IN FOCUS

Assassinations of Journalists in Mexico Condemned at National and International Level

On 10 December 2016, journalist Jesús Adrián Rodríguez was assassinated in the city of Chihuahua. Given this most recent murder, various organisations expressed their concern regarding the general violence and specifically the situation of human rights activists and journalists in the state of Chihuaha and throughout Mexico.
At the international level, UNESCO, ONU-DH, European Union Delegation and embassies of member states, CIDH, and Interamerican Journalist Society (SIP), among others, condemned the murder of the journalist from Chihuahua and demanded a proper investigation and swift resolution of this case. They also underlined their concern, as this assassination is added to between 11 and 14 additional murders of journalists that have taken place in Mexico in 2016. In the opinion of the aforementioned organisations, this pattern directly affects the right to the freedoms of expression and information, generating a climate of fear for journalists and society alike. Moreover they were concerned that such assassinations take place despite the existence of various national and state-level mechanisms that have been put in place to guarantee the protection of journalists and human rights activists. It should be remembered that on the federal level, a Mechanism for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists was created in 2012; and, at the state level in Chihuahua, an early alert was published recognizing the gravity of the situation in the state, with the intention of preventing future violations.
Generally speaking, the organization Article 19 emphasized that the number of assassinated journalists in 2016 was higher than in 2015, and that these numbers come in addition to other forms of attacks and are typically met with alarming rates of impunity in the majority of cases.

Mexican State Recognizes its Obligation to Guarantee the Human Rights of Journalists and Activists

During the presentation of the annual report of the Mechanism for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists, and the evaluation of the years 2012 to 2016, government representatives presented advances and setbacks faced. The president of the National Commission for Human Rights, Luis Raúl González, pointed out an increase in the number of aggressions and risk situations faces by human rights defenders and journalists. Such a trend underscored the necessity of strengthening preventive and protective measures as well as the power of the judiciary. Similarly, the Director of the Mechanism, Patricia Colchero, admitted that she is looking to improve methods of protection.
Civil society organizations set forth that the Protection Mechanism would not be necessary if the impunity in such cases was not as high as 98%, and asked that the beneficiaries be able to participate more actively in the elaboration of risk analysis and the definition of protective measures. All that, however, did not exclude the fact, that the best protection mechanism would be prevention.
During his presentation, Undersecretary for Human Rights Roberto Campa Cifrián, recognized the work that human rights defenders and journalists undertake in Mexico and underlined the categorical rejection of any type of aggression that seeks to limit guarantees. Several days later, the Sub-secretary for Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights, Miguel Ruiz Cabañas stated that all authorities, at all levels of government, should reject any act of intimidation or aggression directed at HRDs and journalists, guarantee their protection, and ensure that those who violate their rights are brought to justice.
PBI welcomes such public recognition, as it has repeatedly expressed the necessity that a security strategy for human rights defenders and journalists should include public recognition from the Mexican government. Additionally, PBI reiterates the necessity to continue improving the risk analysis and cooperation between national, state and local authorities. PBI, in its role accompanying civil society organizations, will continue to closely follow the implementation of improvements for the Mechanism.


Undersecretary for Human Rights Roberto Campa, during the presentation of the annual report of the Mechanism © PBI Mexico

SOUTHERN TEAM

Consorcio Manifests Concern for Cases of Arbitrary Detention in Oaxaca

In the last days of November, the organization Consorcio Oaxaca accompanied the families of victims of arbitrary detention in Mexico City, presenting their cases before several federal authorities. On 29 November, PBI accompanied Consorcio Oaxaca and families of the detained defenders to meetings with federal authorities in Mexico City. In a meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with Miguel Ruiz Cabañas, Sub-secretary of Multilateral Issues and Human Rights and Erasmo Alonso Lara Cabrera, General Director of Human Rights and Democracy, Consorcio Oaxaca and the family members asked for the immediate liberation of the detained persons. PBI also accompanied Consorcio and the family of Damián Gallardo to a meeting with the Sub-secretary of Human Rights in the Interior Ministry, Roberto Campa Cifrián.
The five cases they presented are also mentioned in the official opinion elaborated by the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. The report declared that the mentioned Mexican human rights defenders are detained illegally and that they suffered irregularities in their respective legal processes. Of the five, HRDs Librado Baños Rodríguez, Damián Gallardo Martínez and Enrique Guerrero Aviña remain imprisoned. Consorcio Oaxaca has said that “the detentions of the five persons present a similar pattern of arbitrary detention, isolation, torture and other violations.”. According to ACUDDEH, between June 2015 and May 2016, the number of arbitrarily detained persons increased to 497 (38 cases more than in the previous period); 68% of these people were involved in the protests against the educational reform and 11% in the Ayotzinapa case. This modality of criminalization of social protest has been highlighted by various human rights organizationsto. Related the topic, Consorcio presented a report elaborated in conjunction with several other civil society organizations on arbitrary and illegal detentions. In a presentation of the report, the phenomenon was classified as a “national practice in which Oaxaca is in the forefront.”

