Photo: Prime Minister Mark Carney and President Claudia Sheinbaum in Mexico City, September 18, 2025.
Peace Brigades International-Canada continues to call on the Government of Canada to work with the Government of Mexico to strengthen the Protection Mechanism for Human Rights Defenders and Journalists in Mexico.
Now, Deutsche Welle (DW) reports on the two-year anniversary of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum who took office on October 1, 2024.
That news report highlights: “[Edgar Cortez, a project coordinator at the Mexican Institute of Human Rights and Democracy in Mexico City] pointed out [as a continuing issue of concern] attacks on human rights defenders and journalists, along with a failure to sufficiently consult with Indigenous groups and rural communities when it came to major construction projects.”
Cortez comments that he hasn’t seen “any progress or setbacks” when it comes to human rights concerns.
Photo: Edgar Cortez is a lawyer, human rights defender, and project coordinator of the Instituto Mexicano de Derechos Humanos y Democracia A.C.
At least 28 human rights defenders killed over the past two years
The Global Witness Collective power: The struggle for protection for land and environmental defenders report documents that 10 land and environmental defenders were killed in Mexico in 2025.
And in their Roots of Resistance: Documenting the global struggles of defenders protecting land and environmental rights, Global Witness documented 19 cases in 2024, 18 killings and one disappearance.
At least 12 journalists killed over the same period
Reuters has alos reported: “Eight journalists disappeared or were murdered [7 murdered, 1 disappeared] in Mexico in 2025, the UK-based journalist advocacy group Article 19 said in a report [that] named Mexico as the country in Latin America with the highest rates of censorship and judicial harassment against the press.”
And Anadolu English has reported: “In its 2024 round-up, it noted that five journalists were killed in Mexico, ranking it among the top three most violent places for journalism behind Palestine and Pakistan.”
Protection Mechanism
The United Steelworkers has explained: “At the federal level, the Protection Mechanism for Human Rights Defenders and Journalists has been operating [in Mexico] since 2012. Its creation responded to persistent aggressions against both groups and to the demands made for years by national and international organizations.”
United Steelworkers proposals
The USW has stated: “We call on trade unions, organizations, defenders, academia and national and international organizations to support this initiative and contribute to the construction of a proposal to reform the Federal Mechanism for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists, adding their cases, proposals and endorsements to the request that will be formally presented to the authorities.”
They also call for the creation of a National Protocol for the Protection of Trade Unionists and Labour Rights Defenders in Mexico, coordinated by an Inter-institutional Immediate Reaction Table for High-Risk Labour Disputes.
Canada-Mexico Action Plan
In September 2025, Global Affairs Canada released its Canada-Mexico Action Plan 2025-2028. There is no specific reference to human rights defenders in this Action Plan, though the Government of Canada has called on Mexico to strengthen its Protection Mechanism for human rights defenders and journalists.
In January 2024, Canada called on Mexico at their United Nations Universal Periodic Review (UPR) to: “Strengthen, from an intersectional and gender perspective, the federal Protection Mechanism for Human Rights Defenders and Journalists, specifically in the areas of prevention, protection, investigation, and reparation.”
Mexico-Canada Dialogue in May 2027
The most recent Mexico-Canada Dialogue on Human Rights and Multilateral Issues took place in May 2026 in Ottawa.
The report from 2025 Dialogue noted: “Discussions addressed concerns related to attacks on freedom of expression, the influence of social media in spreading hate and discrimination, and the risks faced by journalists and human rights defenders in Mexico and globally. Topics also included the increase of digital threats, the importance of cybersecurity, the issue of disappearances in Mexico, Mexico’s human rights protection mechanisms and the possibility of a database to monitor disappearances. Both countries agreed to share experiences regarding data protection and databases.”
The next Mexico-Canada Dialogue on Human Rights and Multilateral Issues will take place in Mexico, likely in May 2027.
Midterm elections in June 2027
The Texas Public Policy Foundation has commented: “Mexico’s 2027 midterm elections [on June 6, 2027] will constitute the most consequential political contest since the 2024 presidential election. …The electoral process will include the complete renewal of the [500-seat] Chamber of Deputies, seventeen governorships, state legislatures, and more than two thousand municipal governments.”
The next presidential election in Mexico will be in June 2030. (US President Donald Trump’s last day in office will be January 20, 2029.)
Carney and Sheinbaum “remain in close contact”
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney visited Mexico and met with President Sheinbaum on September 18-19, 2025. The readout from their last telephone conversation on August 20, 2026, noted: “Prime Minister Carney and President Sheinbaum agreed to remain in close contact.”
We continue to follow this.
