PBI-Mexico accompanies Contingency Plan working table discussions

On September 9, the Peace Brigades International-Mexico Project posted on Facebook about its presence at the Contingency Plan working tables.

PBI-Mexico notes on its website, “In July 2019, PBI accompanied the seventh revision of the Contingency Plan’s working tables, which is a preventive strategy.”

“The report ‘Turning the Tide on Impunity’, published by WOLA and PBI, values this public policy as an advance of the Federal Protection Mechanism for Human Rights Defenders and Journalists.”

“Representatives from the embassies of Switzerland, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom were observers at these tables.”

PBI-Mexico has previously explained, “[The Contingency Plan of Chihuahua] was created from the Early Warning System [that 26 civil society organizations petitioned for in March 2016] for the protection of human rights defenders and journalists in Chihuahua.”

And it noted, “The plan has 5 main themes: journalists and freedom of expression; vulnerable populations; the environment; the Tarahumara Sierra; and cross-cutting strategies like justice, transparency of information and the legal context.”

The ‘Turning the Tide on Impunity’ report notes, “[Mexico’s Mechanism to Protect Human Rights Defenders and Journalists] has begun to address prevention through the development of ‘early warnings’ and ‘contingency plans’, a system aimed at preventing future attacks against journalists and human rights defenders.”

It also pointed to the challenge that, “Despite the commitments made under the plan, Chihuahua authorities have not yet launched campaigns to raise awareness of the underlying factors contributing to violence against this population, such as the overexploitation of water, organized crime, and lack of government presence in the Sierra Tarahumara.”

The Peace Brigades International-Mexico Project’s team based in Chihuahua has been observing the Contingency Plan process since May 2017.

A PBI-Mexico interview with Isela González, director of Alianza Sierra Madre (ASMAC), about “the issues presented to the embassies in Mexico City and her assessment of the diplomatic presence at the working tables in Northern Mexico” can be read here.

The WOLA/PBI report ‘Turning the Tide on Impunity’ can be read here.