• Civil society organisations make an appeal to the President of the Republic in the hope that the Mexican State might put in practise, before the international community, its commitment towards the construction of a protection mechanism for risk populations such as journalists and human rights defenders.
• “How many human rights defenders and journalists have to die before the State replies with a protection mechanism?” they ask.

On Monday March 14 2011, Mexican civil society organisations denounced the lack of advances in the development of a Governmental protection mechanism for journalists and human rights defenders in risk situations.

In a press release, various Mexican NGOs¹ reaffirmed the dangerous situation which exists for these populations and asked that the Mexican President Felipe Calderón:

1) Recognise publicly the importance of the work carried out by human rights defenders and journalists.

2) Recognise the vulnerability to which these populations are exposed and ensure the creation of a protection mechanism.

3) Install a working group and follow-up in order to attend to this problem, giving attention to the work already carried out, with a perspective of integrality.

They stated that “Without a protection mechanism, those who defend human rights and freedom of speech, as well as Mexican society, will find themselves in a situation of risk”.

For more information regarding the development of a Governmental protection mechanism for human rights defenders, <media 7460>download the interview which PBI recently carried out with Agnieszka Raczynska</media> of the Mexican human rights network La Red Nacional de Organismos Civiles de Derechos Humanos “Todos los Derechos para Todas y Todos”.

Read the complete press release (Spanish)

1Acción Urgente para Defensores de los Derechos Humanos AC (ACUDDEH), Asociación Mundial de Radios Comunitarias México A.C. (AMARC); Centro Mexicano del Derechos Ambientas (CEMDA); Centro Nacional de Comunicación Social, (Cencos); Centro de Derechos Humanos “Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez”; Centro de Derechos Humanos de la Montaña Tlachinollan; Comisión Mexicana de Defensa y Promoción de los Derechos Humanos (CMDPDH); Comité Cerezo; Red Todos los Derechos para Todos y Todas; Grupo de Información en Reproducción Elegida (GIRE)