerated for committing certain crimes the right to apply for amnesty, provided that applicable requirements are met.
These crimes include the possession of narcotics in small quantities in a number of circumstances, such as when the offender was forced to commit the offense by organized crime. It also provides amnesty for crimes committed by individuals belonging to indigenous communities who were convicted without being counseled by a qualified defender. Eligibility for amnesty is limited to first offenders.
Under the law, the Amnesty Commission receives applications directly from convicted individuals, their representatives, their relatives, or human rights organizations. Applications that receive initial approval by the commission are subject to final confirmation by a judge.
One of the rationales for granting amnesty, as explained when the bill was first introduced in the Mexican Congress, was that a significant number of incarcerated individuals have been convicted of crimes committed as a result of living in circumstances of vulnerability, such as extreme poverty, marginalization, low education levels, and living in indigenous communities.
In a number of those cases, convicted individuals are first offenders who committed lesser criminal actions under threats by criminal organizations and thus do not represent a high risk to society if they are released, according to the bill of the Amnesty Law.
Moreover, the bill stated that these individuals could end up turning into criminals for life if they spend a long time in prisons in close contact with felons who belong to organized criminal groups.