International/National: UNHCHR Calls on Mexican State to Increase Efforts to Effectively Implement General Law on Forced Disappearance of Persons

Photo @ novedadesaca.mx

On January 14th, the Office in Mexico of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) called on the Mexican State in a statement to redouble efforts to advance the effective implementation of the General Law for Matters of Forced Disappearance of Persons, Disappearance committed by Individuals and on the National Persons Search System.

Two years after the entry into force of this law, the UNHCHR announced that “the publication of new official information and public recognition of the problem are advances. Likewise, it has observed progress in the institutional consolidation of the National Search Commission and the formation of the majority of the state commissions.”Two years after the entry into force of this law, the UN-DH announced that “the publication of new official information and public recognition of the problem are progress. Likewise, it has observed progress in the institutional consolidation of the National Search Commission and in the formation of the majority of the state search commissions.”

However, “it is still necessary to continue promoting legislative harmonization and institutional consolidation. In this regard, there are 23 federated entities to pass their local legislation harmonized with the General Law; 28 do not have a harmonized law of special declaration of absence; seven must still form their prosecutor’s office specializing in crimes of disappearance and three have yet to create their local commission.”

It considered that in relation to a diagnosis that favors the design of better strategies for the attention and eradication of disappearances “it is worrisome that there is still no full collaboration in the matter between the federation and the states. An example of this is that not all state law enforcement agencies have sent updated or complete information on missing persons for their incorporation into the National Registry of Missing and Unlocated Persons.”

It especially encouraged the state authorities to continue advancing “in the adoption of the programs, registries and databases established in the Law and to continue working to strengthen the search and research efforts, through institutional, budgetary and regulations. ”And to all the authorities involved in consolidating the operation of the Extraordinary Forensic Identification Mechanism.

Finally, it invited the Mexican State to strengthen the spaces for collaboration and technical assistance with specialized international organizations.National Search Commission and in the formation of the majority of the state search commissions. ”

However, “it is still necessary to continue promoting legislative harmonization and institutional consolidation. In this regard, there are 23 federated entities to pass their local legislation harmonized with the General Law; 28 do not have a harmonized law of special declaration of absence; seven must still form their prosecutor’s office specializing in crimes of disappearance and three have yet to create their local commission. ”

It considered that in relation to a diagnosis that favors the design of better strategies for the attention and eradication of disappearances “it is worrisome that there is still no full collaboration in the matter between the federation and the states. An example of this is that not all state law enforcement agencies have sent updated or complete information on missing persons for their incorporation into the National Registry of Missing and Unlocated Persons.”

It especially encouraged the state authorities to continue advancing “in the adoption of the programs, registries and databases established in the Law and to continue working to strengthen the search and research efforts, through institutional, budgetary and regulations measures”, and to all the authorities involved in consolidating the operation of the Extraordinary Forensic Identification Mechanism.

Finally, it invited the Mexican State to strengthen the spaces for collaboration and technical assistance with specialized international organizations.

For more information in Spanish:

ONU-DH: a dos años de su entrada en vigor, es necesario redoblar esfuerzos en la implementación de la ley sobre desaparición de personas (ONU-DH, 14 de enero de 2020)

ONU-DH presiona para que gobiernos implementen ley sobre desaparición de personas (Proceso, 14 de enero de 2020)

For more information from SIPAZ:

National/Guerrero: Agreement to Reintroduce Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts in Ayotzinapa Case. Number of Disappeared Increases in the Country (January 14, 2020)

Guerrero: Body of Activist Arnulfo Cero Found in Hidden Grave More than One Month after his Disappearance in Tlapa de Comonfort (November 24, 2019)

International/National : Un Human Rights Committee Issues 48 Human Rights Recommendations for Mexico (November 12, 2019)

Nacional: Se lleva a cabo el coloquio “El Estado de la Búsqueda de Desaparecidos en Guerrero. Retos y perspectivas” (November 6, 2019)

Chiapas/Mexico: EZLN, CNI and CIG Convene Actions in Defense of Territory and Mother Earth “We Are All Samir”

In a statement published on January 7th, the peoples, communities, organizations, groups and individuals who participated in the Forum in Defense of the Territory and Mother Earth that took place in the Zapatista caracol of Jacinto Canek in San Cristobal de Las Casas, Chiapas, at the end of December, convened “Days in Defense of the Territory and Mother Earth – We Are All Samir” scheduled for next February.

