Mexico City-- As part of PBI's exploratory work, a team has visited the states of Puebla and Tlaxcala in July. PBI visited the cities of Puebla, Tlaxcala and Tehuacán, where meetings were held with NGOs, social movements, journalists, academics and state authorities1 in order to request information on the conditions in which human rights defenders carry out their work.
Situated south of Mexico City, Puebla and Tlaxcala are together the fourth biggest urban area in Mexico. An important industrial corridor crosses the border between the two states, where a large number of maquilas are concentrated. Defending human rights in Puebla has been a risky activity for years; defenders have suffered threats, harassment, arbitrary arrests, criminalisation and murder, among others. This context of repression has been highlighted by the international community in different occasions.
In 2005, for example, the investigative police in Puebla arrested the journalist Lydia Cacho. Some months later a series of incriminating recordings came out to light, evidence of an agreement between the then Governor of Puebla, Mario Marín, and the businessman Kamel Nacif (“The King of Jeans”) to take action against the journalist. Lydia Cacho had published information about a supposed involvement of several businessmen and politicians from Puebla in a child pornography and prostitution ring. Among the implicated was the maquila2 owner Kamel Nacif. In December 2005 the well known labour rights defender from Tehuacán, Martín Barrios, was arrested for allegedly blackmailing a local businessman. The charges against him were withdrawn in January 2006. Due to the threats Barrios received after his release from prison, he was granted precautionary measures by the Inter-american Commission on Human Rights.
The situation of risk for human rights defenders goes on today. Among the most recent cases is the assassination of the activist Fermín Mariano Matías, killed in 2009. The perpetrators are still unknown. The Red de Defensa de los Derechos Humanos (Reddh – Network for the Defence of Human Rights) have supported the family in their demand for justice. José Ramón Aniceto Gómez and Pascual Agustín Cruz, indigenous leaders of the Atla community, have been in prison since 2010. Amnesty International have concluded that their detention is a reprisal for their legitimate work to increase their community's access to water. The two leaders have been denied their right to a just trial. In March 2012 the Inter-american Commission on Human Rights condemned the assassination of Agnes Torres, transsexual activist and LGBT human rights defender. In May the Centro de Apoyo al Trabajador (CAT – Workers Support Centre) was forced to close its offices due to the lack of safety conditions necessary to carry out its work and after the kidnapping and torture of Enrique Morales, one of its members.
Labour and environmental rights
Local NGOs estimate that there are hundreds of maquilas in Tehuacán, south of Puebla, producing mainly textiles and autoparts. The defence of human rights there reflects the main issues around the maquilas in the states of Puebla and Tlaxcala: labour rights and environmental rights. Poor conditions for workers and, according to local organisations, lack of Union independence to defend their rights are particularly significant. In addition, the use of spring water to wash the jeans, causing the so called “blue waters”, has contaminated the water used by local farmers to irrigate their crops.
In Tehuacán, PBI held meetings with Martín Barrios, member of the Comisión de Derechos Humanos y Laborales del Valle de Tehuacán (Human and Labour Rights Commission of the Valle de Tehuacán), as well as Rodrigo Hernández and Reyna Ramírez Sánchez, from Colectivo Obreras Insumisas (Insubordinate Women Workers Organisation). The former two have over ten years experience defending labour rights, while Ramírez, who worked in the maquilas for ten years, is the coordinator at Obreras Insumisas3. All three have suffered repression as a result of their struggle: “the threat for us is that they attack us for defending the workers' rights, but for the workers the biggest threat is unemployment”. They explain that people work under precarious conditions: they are denied work stability, companies make use of the “black lists”4 to stop people from demanding their rights, many workers are victims of sexual harassment and unhealthy environments, minors are exploited etc. The labour rights defenders add: “the Unions, which should protect them, end up being their worst enemies”.
Due to this situation, both organisations offer workers capacity-building workshops about their rights; the Comisión de Derechos Humanos y Laborales del Valle de Tehuacán advises workers in their legal challenges against the companies: “we end up doing the work the Unions should be doing”. The Colectivo Obreras Insumisas promote women´s empowerment with a permanent capacity-building programme and the promotion of cooperatives as an alternative source of employment: “we believe women can not be free and independent without economic autonomy”.
