During the week of 29 October to 3 November, PBI traveled to the Carbon Region in the State of Coahuila to accompany the Pasta de Conchos Family Organization (OFPC).

Código DH, an organization accompanied by PBI, organized an event titled “A Conversation: an Agenda for Freedom of Expression. First Analysis: Preventative and Protective Measures for journalists, advances and challenges.” This event is part of the VOX project, whose goal is to strengthen capacities for the defense of freedom of expression for journalism and communication in the free press and in community press with a human rights perspective.

On 7 and 8 October in Malinaltepec, a municipality in the Montaña Region of Guerrero, there was a National Encounter against the Extractive Mining Model. The forum was organized by the Regional Council of Agrarian Authorities in the Montaña-Costa Chica Region, Guerrero in Defense of Territory against Mining and the Biosphere Reserve, (CRAADT) and accompanied by the Tlachinollan Human Rights Center.

As part of a speaking tour, Marcos Leyva, the director of Services for an Alternative Education (EDUCA) and Rosalinda Dionicio, representative of the Network of Community Defenders of the People of Oaxaca (REDECOM) held meetings with political representatives of the European Union and four European countries, as well as with special procedures of the United Nations and other key actors from the international community.

From 16 to 18 October, Araceli Tecolapa of the Morelos and Pavón Human Rights Center from Guerrero State, participated in a delegation of Mexican human rights defenders that traveled to Canada. They gave their official testimony to the Human Rights Subcommittee in the Canadian Parliament together with representatives of other Mexican organizations, including Prodh, Periodistas de a Pie, and REMA.

The UN Special Rapporteur for indigenous people´s rights, Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, undertook an oficial visit to Mexico from 8th til the 17th November with the objective of “examining the implementation of the reccommendations given by (her) predecessor, Special Rapporteur Rodolfo Stavenhagen in 2003, and to evaluate how Mexico has incorporated its international human rights committments in relation to indigenous peoples. 

On 6 November the Human Rights Clinic from the University of Texas published a report titled, “”Control… over the entire state of Coahuila” together in collaboration with the Fray Juan de Larios Diocese Center for Human Rights (FJDL). The report collects testimonies that were given during different hearings in the United States, and highlights the serious human rights violations in the region.

PBI and other international organizations sent a shadow report about the situation of economic, social and cultural rights defenders for the review of the Mexican State by the UN Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights. This report highlights the extreme vulnerability faced by people who defend land and territory, as well as the types of aggressions that they face, which include threats, intimidation and criminalization.

In September, PBI provided international accompaniment to civil society organizations who defend the rights of migrants in in the state of Coahuila and who face risks due to their work. According to the report by the Citizens Council of the National Migration Institute (INM), in July 2017 the migrant population was subject to “violence and the excessive use of force by INM agents and other security forces in control and detention operatives” and crimes committed against migrants are met with impunity.

September marked the third anniversary of the mass disappearance of students in Iguala, Guerrero known as the “Ayotzinapa Case”. PBI observed the “Silent March” that commemorated the date, demanded justice, and offered solidarity with the victims and those affected by the recent earthquake.