[JURIST] Human Rights Watch [advocacy website] lauded Mexican President Vicente Fox [official website, in Spanish] Wednesday for advances made in increasing the transparency of the Mexican government, but warned in a new report [text] on human rights in the country that more progress was needed. HRW pointed to continuing difficulties Mexico has had tackling the "dirty war" [National Security Archive backgrounder] of the 1960s and 1970s, and to rampant police abuses and brutality that have remained unchecked.

The group said Fox's initiatives to address the two issues have failed because of lack of support and lack of follow-through. Proposals made to curb law enforcement abuse have been repeatedly ignored by Congress and a task force headed by special prosecutor Ignacio Carrillo to investigate the "dirty war" has led only to a few arrests, with the biggest disappointment being his unsuccessful attempt to obtain an arrest warrant [JURIST report] for former President Luis Echeverria [Wikipedia profile], who was previously charged with genocide. HRW nonetheless called for Fox's policies to be continued by the new administration that is to follow after presidential elections in July. AP has more.