In that statement, they stated that “capitalism is growing from war and the dispossession of all forms of life. The bad governments and the big capitalist companies, each of them with name and surname, try to make our struggles in defense of the territory and the Mother Earth invisible, even normalizing the murder of our brothers who defend them.” One of them was environmental activist Samir Flores Soberano, a native of Nagua people of Amilcingo, Morelos, who was killed a year ago, which is why his name has remained as a symbol of resistance in defense of the land.

“In Mexico, the acceleration of mining activity and the extraction and conduction of hydrocarbons, the creation of the National Guard in the logic of the Merida Initiative and the impulse, at whatever cost, of the large megaprojects (Trans-Isthmus Corridor Salina Cruz-Coatzacoalcos, the Maya Train, the Morelos Integral Project, the New International Airport of Mexico City) that seek to reorder the territories, populations and borders of North and Central America in a logic of dispossession and capitalist exploitation, place the defense of human life, the defense of the territories of our peoples and the defense of the land in a clearly anti-capitalist and anti-patriarchal perspective,” the statement said.

The activities planned for the Conference include:

February 20th, 2020: Various actions in Mexico and the World in Defense of the Territory and Mother Earth, for justice for our dead, our disappeared, our prisoners and against megaprojects of death.

February 21st, 2020: March for Justice For Our Brother Samir Flores Soberanes, for our dead, our disappeared, our prisoners and in Defense of the Territory and Mother Earth. Mexico City. Starting point: Offices of the Federal Electricity Commission in Reforma Avenue, 16:00.

February 22nd, 2020: Assembly in Defense of the Territory and Mother Earth, in the center of the Community of Amilcingo, Municipality of Temoac, State of Morelos, starting at 10 am.

For more information in Spanish:

CONVOCATORIA A LAS JORNADAS EN DEFENSA DEL TERRITORIO Y LA MADRE TIERRA “SAMIR SOMOS TODAS Y TODOS”:  Enlace Zapatista, 7 de enero de 2020

Convocan a Jornadas en Defensa del Territorio y la Madre Tierra “Samir Somos Todas y Todos” (Proceso, 7 de enero de 2020)

Anuncia EZLN Jornadas en defensa del territorio y la Madre Tierra (La Jornada, 7 de enero de 2020)

EZLN, CNI Y CIG convocan a Jornada de Resistencia Civil y Foro por la Madre Tierra; Chiapasparalelo, 7 de enero de 2020

EZLN anuncia marcha en CdMx en “defensa de la tierra”; Milenio, 7 de enero de 2020

For more information from SIPAZ:

Chiapas/National: Fourth Assembly of CNI-CIG Held in San Cristobal de Las Casas (January 13, 2020)

Chiapas/Nacional : CNI- CIG “vivimos la guerra del capital contra los pueblos del mundo”, convocatoria a la cuarta Asamblea Nacional (November 8, 2019)

Chiapas/National/International: EZLN Invitation to “Celebration of Life: December of Resistance and Rebellion” (November 10, 2019)

 National/International: CNI Mobilizations for Global Day of Struggle in Defense of Life and our Territories – “SAMIR FLORES LIVES” (October 17, 2019)

National/Guerrero: Agreement to Reintroduce Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts in Ayotzinapa Case. Number of Disappeared Increases in the Country

Photo @ Televisa News

On January 8th, parents of the 43 missing students from Ayotzinapa and the federal government agreed to reinstate the Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts (IGIE) in the investigation of the Iguala case.

In this regard, the Undersecretary for Human Rights, Population and Migration, Alejandro Encinas, said that one year after the Commission for Truth and Justice was created in the Ayotzinapa case, there are no “tangible results”, despite the fact that the government of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has “punctually fulfilled” its commitments to the fathers and mothers of the 43 disappeared student teachers, he told Proceso magazine.

