12 months have passed since the last time the United Nations Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ESCR) Committee reviewed Mexico, therefore the most recent review that took place in March of this year was extremely welcome.
From the 9th til 13th April, a delegation of lawyers from Spain visited the North of Mexico and Mexico City in order to hear first-hand accounts and to draw attention to the situation that lawyers who defend human rights find themselves in, they also wished to understand the state of implementation of the general laws of torture and forced disappearance as well as the strategies that the organisations and defenders use against the Internal Security Law.
According to the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH), during 2017 the number of refugees rose by 578%, and the Mexican Commission for Refugee Assistance recognised that there is a total of 14,594 people requesting refuge in Mexico. In response, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is collaborating with various refuges in the South of the country and with the Casa del Migrante de Saltillo in Coahila, to help extend spaces and attend the growing number of refugees.
In his most recent report, published on 23rd March 2018, the United Nations Special Rapporteur for Human Rights Defenders, Michel Forst, explicitly mentions those defending human rights in Chilapa de Alvarez, Guerreo and their particularly high levels of risk due to the hostile context in which they undertake their legitimate work: “Human rights defenders from Chilapa, where collective disappearances appear to have occurred with the acquiescence of the authorities, are particularly vulnerable to attacks in the context of organized crime and corruption”.
Washington, D.C. / New York City / Stuttgart / Geneva, March 20, 2018 - The International Observatory on Human Rights in Mexico remains deeply concerned about the new Internal Security Law and the Mexican Government’s refusal to accept the Law’s implications. The International Observatory urges the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) to utilize all mechanisms at its disposal to prevent the militarization of public security in Mexico. In particular, the Observatory encourages the IACHR to lend its expertise to the Mexican Supreme Court as it reviews the proposed Law, and that it seek an advisory opinion from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights on the matter, as well.
Experts in forensic anthropology from the Federal Prosecutor’s Office (PGR) carried out a new search for evidence in Atoyac, specifically at the former site of the 27th Infantry Battalion. Following Tita Radilla’s request, PBI accompanied AFADEM during this exercise.
On Friday, 15 December 2017, the Mexican Senate the National Security Law, despite the concern expressed by international entities such as the United Nations, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), Mexican and international organizations, the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) and others about it’s potential impact on human rights.
The Director of the Saltillo Migrant Shelter, Alberto Xicoténcatl was invited by Peace Brigades International to participate in several events in Europe with the goal of increasing the visibility to the work carried out by migrant and refugee rights defenders in the state of Coahuila, and the high level of risk associated with their work. In Bilbao, the Spanish Commission to Support Refugees – Euskadi held an event titled “Protecting those who defend” which brought together Special Rapporteur on the situation of HRDs Michel Forst, with human rights defenders from Latin America and the Sahara, and European organizations to reflect on protection needs, strategies, and the specific risks faced by human rights defenders.
Several national and international human rights organisms and entities have identified that those human rights defenders who work on issues of land, territory and natural resources have been historically placed at the center of social and armed conflicts. This new publication includes the participation of human rights defenders from Coahuila, Chihuahua, Oaxaca, Guerrero and Mexico State, as well as organizations that work at the national level.
As part of our accompaniment of Centro de Derechos Humanos Paso del Norte (PdN), at the end of 2017 PBI travelled to Ciudad Juárez, in the state of Chihuahua. The organization is dedicated to the promotion of human rights and provides psychological and legal accompaniment in cases of enforced disappearance and torture in Ciudad Juárez and in the north of the state.