In April, the Don Sergio Méndez Arceo National Human Rights Award, the winners of which are chosen by Mexican civil society organizations, was presented in Cuernavaca. This year, the award was granted to Sister Leticia Gutiérrez Valderrama, a missionary and member of SMR Scalabrinianas who accompany and protect migrants in Mexico.

The second official visit of the Mechanism that monitors the precautionary measures granted to the students of the “Raul Isidro Burgos” rural school in Ayotzinapa (MC 409/14) and the recommendations of the Inter-Disciplinary Group of Independent Experts (GIEI) took place between 19 and 21 April 2017.

On 17 March, the Saltillo Migrant House participated in a thematic hearing requested by several human rights organizations entitled “Mexico: Applicants for Asylum and Refugee Status” convened by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) in Washington DC. During this hearing, representatives of Mexican civil society and the Federal Government discussed the current human rights situation of people who requested asylum and refugee status in the country.

According to a recent communique from ProDESC, on 17 March the Sixth District Judge located in Salina Cruz in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Oaxaca, ruled that the appeal by the Popular Assembly of the Juchiteco People (APPJ), which was filed on 19 August 2015, was denied.

Mexico City, 17 April 2017.– Don't miss our April Newsletter for the latest news on Human Rights in Mexico!

Topics include:Internacional concern for the murder of journalists in México; Ayotzinapa case in IACH; Situation for Human Rights Defenders in the Sierra Tarahumara at the UN Human Rights Council; event in Chilpancingo: "Human Rights an security"; Accompaniment tour in Carbon Region of Coahuila and to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Oaxaca; worried about the recent death threats towards Father Solalinde; amongst others.

The National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) asked the Treasury and Congress to designate extraordinary resources to the Protection Mechanism for Human Rights Defenders and Journalists. In a statement, the CNDH said that the Mechanism did not receive funding in the 2017 budget, and as a result is using funds from previous years which could run out before the end of 2017.

Formal PBI accompaniment of Consortium for Parliamentary Dialogue and Oaxacan Equality (Consorcio Oaxaca) began just over one year ago. This organization works to promote respect for and the exercise of the human rights of women and gender equality.

In a Resolution dated 25 March 2017, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) made a statement about the application for provisional measures for the Choreachi community in the Sierra Tarahumara in Chihuahua state. In it, they ordered the Mexican State to adopt urgent protection measures for the Choreachi community.

Mexico City, 17 March 2017.– Don't miss our March Newsletter for the latest news on Human Rights in Mexico!

Topics include: Lay on Internal Security; Disappearances in Mexico, Civil Society demands in legislative process; Ayotzinapa case; Argentine Forensic Anthropology team, missión in Chilapa Guerrero; MEPs travel to the state of Oaxaca; Contingency Plan in Chihuahua for preventive alert; amongst others.

Read it here: bit.ly/News1610.

Info: @International Service for Human Rights:

                 _{2017, UN Special Rapporteur on HRDs in Guerrero @PBIMexico}