In an interview, Paulo Abrao, Executive Secretary of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, recalled that the IACHR’s proposal “has been the reintegration of the IGIE, as well as some of its former members being part of the Technical Assistance Group” and he stressed that “there was an evaluation” and talked about the progress of the initiatives taken (by the Commission headed by Encinas), “which are very positive, but it is necessary to accelerate the processes to achieve the objective, which is the location of the students.”

Rosales Sierra, a lawyer for the Tlachinollan Mountain Human Rights Center the, said that “the participation of the IGIE in its previous stage, acting in the field, with broad powers to provide evidence, full adjunct powers, which they previously had, was transcendent, but only on paper, but it did not have the facilities to exercise them.” However, “we cannot put the expectations of the case in the IGIE, it is up to the government, the presidential Commission, the FGR and the special prosecutor’s office to work for the clarification, they have the burden of investigations.”

Regarding the issue of disappearance, the Secretary of the Interior (SEGOB) announced in recent weeks that during “the first year of the administration of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador 9,164 people were reported missing, of which only 43 percent were located; so there are 61,637 missing throughout the country.” He reported that the figures presented “are not yet final since at least 11 state prosecutors are still systematizing and updating all their information.”

Foe more information in Spanish:

Acuerdan reinstalación del GIEI en caso Ayotzinapa (El Universal, 8 de enero de 2019)

Encinas reconoce que no hay “resultados tangibles” en caso Iguala (Bajo Palabra, 8 de enero de 2019)

Encinas: en caso Ayotzinapa, se cumplen compromisos y hay avances (Milenio, 8 de enero de 2019)

En caso Ayotzinapa no hay “resultados tangibles”, admite Encinas (el Proceso, 8 de enero de 2019)

En México hay 61 mil 637 desaparecidos: Segob (Milenio, 6 de enero de 2019)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Guerrero: Actions by The Other Forgotten of Ayotzinapa Announced (January 4, 2020)

Guerrero: Attorney General Will Investigate Ayotzinapa Case “Almost from Scratch” (September 25, 2019)

Guerrero/National: Reactions to Liberation of 24 Involved in Ayotzinapa Case (September 23, 2019)

Guerrero/National: Relatives of the 43 Student Teachers Disappeared in Iguala in 2014 Meet AMLO (September 23, 2019)

Guerrero: New Stage in Investigation of Ayotzinapa Case – Creation of Special Investigation Unit with Omar Gomez Trejo as Head (July 8, 2019)

National/Guerrero: VIDEO of Torture in Ayotzinapa Case Belies “Historic Truth” (June 27, 2019)

Guerrero: Attorney General and SEDENA Denounced for Lack of Interest in Solving Ayotzinapa Case (May 17, 2019)

Guerrero/National: More Information Published on Role of Army in Ayotzinapa Case (March 15, 2019)

Guerrero/National: Commission for Truth and Access to Justice in Ayotzinapa Case Set Up. Federal Judge Orders Investigation into Possible Responsibility of Attorney General Employees for Irregularities (January 22nd, 2019)

National: Red TdT Publishes Human Rights Balance for 2019

On January 1st, the National Network of Civil Human Rights Organizations “All Rights for All” (TdT Network) published a balance sheet for 2019 and a series of recommendations to address the human rights situation in the country towards “a fair and successful future for everyone.”

It considered that 2019 was an “uncomfortable” year of “high contrasts and confrontations”. As for individuals and groups of human rights defenders, it recalled that 21 of them were killed for their work in the timeframe, demonstrating that “they continue to perform their work in high-risk conditions. (…) With concern, we emphasize that aggressions against defenders of land and territory persist; likewise, this year increased criminalization and aggressions against defenders of migrants and forcibly displaced person.” It denounced that “public officials at all levels of government have mage human rights defenders vulnerable. This includes the highest investitures of the State, but above all, it is at the municipal level where a good part of the perpetrators of the most serious aggressions are found.” It documented that in at least six cases of the 21 murders, “municipal governments were key actors in perpetrating attacks against defenders, serving primarily as intellectual authors.” For 2020, it urged the Mexican State to “generate the conditions to effectively combat aggressions against defenders, specifically murder and extrajudicial execution.”

