Article by PBI-Canada

On July 17, the Peace Brigades International-Mexico Project posted about a meeting this week of the OSC Space, which it accompanies.

The Espacio_OSC for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists is a coordination platform of 18 civil society organizations from throughout Mexico. PBI provides accompaniment and technical support to the platform.

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.

The Espacio_OSC statement about the meeting notes: “Yesterday, within the framework of the 176th Regular Session of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, [numerous organizations] participated in a bilateral meeting [to] address the situation of the defence of human rights and free expression in Mexico after the pandemic by COVID19.”

“In the space, the organizations denounced that the risk situation faced by people who defend human rights in Mexico has worsened as a result of the pandemic.”

“In particular, they referred to the situation of women defenders and the LGBTIQ + population; as well as defenders of land and territory, criminalized and deprived of liberty defenders, who accompany the migrant population, to the risks faced by journalists and communicators; and to the situation of relatives of disappeared persons or victims of human rights violations.”

“According to information documented by the organizations, since the start of the contingency, at least 10 defenders have been killed (4 of them women and two journalists) and the criminalization of three defenders has been reported, among many other attacks such as stigmatization, repression and threats.”

“For their part, the organizations denounce that the intensification of extractivism in the face of the continuity of megaprojects, the restriction in the procedures for requesting public information; as well as the suspension and reduction of the work of the courts and prosecutors, limit access to justice, and have negative effects on defenders and journalists.”

Among the requests made to the IACHR: “Provide recommendations to federal and state authorities regarding the situation of defenders and journalists in Mexico in the context of the pandemic.”

To read the full report on the meeting, which includes concerns about increased levels of violence against women and the increasing militarization of public security, please see: Organizaciones de DDHH denuncian ante la CIDH agravamiento del riesgo para personas defensoras y periodistas en México.