In regards to water contamination the Centro Fray Julián Garcés (Fray Julián Garcés Centre for Human Rights and Local Development), from Tlaxcala, tell PBI that “there are two important things: on one hand the deliberate impunity with which industries pour dirty water into the rivers; on the other hand the impact this has on the rural communities that use these same rivers to irrigate their crops; this is what happens in Tehuacán. Here, the radishes have started growing blue”. In Tehuacán there is a health problem as well as a commercial one, as local produce has its market prices adversely affected due to the contamination it is exposed to.
Migration and human trafficking
Puebla and Tlaxcala are part of the Latin American transmigrants route through Mexico towards the United States. The railway in which many migrants travel runs through Tlaxcala, where the shelter “La Sagrada Familia” in Apizaco offers daily humanitarian assistance to tens of migrants. The shelter is managed by the Tlaxcala Dioceses with support from the Instituto de Derechos Humanos Ignacio Ellacuría (Ignacio Ellacuría Human Rights Institute) and the Centro Fray Julián Garcés. The latter explains that many migrants suffer physical abuses at the hands of police officers in Tlaxcala and are labelled as criminals. Oscar Castro, Director of the Instituto Ignacio Ellacuría, complains that members of “La Sagrada Familia” shelter in Apizaco suffer harassment and threats because of their work.
In addition to being en route for the transmigrants, Puebla and Tlaxcala are also places of origin for thousands of Mexicans who migrate to the United States. In Puebla the Iniciativa Ciudadana para la Promoción de la Cultura del Diálogo (Citizens Initiative for the Promotion of the Culture of Dialogue) regards the migrant as a fundamental actor for the communities of origin, mainly because of their money remittances. For this reason, the organisation has been in constant talks with the government for the creation of clear support programmes for migrants and their families. Moreover, the NGO offers this sector of the population capacity-building workshops about their rights and how to demand information from the authorities. Iniciativa Ciudadana also pays close attention to the situation of transmigrants, promoting fora, publishing informative material and supporting other organisations that seek to protect the rights of those who cross the country towards the United States.
A very visible issue in both states, one which affects the rights and security of transmigrants as well as local populations, is human trafficking. The International Organization for Migration has identified Tlaxcala as the epicentre in Mexico regarding the origin, destination and transfer of the victims. Puebla comes second. In 2007 the state government of Tlaxcala codified human trafficking as a criminal offence and, that same year, created the Consejo Estatal Contra la Trata (State Council Against human Trafficking), in which civil society organisations also take part. Nonetheless, the Centro Fray Julián Garcés demands further progress on the matter, especially as the first condemnatory sentence in the state was not issued until 2012, five years after the codification of the offence. The organisation emphasises the importance of raising societal awareness about the problem, of the social reintegration of victims and of the punishment of perpetrators. According to the NGO, south Tlaxcala concentrates a great number of trafficking families. The Instituto Ignacio Ellacuría, in Puebla, carries out research on the issue, aiming at legislative change for the better protection of victims. The Instituto is working on a database of cases in order to inform authorities and civil society about the situation. Oscar Castro, the Instituto's director, is currently the President of the Latin American Human Trafficking Observatory. The Centro Fray Julián Garcés supports the victims' families with their legal processes, the search for places of refuge and contact with support networks. Both the Centro and the Instituto ask authorities from both states to act decisively to eliminate this practice that damages the lives of hundreds of women and children in Mexico every year.
Sexual diversity and reproductive rights
PBI had the opportunity to listen to the experiences of the organisations that defend women's and LGBT rights in Puebla. The Taller Centro de Sensibilización y Educación Humana uses theatre, combined with activism, to raise awareness. Their work focuses on providing public visibility to women's and, in particular, lesbian issues. They have a project called “Teatro de las Oprimidas” (Theatre of Oppressed Women), through which they have performed their plays in several Mexican states, as well as in the United States and Guatemala. The Observatorio Ciudadano de Derechos Sexuales y Reproductivos (Citizens Observatory on Sexual and Reproductive Rights) seeks to generate tools for social and political advocacy on themes related to sexual and reproductive rights, working mainly along three fronts: combating homophobia, the right to choose and sexual education. Vida Plena (Plentiful Life) have worked on two main themes: human rights for the LGBT population and HIV prevention, especially with grassroots education for affected persons. The three organisations belong to the Comité Orgullo Puebla (Puebla Pride Committee), which organises the Marcha del Orgullo, la Dignidad y la Diversidad Sexual (Pride, Dignity and Sexual Diversity March) in Puebla.
