Video still: PBI-Mexico team coordinator Dinah Dreher speaks at the release of the report in Mexico City.
On August 25, 2026, the 43-page 15th Report: Defending Human Rights in Mexico: Protesting is a Right – June 2025 to May 2026 was released.
As noted in its executive summary: “This report was prepared collectively by the organizations Urgent Action for Human Rights Defenders AC (ACUDDEH), the Cerezo Committee Mexico, and the National Campaign Against Forced Disappearance.”
274 arbitrary detentions, 11 extrajudicial executions and 3 enforced disappearances
The figures in the report correspond to human rights violations committed by the Mexican State as a means of punishing the work of human rights defenders in the period from June 1, 2025, to May 31, 2026.
The report documents 76 events and 247 acts of human rights violations committed against human rights defenders. These 247 acts affected 301 individuals, eight organizations, and eight communities.
The report further notes 274 arbitrary detentions, 11 cases of extrajudicial execution and 3 cases of enforced disappearances.
28 recommendations
The report concludes with 15 recommendations on cases on enforced disappearances, including: “Abandon the practice of enforced disappearance and comply with its obligations regarding investigation, prosecution, and punishment in all cases of enforced disappearance that have occurred to date, which would mean the presentation alive of the victims of enforced disappearance or, at least, information about their actual whereabouts” and “Order the Armed Forces and the Navy to present alive the victims of enforced disappearance who are in their custody and to punish the perpetrators and masterminds of this serious human rights violation”.
Then 2 recommendations on cases of extrajudicial execution, including: “Enact a General Law that investigates and punishes extrajudicial executions, classifying extrajudicial execution as a serious crime and a grave violation of human rights.”
Then 4 recommendations on other human rights violations committed against human rights defenders, including: “Amend and reform Articles 1, 73, and 102 of the Mexican Constitution and approve a General Law for Human Rights Defenders that allows federal authorities to prosecute common crimes when they are related to federal crimes or crimes committed against human rights defenders.”
And finally, 7 recommendations on cases of arbitrary detention and political prisoners, including: “Take concrete measures to comply with the Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons Subjected to Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment issued by the UN.”
Read the full report: Defender los DH en México: Protestar en un Derecho – Junio de 2025 a mayo de 2026.
To watch the video of the presentation of the report, click here.