Regarding violence against women, the TdT Network documented that it persists in the country and has even increased alarmingly in some states. “There are still serious deficiencies in the design and implementation of public policies to ensure a life free of violence for Mexican women,” it said.

In terms of security, democracy and justice, the challenge, the TdT Network stated that “good intentions do not guarantee the consolidation of an adequate model of justice.” “The questioning of the importance of autonomy and independence for a more effective and expeditious justice seems worrying,” it said.

Regarding migration, the TdT Network stated that “during 2019 the Mexican government opted for decisions that have put thousands of people from Central America and the Caribbean at risk, and increasingly from countries in Africa and Asia. With the signing of trade agreements with the United States in June, Mexico agreed to place the lives of migrants in need of international protection as a currency.”

They also “see with concern the increase in forced internal displacement flows to the north, center and south of the country,” it said, calling on the Mexican State to facilitate the on-site visit of the IACHR to the Northern and Southern borders, as well as the visit of that of the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons, (…) attending to the reports and recommendations that come out of these visits.

For more information in Spanish:

Van 21 asesinatos de defensores de derechos humanos en gobierno de AMLO: Red TDT (Aristegui Noticias, 2 de enero de 2020)

En 2019, 21 defensores de derechos humanos asesinados (La Jornada, 1ero de enero de 2020)

Mataron a 21 defensores de derechos humanos en 2019, confirma ONG (El Sol de México, 1ero de enero de 2020)

2019 año de contrastes y confrontaciones;2020, año de reconstruirnos desde los DH (Red TdT, 1ero de enero de 2020)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Nacional: 28 activistas asesinados en 2019 por rechazar proyectos del gobierno, según organizaciones civiles.  (2 de diciembre de 2019)

Nacional/Internacional : « Cuando las Palabras No Bastan », informe de Amnistía Internacional a casi un año de la toma de posesión de AMLO (28 de noviembre de 2019)

Nacional: México es el sexto país más peligroso para ambientalistas según Global Witness; al menos 12 activistas asesinados en 2019 7 de octubre de 2019

Nacional: 21 defensores ambientales fueron asesinados en 2018 (CEMDA) 26 de marzo de 2019.

Nacional : 161 defensores y 40 periodistas asesinados en el sexenio que termina, Red TdT 30 de noviembre de 2018.

Chiapas/International: Second Encounter of Women Who Struggle Held by EZLN

@Enlace Zapatista

On December 27th, the Second International Encounter of Women who Struggle was convened by the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) and took place in Morelia from December 27th to 29th. It was inaugurated by Commander Amada, who indicated in her speech that “we have done everything possible to make you happy and safe. It seems easy to say, but we know very well that there are very few places in the world where we can be happy and safe (…) all, regardless of the calendar we have or the geography in which we live, we are in the same situation: the struggle for our rights as women we are. For example, our right to life. And this is where we are sad because, more than a year after the first meeting, we cannot give good accounts. Around the world they continue to kill women, they continue to disappear, they continue to rape them, they continue to despise them. In this year the number of violated, disappeared and murdered has not stopped. What we know is that it has increased.”

In total, women from 49 countries were present, men were not allowed during the three days of the meeting. As of December 26th, 3,259 women and 95 boys and girls had been registered, but many participants also arrived without prior registration. The program proposed a different approach for each day: “Today is a single reporting table and here the microphone will be open. Here we will be able to pass and take the floor and take out our anger, our courage from everything we do (…). And then, tomorrow we have to share the ideas, work and experiences that you bring to find ways to end this nightmare of pain and death. And on the last day of this meeting we will dedicate it to culture, art and celebration. So one day we shout our pains and courage. Another day we share ideas and experiences. And on the third day we shout for joy and strength. Because we are women who suffer. But we are also women who think and organize themselves.” Apart from the official activities, there were several spontaneous discussions and workshops facilitated by women participants who arrived with knowledge or a special interest that they wanted to share with the other women.

