Oaxaca: 126 Femicides One Year after Declaration of Gender Violence Alert

(@Rio Oaxaca)

On August 30th, one year after the declaration of the Gender Violence Alert (GVA) in 40 municipalities in Oaxaca, several organizations that work in defense of women’s rights reported that 126 women were killed in this period, including a victim the same day. This figure implies that the GVA “did not make a difference” and in addition, 60% of the cases occurred in municipalities that have the GVA. Symbolically, protesters placed 126 masks and 126 hearts with the names of each of the women killed.

Yessica Sanchez Maya, a member of the Consortium for Dialogue and Equity, said that the Oaxaca Prosecutor, Ruben Vasconcelos Mendez, has spent his time making up figures and that state and federal governments have not been complying with the actions established in the GVA.

GESMujer organization considered the scope of the alerts limited and called on the government to continue implementing and strengthening the “State Program to Prevent, Address, Punish and Eradicate Gender Violence Against Women”, recently published in the Official State Bulletin.

They called on the governor of the state to meet immediately with the municipal presidents so that they do not continue to simulate and apply the gender alert as it should be. Likewise, they asked the three levels of government as well as the executive, judicial and legislative branches to make public the budget for the implementation of the alert (more than 12 million pesos are allocated to Oaxaca), as well as a detailed report of the results of each of the actions.

For more information in Spanish:

Oaxaca : 126 feminicidios en un año, 60 en municipios con AVG (Proceso, 30 de agosto de 2019)

A pesar de la Alerta de Género, Oaxaca registró 126 feminicidios en un año (Desinformémonos, 30 de agosto de 2019)

Van 126 feminicidios, a un año de la Alerta de Violencia de Género (NVI Noticias, 30 de agosto de 2019)

Van 126 feminicidios en Oaxaca, a un año de la alerta de género (Río Oaxaca, 30 de agosto de 2019)

Colectivos feministas se manifiestan ante las 126 mujeres asesinadas en Oaxaca (NVI Noticias, 30 de agosto de 2019)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Oaxaca: Aprueban la ley contra la violencia digital de género (12 de julio de 2019)

Oaxaca: Se suman 37 feminicidios en lo que va del año (24 de abril de 2019)

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

 

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International/National: UNO Calls for Evaluation of National Guard as Migratory Control in Mexico

@billieparkernoticias

The United Nations Committee against Racial Discrimination (UNCRD) insisted that the Mexican government evaluate the effects of the deployment of the National Guard as a form of immigration control. In addition, it raised the possibility of withdrawing this function by recommending “evaluating the effects of the deployment of the National Guard for immigration control with a view to its withdrawal from immigration control and intensify its efforts to eliminate the practice of racial profiling in management and migratory operations, including through the wide dissemination and due implementation of the Guide for Public Action for the Prevention of Racial Profiling Practices.”

The UNCRD also mentioned international agreements regarding the rights of migrants, and suggested that, “the necessary measures be implemented so that Migration Centers have adequate living conditions in accordance with international standards.”

The UNCRD made these recommendations on August 23rd, in Geneva, Switzerland.

For more information in Spanish:

Pide ONU evaluar efectos de acciones policiales para control migratorio La Jornada, 29 de agosto de 2019.

ONU solicita retiro de Guardia Nacional de operaciones migratorias El Heraldo de México, 29 de agosto de 2019.

ONU pide retirar a Guardia Nacional de operaciones migratorias Forbes México, 30 de agosto de 2019.

Guía para la Acción Pública para la Prevención de Prácticas de Perfilamiento Racial Consejo Nacional para Prevenir la Discriminación, 2018.

For more information from SIPAZ:

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

National/International: New Government Measures Seek to Curb Flow of Migrants (July 2, 2019)

Chiapas/National/International: Migrants’ Human Rights Defenders, Irineo Mujica and Cristobal Sanchez, Released (June 17, 2019)

National/International: Two Defenders of Migrant Human Rights Arrested (June 11, 2019)

Chiapas: Groups Denounce Increase in Femicides and Transfemicides in the State

On August 22nd, the Popular Campaign against Femicide in Chiapas expressed its “repudiation” in a statement given the “lack of commitment of the Governments of the different levels, given the serious increase of femicidal violence in Chiapas and in the whole country.” It denounced that, according to figures from the Feminist Observatory against Violence against Women, so far in 2019 there have been 120 violent deaths of women, of which only 49 have been classified as femicides; and that “to these figures are added the data of four cases of femicides and 63 cases of disappearances of girls and adolescents (between two and 17 years of age)”.

