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)

National/Chiapas: CNDH Asks INM and COMAR for Precautionary Measures for 78 People Stranded in Tapachula

@SIPAZ

On January 10th, the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) published a request addressed to the National Institute of Migration (INM) and the Mexican Commission for Refugee Assistance (COMAR) expressing concern at the breach of the deadlines set by the Law in Regarding the procedures of immigration regularization.

According to records published by Andres Ramirez, head of COMAR, the number of asylum applications in Mexico in 2019 grew 2.6 times compared to the figures of the previous year. During the past 12 months, shelter applications were received from 70,302 people, mostly from Central American countries. The country from which most applications were registered was Honduras with an total of 30,045, followed by El Salvador (8,991) Cuba (8,677), Venezuela (7,662), Haiti (5,338), Guatemala (3,758) and Nicaragua (2,227).

The COMAR delegation in Tapachula, Chiapas, is where most of the applications are delivered, so there are a large number of cases not yet dealt with, so migrants are stranded in the city. In its communiqué published on January 10th, the CNDH specifically referred to the cases of 78 people who, unable to leave Tapachula, face an increase in the conditions of vulnerability of migrants who had to flee their countries as victims of forced displacement, internal conflicts and violations of their human rights.

It also denounced that in some cases they find it impossible to move forward in their process because the authorities ask them to install an email account. “These people, among whom there are women, girls and boys, denounced that the authorities require them to have an email account for notifications, but due to their condition they lack access to electronic and internet media.”

The CNDH requested that the procedures for the registration of applications be expedited and requested “to said authorities that the immigration regularization procedures and the applications for recognition be resolved with respect to the deadlines established by the Law”.

For more information in Spanish:

CNDH demanda al INM protección para 78 refugiados (El Sol de México el 11 de enero de 2020)

Solicitan medidas cautelares y respuesta a solicitantes de refugio varados en Tapachula (Chiapasparalelo el 12 de enero de 2020)

70.302 migrantes de países de todo el mundo solicitaron refugio en México durante 2019 (BIZ Republic)

Solicitud CNDH (10 enero de 2020)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Chiapas: Civil Organizations Report on Observation Mission in Tapachula (November 24, 2019)

Chiapas: Migration Authorities Stop Migrant Caravan in Tapachula (October 17, 2019)

Chiapas: African Migrants Clash with National Guard in Tapachula

(October 8, 2019)

International/National: UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Ends Mexican Visit while African Migrants Protest in Tapachula (October 7, 2019)

Chiapas: Federal Police Attack Migrants and Journalists at Migration Center in Tapachula (September 2, 2019)

Chiapas/National/International: Human Rights Organizations Demand End to Child and Adolescent Migrant Detentions (May 26, 2019)

National/International: CNDH Requests Special Measures for Migrants (May 8, 2019)

Chiapas: Two Women Murdered in Tonala

Photo @ Digna Ochoa A.C. Human Rights Center

On January 10th, relatives of two victims of femicide in the municipality of Tonala, together with feminist and civil society organizations, carried out a peaceful mobilization to demand “justice for recent events linked to femicide, especially the two recent ones that affected women of that area.”

In the Palo Blanco community, María “N” was murdered when she returned home on January 4th. Fernanda “N”, also originally from Tonala and victim of murder, was found lifeless on the side of the road in Matias Romero, Oaxaca on January 6th.

“The intention is that all citizens, authorities and the press find out that we will not remain silent, cannot continue without doing anything, without taking preventive measures, we ask that the authorities act effectively to find the killers,” said Gabriela Gonzalez Hernandez, cousin of María “N”.

“We must denounce any aggression, nobody has the right to violate our lives … We ask that the authorities do their corresponding work and do not get carried away by corruption, a prompt response, because if that person remains free they will continue with their crimes,” she added. 

