Extrajudicial execution

On March 11, 2021, the parallel event took place within the framework of the 46th session of the UN Human Rights C

Obtilia Eugenio Manuel defends the rights of the Tlapanec people in the state of Guerrero and founded the Organisation of the Me’phaa Indigenous People (Organización del Pueblo Indígena Me’phaa, OPIM). In November 2019 she received Mexico’s National Human Rights Prize in recognition of her “significant trajectory in effectively promoting and defending” basic human rights. PBI accompanied Manuel between 2005 and 2011.

How and when did you start defending human rights?

On 25 May 2019 PBI organised a meeting between representatives from the international community and organisations that are dedicated to the defence of land and territory rights in Mexico. Two organisations that PBI accompanies attended, Servicios para una Educación Alternativa A.C (EDUCA) from Oaxaca and the Alianza Sierra Madre A.C (ASMAC) from Chihuahua, as well as the Red de Defensores y Defensores Comunitarios de los Pueblos de Oaxaca (Redcom). Additionally, the Australian, Canadian, Spanish, British and Swiss embassies joined the discussion.

In a context of debates and proposals in Mexico around the conformation of a National Guard in charge of pubic security, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) published it´s sentence in the Alvarado Case on 28th November 2018, an emblematic case of forced disappearances caused by the context of militarisation, that happened in 2009 in the State of Chihuahua.  An historic tragedy, this case tells of the various serious human rights issues in the country: forced disappearances, forced displacement, impunity and militarisation

The past two sessions (167 and 168) of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) in 2018, saw a panorama of hearings about Mexico which offer a bleak overview of the human rights situation in the country.  These cases confirm the human rights crisis that the IACHR observed in their insitu visit to Mexico in 2015.  The impacts of public security policies and the prevalence of impunity in cases of human rights violations were also highlighted.  These violations not only represent obstacles for the development of peaceful societies, but also represent serious challenges f

The International Federation of Human Rights (Fidh) and the Fray Juan de Larios Human Rights Center (FJdL) – an organization accompanied by PBI – delivered a report to the International Criminal Court (ICC) on 6 July in which they requested an investigation for crimes against humanity committed in the state of Coahuila between 2009 and 2016.

19 June marked the one year anniversary of the “Oaxaca Operation,” carried out by the State and Federal Police in Nochixtlan and four other municipalities. According to different organizations, a series of violent events occurred that led to eight deaths and hundreds of injuries, in addition to psychological damage to dozens of civilians, including children.

On 10 June Abel Barrera from the Tlachinollan Human Rights Center met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. During the meeting Mr. Barrera expressed concern about the impunity in the case of the disappearance of 43 students in Ayotzinapa.

To mark the third anniversary of the mass disappearance which occurred in May 2015 in Chilapa, Guerrero, civil society organizations including the José Maria Morelos y Pavon Human Rights Center, the Tlachinollan Human Rights Center (both organizations accompanied by PBI) and the Collective Against Torture and Impunity (CCTI) organized the forum “Victims of a Failed State: Disappearances, Executions and Displacements”, which took place on 11 May in the Congressional Building in Chilpancingo. PBI observed the event.