Regarding the results and proposals of the meeting, during the closing, Commander Yesica Commander summarized what was agreed upon “1. That we all make and know the proposals as it comes in our thinking on the issue of violence against women. That is, proposals for how to stop this serious problem that we have as women that we are (…) 2. That if any woman in any part of the world, of any age, of any color asks you for help because she is attacked with violence, we respond to her called and let’s look for ways to support it, protect it and defend it. (…) 3. That all the groups and organizations of women who fight that want to coordinate for joint actions exchange with each other ways of communicating with each other, either by telephone or internet or whatever.”

Both the inauguration and the closure were accompanied by the Zapatista women parts of the armed branch of the EZLN in the form of a military exercise.

In the end, the event ended with a final proposal by the Zapatistas: “We propose that each day [on March 8, 2020] each organization or group do what they think is best. And we each carry the color or signal that identifies us, according to the thought and mode of each one. But we all wear black in pain and sorrow for all missing and murdered women around the world. So that we tell you, in all languages, in all geographies and with all calendars: That they are not alone. That we need them. That we miss them. We do not forget them. That we need them. Because we are women who fight. And we don’t sell ourselves, we don’t surrender and we don’t give up.”

For more information in Spanish:

PALABRAS DE LAS MUJERES ZAPATISTAS EN LA INAUGURACIÓN DEL SEGUNDO ENCUENTRO INTERNACIONAL DE MUJERES QUE LUCHAN (Enlace Zapatista el 27 de diciembre de 2019)

PALABRAS DE LAS MUJERES ZAPATISTAS EN LA CLAUSURA DEL SEGUNDO ENCUENTRO INTERNACIONAL DE MUJERES QUE LUCHAN (Enlace Zapatista el 31 de diciembre de 2019)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Chiapas: EZLN lleva a cabo el 26 aniversario de su levantamiento (3 de enero de 2020)

Chiapas/Nacional : Se lleva a cabo Foro en Defensa del Territorio y la Madre Tierra en el nuevo caracol zapatista Jacinto Canek 26 de diciembre de 2019.

Chiapas/Nacional: se lleva a cabo 4ª Asamblea del CNI-CIG en San Cristóbal de Las Casas 21 de diciembre de 2019.

Chiapas: EZLN – Una Ballena en las montañas del sureste mexicano: Segundo Festival de Ciné zapatista 18 de diciembre de 2019.

Chiapas: EZLN convoca al Segundo Encuentro Internacional de Mujeres que Luchan (20 de septiembre de 2019)

Chiapas: Primer Encuentro Internacional Político, Artístico, Deportivo y Cultural de Mujeres que Luchan (13 de marzo de 2018)

Guerrero: Actions by The Other Forgotten of Ayotzinapa Announced

@Jorge Gonzalez

On December 17th, at a press conference held at the headquarters of the Normal Rural School of Ayotzinapa, relatives of students who lost their lives in different events since 2011 announced the formation of the Committee for The Other Forgotten that will seek to obtain justice in their cases. This Committee is made up of relatives of Gabriel Echeverria de Jesus and Alexis Herrera Pino who were shot in Chilpnacingo in December 2011; of Freddy Fernando Crispin and Eugenio Alberto Tamarit, who were run over in the vicinity of Atoyac in January 2014; of Julio Cesar Ramirez Nava, Daniel Solis Gallardo and Julio Cesar Mondragon Fontes who were executed in Iguala on September 26th, 2014; and Filemon Tacuba Castro and Jonathan Morales Hernandez who were killed in October 2016, on the road that connects Tixtla with Chilpancingo, by alleged members of organized crime

They announced that as the first action they will move to Mexico City to request a hearing with President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, and the Under Secretary of Human Rights and Population, Alejandro Encinas, to present their demands. They claimed that despite having spent several years fighting for justice, no one has paid attention to them. They finally declared that “they will not leave in peace” those who are responsible for these murders: former governor Angel Aguirre Rivero, former Guerrero attorney Alberto Lopez Rosas, former federal public security head Genaro Garcia Luna and former president Felipe Calderon Hinojosa.

