The Escazú Agreement is a Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean, being the first human rights treaty that protects and favors the rights to information, participation, justice and security of people in environmental matters, based on Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development.
On August 9, the International Day of Indigenous Peoples was commemorated under the theme “COVID-19 and the resilience of indigenous peoples”, recognizing the effort of indigenous communities to seek their own solutions to the pandemic through knowledge and traditional practices1.
On July 10th, the IX High Level Dialogue on Human Rights took place between the European Union and Mexico, in which PBI participated as an international NGO from the European side. This edition of the Dialogue was marked by organizational difficulties; the annual meeting did not take place in 2019 as originally planned, while the impact of the global pandemic caused other issues. Civil society attempted to take advantage of this space to demand concrete actions regarding the deterioration of human rights in Mexico during recent years.
“We oppose development that reduces our forests, that destroys our lands” (…) With the pandemic we will have to live the rest of our lives. “
Jorge Sibas, leader of the Brörán people and Costa Rican defender.
(the following is an extract of a Joint Briefing by PBI-Mexico and Tlachinollan Human Rights Centre which has been circulated with the diplomatic corps)
According to the Mesoamerican Women Human Rights Defenders Initiative (Iniciativa Mesoamericana de Mujeres Defensoras de Derechos Humanos)1
PBI Mexico express deep concern about the serious events that occurred last month in the community of San Mateo del Mar, Oaxaca.
Civil society organizations, government institutions and international community spoke out against threats received by Consorcio Oaxaca and claimed immediate actions by Mexican Government to protect its staff.
Last Thursday, July 2, PBI organized a virtual seminar on the defense of the rights of migrants in the time of COVID-19 in collaboration with Madrid’s University Carlos III, and for which we had the presence of the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights of Migrants from the United Nations, Professor Felipe González Morales.
During this past month we participated in and carried out various activities as part of our current remote accompaniment of organizations and human rights defenders in Mexico. Here, we highlight some of them: