Murders in Mexico generate shock, confusion(2)

The consequences of the violence can be devastating for communities, because fear and despair cause a breakdown of the social fabric, said Verónica Martínez, who works at the Institute for Legal Research of the National Autonomous University of Mexico and is also a member of the board at the International Organization for Victim Assistance (IOVA).

"The logic of fear is a very powerful form of domination and social control, because it aggravates the loss of individual and social identity and causes paralysis, isolation and segregation," she said.

"This favors authoritarianism and legitimates the violation of human rights in the name of security," Martínez added.

This has already started to happen. On Aug. 25, false information about members of an organized crime group allegedly shooting schoolchildren was posted on Twitter, causing panic in the Gulf of Mexico city of Veracruz and prompting 22 schools to send the children home early.

A day earlier, four women waiting to pick up their children were injured in an exchange of gunfire outside a school in Ciudad Juárez, a city on the U.S. border.

For that reason the rumor, which spread the next day on at least 17 Twitter accounts, caused chaos.

The day after the false information was spread, the authorities arrested two of the people who tweeted the rumor of possible attacks against children: Gilberto Martínez and María de Jesús Bravo.

On the same day she posted the rumor, Bravo, a journalist, clarified that the information was false.

Both are in prison accused of "terrorism and sabotage", charges that bring sentences of between three and 30 years in jail.

On Wednesday Aug. 31, the legislature of the southern state of Tabasco followed the same route and approved a reform establishing prison sentences of six months to two years for spreading, by telephone or social networking sites, false rumors that cause panic and social chaos.

The International Centre Against Censorship issued a statement saying "before attacking twitterers, we encourage the governor to respect human rights, especially freedom of expression.

"The severe security crisis in Veracruz is not caused by Twitter posts, but by the incompetence of the authorities," added the organization, which is named after Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which guarantees freedom of expression.

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines collective violence as "the instrumental use of violence by people who identify themselves as members of a group, whether this group is transitory or has a more permanent identity, against another group or set of individuals, in order to achieve political, economic or social objectives."

"The problem is that in Mexico, there are no studies yet on the social effects of this violence," said Martínez.

Correa said the government's position that society's condemnation and demands for justice should be directed against criminal groups, rather than at the government, is aimed at confusing people.

"It would be absurd to demand justice from the criminals, because that would be like denying the rule of law," he said.

"Demilitarization doesn't just mean pulling the army off the streets; it means dismantling a policy of terror that is causing great damage to society," Correa said.