Mexico City, 13 September 2016.- The United Nations Working Group on Business and Human Rights visited Mexico for the first time on an official visit between 29 August and 17 September 2016. As part of its mandate the Working Group should promote the effective implementation of the 'Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights'1. During the visit, members of the group met with Mexican government entities and companies. In addition, Dante Pesce and Pavel Sulyandziga, members of the group, met with human rights defenders and representatives of communities affected by business activities and heard testimonies about the 81 cases in Mexico City, Oaxaca, Jalisco, Sonora, and Xochicuatla. For example, defender Isabel Jimenez presented her case about the defense of land, territory and natural resources and talked about wind power projects in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Oaxaca. She also exposed the violations documented during the consultation process in 2014 for the construction of a wind farm of Eólica del Sur company in the same region, a situation that PBI showed in the documentary ´Corn Land´, which can be found here: bit.ly/TierraDelMaiz. In this context, it is disturbing that government officials of the state of Oaxaca expressed before the Working Group their frustration that the "indigenous question" had delayed the project.

At the last meeting with civil society actors in the municipality of San Francisco Xochicuautla, State of Mexico, more than 28 representatives of indigenous peoples, human rights defenders and civil society actors asked the Working Group "to be our voice before the world about what is happening in Mexico, so they can unveil the truth". As part of this visit, the Working Group reported it met with companies like Grupo Bal, Grupo Bimbo, Eólica del Sur, CEMEX, Grupo México, Goldcorp, Transcanada, la Comisión Federal de Electricidad (Federal Electricity Commission) and PEMEX. It stated, however, that only Higa Group which is in charge of building the Naucalpan-Toluca highway in Xochicuautla did not respond to the invitation from the group to meet.

Civil Society Report

In the context of the visit of the Working Group, a group of more than 100 organizations, movements and networks of civil society, including several organizations accompanied by PBI – Código DH, Casa del Migrante in Saltillo, Centro Diocesano para los Derechos Humanos Fray Juan de Larios, Centro de Derechos Humanos de la Montaña Tlachinollan - presented the report ´Mexico: Business and Human Rights´ with data sheets of 68 cases with the aim of giving an overview on the situation of business and human rights at the national level, including the cases of the killing of Ismael Solorio and Manuelita Solis in the state of Chihuahua, the wind farm Eólica del Sur in the Isthmus of Juchitan, Oaxaca, and the mining project San Miguel del Progreso in Guerrero. Through its accompaniment to the Focal Group on Business and Human Rights PBI supported the process of elaboration of the report.

¨The government and the Mexican companies should listen to the affected communities and human rights defenders¨

In its initial findings presented on 7 September, the group stated that international and national organizations and human rights mechanisms have highlighted the serious human rights problems Mexico faces. The group learned the stories of several human rights defenders who reported they continue to face attacks, threats, various forms of harassment and aggression against them as a result of their work to protect and promote human rights. The group also highlighted that environmental and indigenous defenders have been particularly targeted when they express opposition to development projects. The Working Group also stated that it sees the National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights as a great opportunity to translate the political will into real action, allowing the government to exercise leadership, however it is needed to expand the PNA group members in order to include, among others, indigenous peoples.

At the press conference, the Working Group stressed the importance that high-level government officials as well as CEOs and companies take a clear stance that intimidation and attacks against human rights defenders are not acceptable and will not be tolerated. It also stated that despite the fact the Mexican government has taken important steps into creating the National Protection Mechanism for Human Rights Defenders and Journalists, cases often remain unpunished, a statement that reinforces the conclusions made by PBI and WOLA in a report published in May 2016 on the implementation of the Mechanism.

One day following the visit of the Working Group, civil society organizations which prepared the report 'Mexico: Business and Human Rights' urged the Mexican government to comply with the recommendations of the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights and to recognize the work of indigenous people and land rights defenders.

1These Guiding Principles are based on the recognition of the State obligations to respect, protect and fulfill human rights and fundamental freedoms; the role of companies as specialized organs of society that perform specialized functions and must comply with all applicable laws and respect human rights; and the need that rights and obligations go hand to hand with adequate and effective remedies in the event of non-compliance.