11 April 2014

Yesterday, members of the Consultative Council of the Protection Mechanism for Human Rights Defenders and Journalists carried out a meeting with Lía Limón, Sub-secretary of Human Rights for the Interior Ministry. At the meeting at the end of March, the priority issues brought up by the members of the Council regarded the effective functioning of the Mechanism and the guaranties for security that journalists and human rights defenders in the country require. The issues were:

11 April 2014

• Again, on 10 April, Carmen Ruíz, a member of the APPJ suffers persecution

The undersigned organisations are deeply concerned by recent developments that have taken place regarding the Protection Mechanism for Human Rights Defenders (HRDs) and Journalists in Mexico. We believe that such developments are likely to place HRDs and journalists at even greater risk.

Distinguished representatives of the European Union and the Mexican government, we address you on behalf of the 32 non-governmental organizations who participated in the Second Civil Society Seminar on Human Rights held in the framework of the Fourth High-Level Dialogue on Human Rights between Mexico and the European Union.

• Civil society organizations express alarm that Mexico has once again rejected UPR recommendations to eliminate arraigo.

• Likewise, Mexico did not accept the recommendation regarding jurisdiction of the Committee on Enforced Disappearance.

• Organizations await the creation of a follow-up mechanism to implement accepted recommendations.

Mexico City, 14 March 2014. PBI Mexico publishes a new briefing on the construction of wind farms in Oaxaca and the concerns over human rights violations in the context of megaprojects in the state. The briefing details the context of wind energy investment in Oaxaca and how this affects local communities, as well as the situation of risk facing those human rights defenders who oppose such projects.

Mexico City, 14 March 2014. Mexican and international organizations extend an invitation to follow Mexico's round of evaluation before the international community taking place next week. In Brussels, Mexico and the European Union will carry out their high level dialogue on human rights. In Geneva, Mexico will appear before the United Nations Human Rights Council to announce which recommendations from the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) it accepts.

Mexico City, 11 March 2014.

On 20 February, PBI participated in the Seminar for European Union Delegations' Focal Points on Human Rights, which took place in Brussels and was organized by the European External Action Service (EEAS). The purpose of our participation was to share best practices and to illustrate the challenges we have observed over the 10 years since the implementation of the European Union Guidelines on Human Rights Defenders began.

Mexico City, 4 March 2014. The Cerezo Committee, organization accompanied by PBI for over 12 years, has suffered a defamation campaign during the past few days. This situation is extremely worrying, as it increases the risk facing the members of the organization.