Previously, the Attorney General’s Office of the State of Chiapas (FGE) reported on the case of María “N”, that “the Police are carrying out the investigation to clarify the facts and disclaim responsibilities (…) initiated from the investigation folder 0003- 097-0701-2020, under the Protocol of Action for the Investigation of Femicide within the framework of the Alert of Gender Violence Against Women.”

For more information in Spanish:

Chiapas: María y Fernanda fueron asesinadas en una semana; familiares y organizaciones exigen justicia (Sin Embargo, 13 de enero de 2019)

Tonalá enfurece por doble feminicidio en una semana (Chiapas Paralelo, 12 de enero de 2019)

Investiga Fiscalía hallazgo del cuerpo sin vida de una mujer en Tonalá (FGE, 6 de enero de 2019)

Asesinan a joven de Tonalá (Sin Fuero, 8 de enero de 2019)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Oaxaca: 126 Femicides One Year after Declaration of Gender Violence Alert (September 2, 2019)

Chiapas: Groups Denounce Increase in Femicides and Transfemicides in the State (August 27, 2019)

Chiapas: March in San Cristobal de Las Casas Following Another Femicide (August 25, 2019)

National: Over 424,000 on Mexican #Me Too (May 7, 2019)

Chiapas: Already Five Femicides in January (February 1, 2019)

Chiapas/National: Femicides on the Rise (May 24, 2018)

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)

Guerrero: Director of Diario Alternativo Receives New Threats

Photo @SDP News

On January 4th, alleged members of an organized crime gang threatened Julian Chepe, general director of Diario Alternativo, by telephone.

In an interview, Julian Chepe said that “a person asked for my name and mentioned that he was looking for the director of Diario Alternativo. When I told him it was me, he asked me if I had been invited to a meeting by the municipal president of Marquelia and I told him that I had not been informed. It was then he began to tell me that I had to align with them, that it was not convenient for me not to do so because they could destroy me and my family. The person who communicated identified himself as a member of the Nueva Generacion Jalisco Cartel,” Articulo 19 reported.

According to Articulo 19, “the threat occurs after information about an armed attack on a taxi site on the Cuajinicuilapa – Acapulco route had been published.”

They highlighted that, “since 2017, Articulo 19 has documented 14 different attacks against members of this media, committed by different perpetrators such as members of organized crime; civil servants of Marquelia, San Luis Acatlan and Ometepec; as well as of supposed members of the Union of Peoples and Organizations of the State of Guerrero (UPOEG).”

Due to the documented background, the newspaper was incorporated into the Protection Mechanism for Human Rights Defenders and Journalists. “In spite of this, due to the nil or little coordination with authorities, as well as given the negligence of the Executive Commission of Attention to Victims (CEAV) and the Special Prosecutor’s Office to Assist Crimes Committed against Freedom of Expression (FEADLE), the aggressions remain constant, without seeking to guarantee access to justice and reparation for victims’ damage to date.”

At present, Julian Chepe does not have medical or psychological care, or legal advice, as for more than four months, the process to access the National Victims Registry (RENAVI) is in process.

“On the other hand, in September 2019 during the process of risk revaluation of the environment, the director learned that the investigation for the complaint filed before FEADLE for the deprivation of liberty that occurred on December 23rd, 2017 had been closed due lack of evidence, without the journalist having been notified of any diligence or decision by the authority.”

For all the above, Articulo 19 called on FEADLE, CEAV and the Protection Mechanism to fulfill their tasks to guarantee the integrity and security of the journalist.

