From PBI we observe certain important actions from AMLO´s new government that favour the protection of human rights defenders in Mexico, however at the same time we have noted a few tendencies that concern us. In this article we look at a few achievements and challenges for the new government and the reactions from Mexican and international civil society about the first few weeks of the MORENA government.
“Mexico should assure the rights of association, reunion, protest and liberty of expression of Alejandro Cerezo, in every way possible, including diplomatic activities, especially in the cases recognised as criminalisation of defence, as is the that of the Comité Cerezo Mexico.”
2018 has been a challenging year for human rights across the world. Many of those defending human rights have been threatened, attacked and undermined, despite the celebration of 20 years of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders. PBI remains committed to protecting the space in which human rights defenders continue their arduous work in steadfast conviction that only when this protection is truly guaranteed will peaceful and democratic societies advance across the world.
PBI interviewed ProDESC to learn more about consultation processes. Alejandra Ancheita is a lawyer, founder and Executive Director of the Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Project (ProDESC), an organization that defends human rights, specifically the right to land, territory and natural resources of agrarian communities, indigenous peoples, and labor rights.
As we commemorate 4 years from the disappearance of the 43 students from the rural college of Ayotzinapa (Guerrero), PBI stands in solidarity with all those searching for their family members, coming up against unbearable impunity with strength and inspiring dignity.
The shifting nature of international power relations has meant that transnational companies often exercise greater power than governments across the world.
The past few months have witnessed significant change in Mexico given the election of a new President and the promises and commitments his new government have already laid out.
For PBI, as for many other civil society organisations, 2017 posed significant challenges. The six years of President Enrique Peña Nieto’s administration have been characterised by a continuation of the widely-questioned security policies initiated during the presidency of his predecessor Felipe Calderón, and by a marked reduction in the political space available to Mexican and international civil society organisations.
From the 17th til the 23rd of July this year, three human rights defenders from Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras left their homes and headed North of the contient in order to participate in a speaker tour organised by PBI in Washington DC. The tours we organise to the United States are always aimed at shedding light on the security situation for human rights defenders before key actors who can advocate in some way to improve their protection on the ground.