One of the problems that local Puebla organisations highlight is the criminalisation of abortion. In March 2009 the local Congress debated an initiative that sought to reform the state's Constitution, thus preventing the decriminalisation of abortion and same sex marriages. In addition, the initiative intended to derogate the existing circumstances for carrying out abortion legally (poor foetus formation, rape, risk to the mother). The NGOs advocacy managed to keep the legal circumstances but part of the reform was approved. These organisations explain that it is now understood that “any woman that aborts should go to jail”. In 2010 there was a high number of women put on trial for abortion, many of whom had suffered miscarriages or had their situation exposed by their doctor or nurse.
The organisations also emphasise the lack of governmental attention and the gender or sexual orientation discrimination that prevail regarding the prevention and investigation of cases of attacks against women and the LGBT population. In 2012 this problem came to public attention with the murder of the activist Agnes Torres, a psychologist who worked directly with several civil society organisations in Puebla. The NGOs say that, after this case, the Puebla Congress passed a Constitutional reform that adds aggravating factors for gender violence and codifies discrimination due to sexual orientation as a criminal offence.
Sexual and reproductive rights organisations in Puebla have had their work delegitimised by groups contrary to their causes. In May 2012, for example, the moral integrity of a member from the Observatorio Ciudadano was questioned by public employees during the Consejo Ciudadano de Derechos Humanos y Equidad de Género (Citizens Council for Human Rights and Gender Equality), for her possible sexual preferences and her advocacy in favour of the right to choose.
PBI thank the organisations and public authorities in Puebla and Tlaxcala for their availability to meet with us and share their opinions, experiences and difficulties.
1In Tlaxcala we met with the Centro “Fray Julián Garcés” Derechos Humanos y Desarrollo Local A.C. and the Centro de Economía Social Julián Garcés. In Puebla we met with the Red de Defensa de los Derechos Humanos (Reddh), Taller Centro de Sensibilización y Educación Humana A.C., Vida Plena Puebla/No Dejarse es Incluirse A.C., Observatorio Ciudadano de Derechos Sexuales y Reproductivos A.C., Instituto de Derechos Humanos Ignacio Ellacuría S.J. from the Universidad Iberoamericana de Puebla, Unión Popular de Vendedores Ambulantes 28 de octubre, Comité Independiente por la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos del Estado de Puebla A.C., Coordinación Nacional Plan de Ayala – Movimiento Nacional / Miocup, Iniciativa Ciudadana para la Promoción de la Cultura del Diálogo A.C. - Oficina Regional Puebla. In Tehuacán we met with the Comisión de Derechos Humanos y Laborales del Valle de Tehuacán A.C. and with the Colectivo Obreras Insumisas. In Puebla we also had a meeting with a journalist from La Jornada de Oriente. We held four meetings with state authorities in Puebla's capital: Dirección de Derechos Humanos de la Procuraduría General de Justicia del Estado, Subsecretaría de Vinculación Institucional y Gobernanza de la Secretaría de Gobierno, Secretaría Técnico Ejecutiva de la Comisión de Derechos Humanos del Estado de Puebla and Secretaría de Seguridad Pública Estatal.
2 Maquila is the Mexican name for manufacturing operations in a free trade zone (FTZ), where factories import material and equipment on a duty-free and tariff-free basis for assembly, processing, or manufacturing and then export the assembled, processed and/or manufactured products, sometimes back to the raw materials' country of origin.
3According to Acuddeh's report, Obreras Insumisas accounted for 8% of the documented acts of aggression against human rights organisations in 2011. They are one of eight organisations in Mexico that have suffered acts of aggression the most (of the cases documented by Acuddeh). For further information see: issuu.com/comitecerezo/docs/informe_acuddeh_2012/69.
4According to the organisations the “black lists” name persons not recommended for work. They include varied data and pictures of the individuals and are distributed among the maquilas and other local businesses, as restaurants, thus preventing these individuals from being hired due to their activist past.