For more information in Spanish:

Amenazan a director del medio Diario Alternativo en Guerrero (ARTICLE 19, 6 de enero de 2019)

Director de medio en Guerrero denuncia amenazas de muerte del crimen organizado (Animal Política, 6 de enero de 2019)

Director de medio en Guerrero denuncia amenazas de muerte del crimen organizado (MSN, 7 de enero de 2019)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Oaxaca/Nacional: Reportero de Oaxaca denuncia amenaza de muerte; Espacio OSC urge a crear un ambiente propicio y seguro para quienes defienden los derechos humanos, ejercen el periodismo y defienden la libertad de expresión en el país (11 de diciembre de 2019)

Oaxaca/Nacional: Nuevas agresiones a periodistas; se modificará mecanismo de protección, Encinas (9 de diciembre de 2019)

Nacional: CNDH urge a esclarecer crímenes contra periodistas en México; 90% de ellos en la impunidad, denuncia (4 de noviembre de 2019)

Nacional/Internacional: ONU presenta Diagnóstico del Mecanismo de Protección para Defensores de Derechos Humanos y Periodistas (28 de agosto de 2019)

Oaxaca: Asesinan fundador y director de radio comunitaria; es el decimo comunicador asesinado en el gobierno de López Obrador (13 de junio de 2019)

Oaxaca: organismos internacionales piden garantizar la seguridad de la periodista oaxaqueña Soledad Jarquín Edgar (7 de junio de 2019)

Chiapas: Impunity Denounced One Year after the Murder of Defender Sinar Corzo

@Web

On January 3rd, one year after the murder of the human rights defender Sinar Corzo Esquinca in Arriaga (Costa de Chiapas), friends and family demonstrated in this city to demand justice, denouncing that although there are several detainees as material and intellectual perpetrators, nobody has been sentenced to date.

They recalled that currently four people are linked to the case of the events: Apolinar “N”, father-in-law of the then mayor David Parada, who resigned from his post and is a fugitive from justice, as well as Fernando “N”, Julio ” N “and Artemio” N “, employees of Apolinar.

According to the relatives, the trial continues and there is a risk that they will obtain their freedom since “according to data from the Zero Impunity organization, in Chiapas 99% of killings remain without punishment,” they stressed.

“We continue to demand detention, prosecution, trial and sentencing for all persons involved in the crime. We cannot afford to also be victims of impunity statistics,” they said.

They acknowledged, however, that “the State Attorney General’s Office, to our knowledge, has conducted an exhaustive investigation, although they are still outstanding issues, but we trust that in the coming days and months they will be settled.”

They urged the judiciary of the state “to do its job and show that it changed, that in Chiapas there is no more impunity, that in Chiapas the three powers contribute and work to build a true rule of law.”

Luis Arbey Perez, member of the The Colossus of Stone Citizen Committee for the Defense of Human Rights, a center to which Sinar Corzo belonged, denounced not only the lack of justice, but also the increase in attacks and defamations against said Center, its members, as well as family members of the defender.

For more information in Spanish:

A un año del crimen de Sinar Corzo, familiares y amigos salen a las calles para exigir justicia (Proceso, 3 de enero de 2020)

Marchan en Chiapas a un año del asesinato del activista Sinar Corzo (La Jornada, 3 de enero de 2020)

A un año del homicidio de activista, eigen justicia (El Universal, 4 de enero de 2020)

Exigen justicia para Sinar Corzo; un año de completa impunidad alegan activistas (Chiapas Paralelo, 5 de enero de 2020)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Chiapas : Orden de aprehensión contra ex alcalde de Arriaga por posible autoría intelectual de homicidio del defensor Sinar Corzo (8 de febrero de 2019)

Chiapas: Detienen a tres presuntos responsables del asesinato del defensor Sinar Corzo Esquinca, incluyendo suegro del alcalde de Arriaga (18 de enero de 2019)

Chiapas: Movilizaciones para exigir justicia en el caso del asesinato defensor de derechos humanos Sinar Corzo. Todas las líneas de investigación siguen abiertas afirma fiscal.

(15 de enero de 2019)

Chiapas: Asesinan al defensor de derechos humanos Sinar Corzo Esquinca (4 de enero de 2019)

Chiapas: denuncian criminalización de defensores medioambientales en San Cristóbal de Las Casas (28 de diciembre de 2018)

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

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.