On 1st July 2018 general elections will take place in Mexico, which as well as determining the presidency for the next 6 years, coincide with several local elections. These will be the largest elections in Mexican history with 3,400 positions being decided.
EDUCA, Services for an Alternative Education was created in 1994 and is based in the City of Oaxaca de Juarez. Through its work in the area of territorial rights, it strives to strengthen and consolidate the leadership of social, regional and community organizations that fight for the defense of their right to territory. It also strives to make alternative proposals to current development policies.
Consorcio Oaxaca, an organization accompanied by PBI, organized the second encounter of women human rights defenders in the Mixe Region. 20 defenders from different regions of the Mixe shared their experiences, and the difficulties that they face as women, indigenous people and human rights defenders.
Código DH, an organization accompanied by PBI, organized an event titled “A Conversation: an Agenda for Freedom of Expression. First Analysis: Preventative and Protective Measures for journalists, advances and challenges.” This event is part of the VOX project, whose goal is to strengthen capacities for the defense of freedom of expression for journalism and communication in the free press and in community press with a human rights perspective.
As part of a speaking tour, Marcos Leyva, the director of Services for an Alternative Education (EDUCA) and Rosalinda Dionicio, representative of the Network of Community Defenders of the People of Oaxaca (REDECOM) held meetings with political representatives of the European Union and four European countries, as well as with special procedures of the United Nations and other key actors from the international community.
PBI and other international organizations sent a shadow report about the situation of economic, social and cultural rights defenders for the review of the Mexican State by the UN Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights. This report highlights the extreme vulnerability faced by people who defend land and territory, as well as the types of aggressions that they face, which include threats, intimidation and criminalization.
In a press conference, the Network for Documentation of Migrant Defense Organizations (REDODEM) presented the Report, “Migrants in Mexico: traveling on a path of violence.” In this report, the more than 20 organizations that make up the Network – including the Juan Gerardi Human Rights Center and the Brothers on the Path Migrant Shelter — both accompanied by PBI – highlighted the problem of “human mobility due to violence” and demanded respect for the rights of the migrant population in transit and to put an end to the criminalization of people who defend and promote these rights.
In the context of the Global Day of Action Against Open-Pit Mining and the State Day of Rebellion Against Mining, civil society organizations commemorated their fight for their land and territory. Inhabitants of the communities of the Ejutla Valley and Ocotlán, Oaxaca, demanded that state and federal governments put a stop to the exploration and expansion on their land by the Canadian company Fortuna Silver Mines – this will be due to a lack of consultation with them and the risk faced by land and territory in the state of Oaxaca.
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 15 and 16 June the 4th annual Statewide Meeting of Women Activists and Human Rights Defenders took place in Oaxaca. The event was organized by Consorcio Oaxaca, an organization that receives PBI accompaniment and attended by 70 human rights defenders from different regions of the state of Oaxaca and Natalia Barreto – an Advisor for Human Rights Cooperation and Culture of the European Union Delegation in Mexico.