For more information in Spanish:

Conforman Los Otros Olvidados de Ayotzinapa para exigir justicia (La Jornada, 17 de diciembre de 2019)

Anuncian Los Olvidados de Ayotzinapa movilizaciones en CDMX (Quadartin, 17 de diciembre de 2019)

Protestan en Palacio Nacional por asesinato de 9 normalistas (Excelsior, 18 de diciembre de 2019)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Guerrero: Denuncian al Estado mexicano ante el Sistema Interamericano de Derechos Humanos por muerte y tortura de normalistas de Ayotzinapa en 2011 (16 de diciembre de 2015)

Guerrero: a 2 dos años sigue impune el caso de Ayotzinapa (13 de diciembre de 2013)

Guerrero: Liberan a policías relacionados al asesinato de estudiantes de la Normal Rural de Ayotzinapa (27 de abril de 2013)

Guerrero: normalistas conmemoran primer aniversario de la represión en Ayotzinapa (13 de diciembre de 2013)

National/International: “When Words Are Not Enough” – Amnesty International Report almost One Year after AMLO Takes Office

On November 27th, almost one year after the inauguration of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) as the new president of Mexico, Amnesty International (AI) presented a report entitled “When Words Are Not Enough” in which it takes stock of progress made on the human rights crisis in the country.

“The government of President Lopez Obrador has shown a willingness to move forward partially on some initiatives, especially on the issue of disappearances in the country. However, after a year of his government, there are no substantial changes in the lives of millions of people facing a very serious human rights crisis that has lasted for more than a decade. The very high levels of violence that undermine the right to life, the torture that is still widespread, the alarming rates of violence against women, and a militarized security strategy more alive than ever, are a sign of the tragic reality in Mexico,” Erika Guevara Rosas, director for the Americas of Amnesty International, said.

Refarding advances, she considered that the decision of the government in August to recognize the competence of the Committee against Enforced Disappearances of the UN to review communications on individual cases, gave a solution to one of the repeated demands of relatives of missing persons and human rights organizations. “However, this measure has not yet been implemented.”

AI said it sees “a huge incongruity between what the government says and what it then does. It promises a more humane treatment for migrants and in need of international protection, but sends the National Guard to persecute and detain them. It says he will protect human rights defenders and journalists, but publicly discredits them. It is worrisome that human rights violations remain the rule in Mexico and not the exception,” Erika Guevara Rosas added.

Amnesty International concluded that “in order to achieve a substantial change in human rights, the government must stop blaming previous administrations for the situation and, instead, accept responsibility for what is happening in the present and seek solutions to address the serious debts pending in the matter, making sure that any policy of the current administration has human rights and its international obligations as a fundamental basis.”

For more information in Spanish:

Cuando las palabras no bastan (Amnistía Internacional, 27 de noviembre de 2019)

México: Amnistía Internacional alerta sobre la falta de avances en derechos humanos después de un año del nuevo gobierno (Amnistía Internacional, 27 de noviembre de 2019)

“Las palabras no bastan”, la evaluación de AI al gobierno de AMLO en materia de derechos humanos (Proceso, 27 de noviembre de 2019)

México mantiene crisis de derechos humanos en gobierno de AMLO según Amnistía Internacional (El Sol de México, 27 de noviembre de 2019)

Amnistía Internacional califica de “incongruente” la política de derechos humanos de López Obrador (El País, 28 de noviembre de 2019)

For more information from SIPAZ:

International/National: Un Human Rights Committee Issues 48 Human Rights Recommendations for Mexico (November 12, 2019)

National/International: Attacks on Migrant Defenders in Central America, Mexico and U.S. Increase (October 1, 2019)

International/National: UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Expresses Concern over Unresolved Issues in Mexico (September 22, 2019)