Mexico City, Mexico — As part of its legal strategy against illicit arms trafficking, Mexico submitted the appeal brief against the decision of the Boston District Court, which rejected the first civil action of the Government of Mexico against arms manufacturing companies in the U.S
On Tuesday, the Government of Mexico presented the appeal brief against the sentence issued by the District Court of Boston, Massachusetts.
In that first instance resolution, the federal judge determined that an immunity law in the United States protects arms manufacturing companies even when their conduct causes harm in Mexico.
In August 2021, the Government of Mexico filed a civil lawsuit for damages against companies that manufacture arms in the United States for their carelessness and negligence that actively facilitated their arms from the United States to be trafficked into Mexican territory.
This litigation was stopped when the trial judge determined that the immunity law called the Protection of the Legal Trade in Arms Act (PLCAA) did protect the defendant companies even when the damage caused by their carelessness and negligence occurs in Mexican territory.
The appeal was filed in the United States Federal Court of Appeals for the First Circuit based in Boston, Massachusetts. With this appeal, Mexico requests that it be analyzed whether the decision of the Boston District Court complied with the law, particularly regarding the non-applicability of the immunity laws of the United States when there is a criminal use of weapons and consequent damage in Mexican territory.
This appeal is part of the procedural calendar planned when the Government of Mexico filed its lawsuit against US arms companies in Boston, Massachusetts, in August 2021.
The District Judge ruled that he would not proceed with the lawsuit until September 2022. Since October 26, 2022, the date on which the appeal request was made, the Government of Mexico has been deepening legal arguments in order for the judicial procedure to persist.
On October 10, 2022, a second lawsuit was filed in Tucson Federal District Court against stores that trade negligently. Additionally, on November 11, 2022, Mexico requested an advisory opinion before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights regarding the arms trade and its impact on human rights.
With all these edges, from the legal field, the Government of Mexico seeks to involve an actor that until now was not contemplated in the fight against arms trafficking: companies. There is a correlation between negligent practices by companies and arms trafficking that leads to violence in Mexico, as well as other crimes such as human and drug trafficking, particularly fentanyl.
In the event that the appeal favors Mexico, the process initiated in Boston against the arms manufacturing companies for the use of their products and damages caused to the Mexican population would be resumed.