CNDH and OHCHR-Mexico Described as “Dramatic” the Human Rights Situation in Guerrero

On 6 and 7 December, the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Mexico (OHCHR) conducted a joint visit to Chilpancingo and Chilapa, in the State of Guerrero. The visit took place within a context of violence which, as several sources and organizations have claimed, strikes the state and has left behind a difficult situation of insecurity and a worrying human rights crisis, in which enforced disappearance and its direct link with the criminalization of social protest stand out as the most severe problems.
During the visit, both institutions held meetings with key actors, including state authorities, relatives of victims of disappearance and civil society organizations, among them the Tlachinollan Human Rights Centre and the Jose Maria Morelos y Pavon Regional Human Rights Centre. Family members and CSOs gave their direct testimony of the reality they face and expressed their concerns about the risk they are exposed to, following the severity of the enforced disappearance phenomenon in the state. PBI was present at the events carried out with human rights defenders.
At the end of this Mission, both institutions emphasized their concern regarding “the insecurity in the State, impunity affecting the cases of human rights violations, especially those related to disappearances, lack of access to justice, continuous threats against HRDs and forced internal displacement”. Jan Jarab, representative of OHCHR-Mexico described the situation as dramatic. Furthermore, civil society organizations and the relatives’ groups highlighted during the meetings that this visit shows, among other aspects, concern by the international community regarding human rights violations perpetrated in Guerrero and the urgent need for state and federal authorities to solve the demands that have already been expressed.


                                        PBI volunteers in a meeting between civil society  © PBI Mexico

On 5 December, 2016, in the context of the change of government in the state of Oaxaca, more than 20 civil society organizations from the state, including organizations accompanied by PBI -Educa and Consorcio Oaxaca- expressed their deep concern regarding the high levels of corruption, insecurity, violence, and impunity seen in the region in recent years and changes in the situation that could be expected in the future. The same scenario was previously highlighted at the end of November in a meeting convened by PBI between Oaxacan civil society organizations and the Canadian Embassy in Mexico. On that occasion, CSOs presented their impressions regarding the human rights situation they experienced in the state and issues that are fundamental to their work such as megaprojects, violence against women, the situation of HRDs and the rights of indigenous peoples, among others. In addition, on that ocasion they made known their concerns and priorities regarding human rights policies in view of the new government, and issues that are fundamental to their improvement. Among the concerns raised by civil society were the events which occurred on 9 June, 2016 in Nochixtlán, Hacienda Blanca, Viguera, Huitzo and Telixtlahuaca, Oaxaca and the lack of significant advances in the investigation after 6 months. These concerns are set out in the report "Operativo Oaxaca".

NORTHERN TEAM

III Caravan for Justice Denounces Violence and Human Rights Violations Against Indigenous Peoples in the Sierra Tarahumara

The Caravan for Justice in the Sierra Tarahumara was created in 2014 with the aim of giving national and international visibility to the human rights violations that affect the indigenous communities in this area of the country. In its third edition, held in early December, 2016, the Caravan brought together members of 8 indigenous communities from the Rarámuri and Ódami peoples, who traveled to Mexico City to present the findings of the report entitled Territorial Rights of Indigenous Peoples in the Sierra Tarahumara (Derechos Territoriales de los Pueblos Indígenas de la Sierra Tarahumara). Elaborated by the Network for the Defence of Indigenous Territories of the Sierra Tarahumara, the report emphasizes the situation of violence in the Sierra Tarahumara, the problem of dispossession, displacement and violations suffered by human rights defenders and community leaders – a situation that has been acknowledged by international bodies such as the IACHR in its 2015 report on indigenous peoples.
The caravan met with federal authorities, including the Supreme Court of Justice (SCJN), Senate and the Secretary of Agrarian, Territorial and Urban Development; as well as with representatives in Mexico of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). The journey ended in Chihuahua with a meeting with the State Commission for Indigenous Peoples, in which participants demanded compliance with the March 2012 SCJN judgment, which ordered the creation of a Trust Advisory Council for Copper Canyon (Barrancas del Cobre) - one of the tourism projects, which, according to the Network has significantly affected the indigenous communities in the Sierra Madre. In response, the state government committed to accompanying victims who have received death threats and the displaced.
PBI volunteers accompanied members of Caravan on their visit to the Senate, as part of the work we done with CSOs in the north of the country.