The Campaign noted that although since November 2016, a Gender Violence Alert has been activated in the state, “the alarming figures cited” that reflect gender violence cannot be explained except by “the lack of interest of the authorities of the different levels for the implementation of concrete and urgent measures in all areas of public action.”

It called for the authorities of the three levels of government recognize femicidal violence as a social, cultural and political problem that requires concrete and urgent action in all areas of public action; greater coordination in prevention and protection actions to eradicate violence against women and femicide; and that the Gender Violence Alert be extended to all the municipalities of the state and not only be limited to the 23 municipalities that were integrated into the original declaration, among other demands.

The next day, lesbian, trans women and members of the Chuvajetik Collective held a press conference in San Cristobal de Las Casas, broadening their eyes to the situation of violence faced by the LGTBI community and demanding that homicides against trans people be classified as femicides. They underlined that ”although the initiative was presented to recognize the right to identity of transgender people in the State Congress, so far there is no resolution that recognizes this fundamental right. For trans women, such denial violates the guarantee of other rights: education, health, decent work and living a life free of violence.”

For more information in Spanish:

Colectivo Chuvajetik piden un alto a la violencia de género (Portavoz, 26 de agosto de 2019)

Entre el odio y la impunidad (Cuarto Poder, 24 de agosto de 2019)

Mujeres ‘trans’, también peligran en San Cristóbal (Diario de Chiapas, 23 de agosto de 2019)

Chiapas Estado Feminicida (Campaña Popular contra la Violencia hacia las Mujeres y el Feminicidio en Chiapas, 22 de agosto de 2019)

Van 120 muertes violentas y 63 desapariciones de mujeres en el año (Chiapas Paralelo, 22 de agosto de 2019)

For more information from SIPAZ:

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: “Defending Human Rights in Mexico: The End of Impunity?” Report Launched

@Comite Cerezo

On August 20th, the organizations Urgent Action for Human Rights Defenders (ACCUDEDH in its Spanish acronym) and the Cerezo Committee MEXICO launched the report “Defending Human Rights in Mexico: The End of Impunity?”, which documents the situation of human rights defenders of in the country between June 1st, 2018 and May 31st, 2019.

The report confirms that, generally, during the first six months of the government of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO), violations have decreased in comparison with the last six months of the government of Enrique Peña Nieto, as well as the harassment of this sector . However, in the first six months of the new government there have been 41 instances that include 331 acts of human rights violations, and acts of individual violations towards human rights defenders have increased.

The report also notes that “although there are changes in the figures and in some trends, the serious human rights violations committed in the period covered by this report, as well as the long list of serious human rights violations for more than ten years show that it is not enough to reduce the use of these repressive mechanisms, the important thing is, and this will measure the current government, the fight against impunity.”

It also notes that the prevention and protection measures of the current government are “insufficient”, “it is also clear that it is not their priority”, and that the data included in the document “do not reflect the ahead years of AMLO’s six year term.”

In the framework of the presentation of the 8th report of the organizations, the representative in Mexico of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR), Jan Jarab, said that the end of impunity will be the best possible prevention measure and that it is important that not only serious cases, but all attacks are investigated, however minimal. He also acknowledged that although progress has been made, “structural dynamics that favor inequality and violations of fundamental guarantees still persist in the country, especially at the local level.”

