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	Spain: Ruling on Baltasar Garzón is good news but crimes remain untackled by Amnesty International   The decision by Spain"s Supreme Court to dismiss the charges against Judge Baltasar Garzón for investigating human rights violations is good news but much more needs to be done to ensure justice in Spain, said Amnesty International today.   The organization called on the Spanish authorities to promptly open investigations into human rights abuses committed during the country’s Civil War and the government of Francisco Franco – including extrajudicial killings, torture and enforced disappearances.   “It is a scandal that Spain has not yet tackled its dark past,” said Marek Marczynski, Head of International Justice at Amnesty International.   “News about Judge Garzón is a step forward. However, what we want to see next is a full investigation into the catalogue of abuses that took place during the Civil War and Franco’s regime. There must be no impunity in Spain for these most horrible crimes."   Amnesty International has not been able yet to assess the full text of the ruling. However, based on the information available so far the organization is concerned that the interpretation of the principle of legality in the ruling may prevent victims of human rights abuses committed in the past from accessing justice.   Amnesty International calls on the Spanish authorities to fulfil its international obligations and investigate past crimes under international law - in particular, by setting aside the 1977 Amnesty Law and statute of limitations. Visit the related web page
	33 deaths per day in Mexican drug war by AFP & news agencies   January 2012   Over 12,000 people died in drug-related violence in 2011 in Mexico, and about 50,000 have been killed since the start of president Felipe Calderon"s crackdown on drug gangs in 2006, media reported on Monday.   The reports came out as brutal violence continued to rock parts of Mexico amid a military crackdown on organised crime involving tens of thousands of troops.   Reforma daily counted 12,539 drug-related killings in 2011, which it said was a 6.3 per cent increase on the previous year.   It said the violence had become more brutal with increases in beheadings - to almost 600 - and more than 1,000 cases of torture.   Casualties of Mexico"s drug war: Over 12,000 killed in 2011 alone. Over 50,000 killed between 2006 and 2011. 600 beheadings, 1,000 cases of torture in 2011. 0ver 1,000 Children killed since 2006.   The daily Milenio newspaper recorded 12,284 drug-related deaths in 2011 and underlined major hikes in violence in the Pacific coast state of Guerrero and the Gulf of Mexico state of Veracruz, where 35 bodies were dumped under a busy overpass in one incident alone.   La Jornada daily estimated 11,890 deaths, or an average of 33 per day, in 2011, which it said was an 11 per cent decrease on the previous year, in a report published on Saturday.   The government has said 15,273 people were killed in 2010, without offering specifics on its count, making it the deadliest year since Mr Calderon launched his crackdown.   In an election year in which drug violence is a key concern, a spokesman for the attorney-general"s office said the government would release official figures for 2011 in the first half of January.   In ten years there have been more victims from hunger than narcotics, says Mario Luis Fuentes.   The victims for “malnutrition” recorded in Mexico between 2001 and 2010 are in total 85,343, while, in the same period the deaths caused by violence linked to drug trafficking were 49,804, according to official data presented in a report prepared by the Centre for Studies and Investigation development and social welfare (CEIDAS), based on figures provided by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegia), the Attorney General and the Chamber of Deputies.   The data shows that deaths from hunger over the past decade in the country are higher by 35,539 units compared to the numbers of killed as a result of the feud between ruthless drug cartels, which worsened since December 2006, with the arrival to the president Felipe Calderón.   “There are 12 million Mexicans who do not have sufficient resources to purchase basic food items, if not they will die from malnutrition, or from the illnesses related to it,” said Director of CEIDAS, Mario Luis Fuentes, presenting the study.   Hunger is not only due to lack of food, said, “but also the lack of water, for non-irrigated plots of land, the inability of the heads of families to protect the most vulnerable children.” Extreme poverty and limited access to food are not a temporary problem - added Fuentes – but a reality in mind in at least 339 municipalities in the country.   “We need a major overhaul of social policy as a whole to offer a proposal that creates equity. We need a new social compact that guarantees the rights of the population.
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