On April 11, Al Jazeera reported, “A Mexican journalist who disappeared more than a week ago in the southern state of Guerrero was found dead on Saturday, becoming the second journalist to be murdered this year in the country.”

“Forensic tests on human remains in the seaside resort of Acapulco were identified as belonging to Victor Fernando Alvarez, who disappeared on April 2.”

Article by PBI-Mexico

“Pasta de Conchos is very important because it will set a precedent for how mining should operate, how workers should be treated, and [show] that companies should think twice before opening mines”, Cristina Auerbach.

The Guardian reports that Mexican journalist María Elena Ferral Hernández was shot to death on March 30 in Papantla, Veracruz “as violent crime in the country – and attacks on the press – continue amid the coronavirus pandemic.”

That article notes, “Ferral reported for the Veracruz newspaper El Diario de Xalapa and founded the news website Quinto Poder de Veracruz, where she investigated sensitive issues such as crime, corruption and the police.”

Located in the south of Mexico, the Isthmus of Tehuántepec crosses both Oaxaca and Veracruz. The Pacific and Atlantic Oceans are divided by only around 200km, making this Mexico’s narrowest point. Development projects have been operating in the area since the early 20th century, and PBI has accompanied human rights defenders protecting land and territory – and facing threats for their opposition to such projects – since 2011.

“The isthmus, commercial route for the world”

Article by PBI-Mexico

Article by PBI-Mexico

Advanced a decade ago by Mexican civil society and international bodies, the introduction of the Protection Mechanism for Human Rights Defenders and Journalists (Mecanismo de Protección para Personas Defensoras de Derechos Humanos y Periodistas) was a significant step forward for human rights in Mexico. However, the Mechanism continues to demonstrate notable deficiencies and concerning failures in the high-risk context faced by Mexican human rights defenders (HRDs).

Article by PBI-Mexico

Since the opening of PBI’s office in Chihuahua in 2013, we have established connections with various civil society organizations, including the Sierra Madre Alliance (Alianza Sierra Madre, A.C., ASMAC) which we have formally accompanied since 2018.

ASMAC works to accompany indigenous communities in a region where high risks permanently threaten the wellbeing of those who defend their lives and territories. Chihuahua is one of the states which has had, over the last decade, one of Mexico’s highest murder rates of human rights defenders (HRDs).

Article by PBI-Mexico

For more than a decade, totonaca indigenous communities in the Sierra Norte de Puebla have fought for the survival of their traditions and the defense of their territory. In January of this year, they won an important legal battle against the building of a hydroelectric dam with the local municipality revoking the permits for Puebla 1 to be built, due to illegal activities in the administrative processes.

Article by PBI-Mexico

Although the right to migrate is consecrated in article 13 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, it continues to be violated by different actors.

In Mexico, human rights defenders defend migrants by giving them humanitarian, legal and psychological attention which is often the only support migrants receive as they pass through the country that shares a border with the USA; the most transited border in the world.

Article by PBI-Mexico

Interview with Yésica Sánchez Maya, feminist lawyer and joint director of Consorcio Oaxaca. Part 2

Consorcio Para el Diálogo Parlamentario y la Equidad Oaxaca, promotes the respect and exercise of women’s human rights and gender equality.