By MARK LORENZANA

The State of Mexico (EdoMéx), Baja California, Veracruz, Puebla and Querétaro are the Mexican states that lead the 2022 Impunity Index in Mexico, which was prepared by the Center for Studies on Impunity and Justice (CESIJ), the University of the Americas Puebla and the International Academic Council.

The five aforementioned states are followed by Jalisco, Sinaloa, Aguascalientes, Chiapas and Michoacán.

The index measured levels of impunity in public security, law enforcement and respect for human rights. Among the indicators of impunity, the study considered indicators such as unsolved homicides, rate of violence, deterioration of infrastructure and a deficit in state police.

“Impunity is a form of injustice that is politically created and reproduced,” the report read. “The lack of institutional capacities, in a context marked by a profound crisis of insecurity and violence, is the result of factors such as corruption, negligence or the deliberate decision not to include it as a priority on the public agenda and not allocate sufficient budgetary resources for the development of capacities for justice, security and the protection of human rights.”

The new report also highlighted that the aforementioned Mexican states “practically do not have a justice system.”

“Mexico, as a country, has four times fewer judges (4.36 per 100,000 inhabitants) than the world average (17.83),” the report warned.

It also pointed out that homicide remains unpunished in the country.

“The structural problems of the security and justice institutions at the state level still prevail: The entities do not have specialized investigation institutions that are experts, independent and with sufficient capacities to deal with the crime of homicide,” said the report. “The security and justice system in Mexico makes inefficient use of resources to manage crimes, a factor that contributes to impunity in Mexico.”

Meanwhile, in the National Survey of Urban Public Security (ENSU) released by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi), 64.4 percent of the population in Mexico aged 18 and over considered it unsafe to live in their city.

In the  survey, which was done in September of this year, women represented the group that most considered it unsafe to live in their city with 70.5 percent, compared to 57.2 percent of men.

The most insecure cities identified by the survey include Fresnillo, Zacatecas; Irapuato, Guanajuato; Naucalpan de Juarez, Mexico City; Ciudad Obregón, Sonora; and Colima, Colima.