PBI-Mexico at meeting with UN Special Rapporteur on the Federal Mechanism for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists

On January 3, Espacio OSC tweeted:

“Today we met with @MaryLawlorhrds Special Rapporteur of the @UN on Human Rights Defenders and @UNHCHRmexico, to share the progress of the Working Group for the strengthening of the @Mecanismo_MX.

This Working Group represents a potential good practice of dialogue and collaboration between government entities and civil society in the protection of defenders in #México and the region, especially in the design of public policies.

We appreciate the willingness of @MaryLawlorhrds and her team to learn about the Working Group and provide technical support for the benefit of #HRD defenders in #México, as well as to specifically monitor the context of violence they face.”

Mary Lawlor then tweeted:

“I was very happy to learn more about the progress of the working group for the strengthening of the @Mecanismo_MX for the protection of HRDs and journalists in #Mexico. This collective work is fundamental and must continue @MisionMexOI [the Mexican Mission to the United Nations in Geneva].”

Espacio OSC

PBI-Mexico has previously explained: “Espacio_OSC is a coordination platform of 18 civil society organizations from throughout Mexico.”

It adds: “These organizations advocated jointly for the creation of the Federal Mechanism for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists, and they now monitor its implementation. PBI provides accompaniment and technical support to the platform.”

The Protection Mechanism

PBI-Mexico has also previously explained that a Protection Mechanism was created for journalists in Autumn 2010.

Later, the Law for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists was signed into law in June 2012. That law obliges both federal and state authorities to protect the rights of journalists and human rights defenders.

In March 2020, PBI-Mexico commented “the Mechanism continues to demonstrate notable deficiencies and concerning failures.”

The year before that, PBI also highlighted: “The Mechanism can’t possibly address its shortcomings with its current budget and staffing levels. Providing additional funding would be the first step the Mexican government can take to ensure the Mechanism has the resources necessary to manage its rapidly growing caseload.”

For more, please see the report Turning the Tide on Impunity: Protection and Access to Justice for Journalists and Human Rights Defenders in Mexico.

Journalists and human rights defenders killed in Mexico

On January 11, the Washington Post reported: “According to Article 19, an international organization that protects journalists, 163 journalists have been murdered in the country since 2000.”

In their 2023 Round-Up, Reporters Without Borders notes: “In Mexico, four deaths were recorded in 2023, less than half the number recorded in 2022 (11). However, this does not mean that security has improved for journalists there, as demonstrated by the kidnappings of three reporters and the armed attacks against four journalists towards the end of 2023. Given the record number of cases of violence in 2022, some journalists have been more systematic in calculating the risks to which they are exposed, which implies more self-censorship and the spread of information black holes.”

And in November 2023, following the murder of land and environmental defender Higinio Trinidad de la Cruz, Global Witness highlighted: “Between 2012 and 2022, 185 land and environmental defenders have been killed in Mexico.”

PBI-Mexico

The Peace Brigades International-Mexico Project opened in 1998. Their Annual Report 2022 notes that they had 20 field volunteers from 11 countries with 8 people in the support office and 5 people who were part of the team outside of Mexico.

For more, please see their website.