GENEVA: The United Nations human rights boss called on Mexico’s Senate on Tuesday not to adopt a proposed law on internal security, saying it would enshrine the role of the military in law enforcement at a time when a stronger police force was needed.

Zeid Ra’ad Al-Hussein, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said that more than a decade after the armed forces were deployed in the ‘war on drugs’, violence had not abated and extrajudicial killings, torture and disappearances “continue to be committed by various state and non-state actors.” In a statement recognising Mexico’s huge security challenge and violence sown by powerful organised crime groups, Zeid said: “Adopting a new legal framework to regulate the operations of the armed forces in internal security is not the answer. The current draft law risks weakening incentives for the civilian authorities to fully assume their law enforcement roles.” A Mexican presidential hopeful and governor of a wealthy border state said he would cut taxes to compete with lower rates in the United States if President Donald Trump’s fiscal reform passes Congress, hinting at a broader potential response in Mexico.

Jaime Rodriguez, the governor of Nuevo Leon who is seeking to become the first independent to take the presidency, said he would lower “many taxes” if successful.

“We’re going to compete,” he told Reuters on Monday. “If I make it and am able to be president, I would lower taxes,” he added, though he declined to give details.

Mexico’s government has been watching Trump’s fiscal plans closely, and some senior officials and lawmakers say the country may have to cut taxes if the United States does.

Agencies