                                     The Caravan for Justice in the Sierra Tarahumara met with Senate © PBI Mexico

Law on Localisation, Recovery and Forensic Identification Approved in the State of Coahuila

On 10 December, PBI travelled to Coahuila in order to attend a hearing with State Governor Rubén Moreira Valdéz and the collective United Forces for Our Disappeared in Coahuila (FUUNDEC-M), who were also commemorating their 7^th anniversary. During the hearing, members of FUUNDEC-M highlighted the lack of results in locating the disappeared relatives of the organisation’s members, and affirmed that legislative progress is essential to creating the structural basis to guarantee the rights of disappeared persons and their relatives. A draft bill for the Law on Localisation, Recovery and Forensic Identification was presented with the participation of four collectives of disappeared persons in Coahuila, local human rights organisations, authorities, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). The law was approved on 13 December, 2016.
In agreement with the OHCHR, PBI acknowledges the enactment of this law and stresses the importance of effective implementation. PBI will continue monitoring these advances, as well as how the law is applied and the security implications for defenders in Coahuila, as part of the accompaniment it provides to the Fray Juan de Larios Diocesan Center for Human Rights and the Juan Gerardi Human Rights Center. It will also be paying close attention to the advances in terms of disappearances, a problem which the Mexican Interior Ministry’s Sub-secretary for Human Rights, Roberto Campa Cifrián, has recognised as one of the “main challenges” for human rights in Mexico.

PBI Facilitates Security and Advocacy Workshop in Cloete During Visit to the Coal Region of Coahuila

On 4 November, As part of the recent visit to the state of Coahuila in December, PBI Mexico facilitated a workshop with members of the Pasta de Conchos Family Organisation (OFPDC). The workshop is part of PBI’s Security and Protection Program for HRDs and is included within the accompaniment that PBI provides to this organisation.
The workshop was held at the offices of Pasta de Conchas, in the municipality of Sabinas, requiring, as a result, a new visit by the PBI team to the region. The purpose of the workshop was to share tools for analysis in terms of security and protection, as well as advocacy.
The Pasta de Conchos Family Organisation came about in the wake of the struggle to rescue of 65 victims following the collapse of Mine 8, unit Pasta de Conchos, in 2006. Today its works is focused on promoting the labour rights of miners and accompanying regional communities in defending their rights to health, housing and the environment. Due to their work in defence of human rights, members of OFPDC, including director Cristina Auerbach, have suffered harassment, threats and defamation campaigns. PBI has accompanied the organisation and its director since 2014 due to the risk they face.


 PBI Volunteer Facilitates Security and Advocacy Workshop with members of  OFPdC  in Cloete @PBI Mexico

OTHER NEWS

United Nations: The Fight Against Impunity is Essential to the Prevention of Torture

Between 12 and 21 December, 2016, the UN Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture visited Mexico, including the states of Baja California, Coahuila de Zaragoza, Guerrero, Morelos, Nuevo Leon and Veracruz as well as Mexico City. The visit focused on the analysis of the phenomenon of torture and mistreatment during the arrest, transfer and incarceration of people who have been deprived of their freedom. For this purpose, meetings were organized with persons deprived of freedom, authorities, representatives of civil society and the National Commission of Human Rights (CNDH).
At the end of the visit, the Committee emphasized that the battle against impunity is one of the most effective measures that can be adopted to fight against torture and the mistreatment. For that reason, the Committee urged the Mexican state to focus on ending impunity, as there is a clear distortion between the 4700 open investigations relating to torture at the national level according to official figures and the number of perpetrators sentenced. Another element underscored by the group of experts was the necessity of a General Law on Torture, conforming to the pertinent international standards, a sentiment that has been widely underscored by civil society and echoed by the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights in Mexico. On 14 December, the United Commissions of Human Rights and Justice Commission of the Chamber of Deputies adopted a first amendment draft. Considering the draft, civil society organisations request that the discussion integrate international standards, among others elements that would constitute an effective tool of prevention.