A Nun Takes on the Drug War: Consuelo Morales on Crusading Against Mexican Cartels, Corrupt Police

We look at the drug war in Mexico and efforts to demand accountability in thousands of cases of people who have been kidnapped, tortured, disappeared and killed. Newly declassified cables from U.S. embassies and consulates in Mexico reveal how drug cartels there have operated with "near impunity" in recent years. In many cases they are exerting control over government authorities and entire regions as they kidnap and kill anyone at will. Human Rights Watch meanwhile has found that Mexican security forces participate in enforced disappearances as part of the socalled "war on drugs," and then try to cover up their complicity. We are joined by Sister Consuelo Morales, who has helped lead the fight in Mexico to defend victims of human rights violations and hold their abusers accountable. In 1992, Morales helped found the group Citizens in Support of Human Rights, which has taken the lead in documenting human rights violations carried out by the drug cartels and the Mexican security forces, and provides support for victims. She recently received Human Rights Watch's 2013 Alison Des Forges Award for Extraordinary Activism. We are also joined by Nik Steinberg, Human Rights Watch's senior researcher for the Americas and coauthor of their report, "Mexico's DisappearedThe Enduring Cost of a Crisis Ignored."

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