For more information in Spanish:

Octavo Informe. Defender los derechos humanos en México: ¿Fin de la impunidad? Junio de 2018 a mayo de 2019 ( ACCUDEH, 20 de agosto de 2019)

ONG advierten una “baja considerable” en agresiones contra defensores de derechos humanos (Proceso, 20 de agosto de 2019)

Impunidad, factor que impulsa las agresiones contra activistas: Jarab (La Jornada, 21 de agosto de 2019)

Ven insuficientes medidas de protección a defensores y periodistas en la 4T (Periodistas de a pie, 22 de agosto de 2019)

For more informaion from SIPAZ:

National: Seven Journalists and 11 HR Defenders Murdered in 2019 – UNHCHR (June 20, 2019)

National: Absence of President Lopez Obrador at Presentation of CNDH Report “Disheartening for the Defense of Human Rights” (June 9, 2019)

National/International: UNO and IACHR Warn of Situation of Human Rights Defenders in Latin America. At Least Ten Murdered in Mexico (June 6, 2019)

National/International: UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Visits Mexico (April 11, 2019)

National: Consultative Council on Mechanism for Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists (April 11, 2019)

Chiapas: Environmentalist Nora Lopez Murdered in Palenque

On August 21st, Nora Patricia Lopez Leon’s body was found in a room at the TYC Camping hostel in Palenque. Environmentalist and responsible for the red macaw project AT Aluxes ecopark, owned by former Chiapas Governor Patrocinio Gonzalez Garrido (father of the first Secretary of the Environment of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s government, Josefa Gonzalez), had at least four knife wounds.

Last June, environmentalist Jose Luis Alvarez Flores, from the municipality of Emiliano Zapata, Tabasco, in charge of the Environmental Management Unit (EMU) of Mono Saraguato, was killed in that area, his killers having left a message with threats to his family. In January, the human rights defender Sinar Corzo Esquinca was also murdered, who was part of the Citizen Committee for the Defense of Human Rights and worked in defense of the right to water. There have also been intimidations, threats and kidnappings against environmentalists in Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chilon and San Cristobal de Las Casas

“It is of utmost concern, the vulnerability and the high risk faced by those who defend natural resources, the environment and territory,” said the Collective Education for Peace and Human Rights A.C. (CEPAZ in its Spanish acronym) before asking to stop the criminalization of this sector.

Given this new murder, the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMANAT in its Spanish acronym) said that the environmental sector mourns this event.

For its part, the State Attorney General’s Office (FGE in its Spanish acronym) reported that the Office of Homicide and Femicide took on the case, to continue the investigation of femicide against those who are responsible.

For more information in Spanish:

Asesinan en Palenque, Chiapas, a la ambientalista Nora López (La Jornada, 22 de agosto de 2019)

Fiscalía de Chiapas Investiga feminicidio de bióloga en un hostal de Palenque (Proceso, 22 de agosto de 2019)

Asesinan a la ambientalista Nora Patricia López en Palenque, Chiapas (Animal Político, 22 de agosto de 2019)

Organizaciones ambientalistas condenan el asesinato de Nora Patricia López (CNN México, 22 de agosto de 2019)

Ser ambientalista, un riesgo latente (Cuarto Poder, 23 de agosto de 2019)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Chiapas/Tabasco: Ecologist Jose Luis Alvarez Flores Murdered (June 17, 2019)

Chiapas: denunciation of criminalization against environmental activists in San Cristóbal de Las Casas (January 4, 2019)

National: 21 Environmental Defenders Murdered in 2018 (CEMDA) (April 1, 2019)

Chiapas: Two Members of Movement for Welfare, Peace and Common Good of Amatan and Independent Revolutionary Campesino Movement Murdered (January 28, 2019)

Chiapas: Human Rights Defender Sinar Corzo Esquinca Murdered (January 14, 2019)

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

Chiapas: denunciation of criminalization against environmental activists in San Cristóbal de Las Casas (January 4, 2019)

Chiapas: March in San Cristobal de Las Casas Following Another Femicide

“In this femicide town, to be alive is an act of rebellion” Photo @Sipaz

On August 14th, Maria de la Luz Vazquez Jimenez was a victim of femicide in San Cristobal de Las Casas. According to the news, the 23-year-old was killed by Dariel “N”, her former partner. The autopsy performed by the State Attorney General’s Office determined that the cause of death was asphyxiation from strangulation. An investigation file against Dariel “N” for the crime of feminicide was opened, leaving him under preventive detention, where he will face the criminal charges against him.

On August 16th, women from San Cristobal de Las Casas called for a march to express their indignation and grief in the face of so many femicides, trans femicides and gender violence. They expressed their fury for “the nine daily femicides, for the 99 women raped every day, for the 1,199 femicides so far this year and for the 35 compañeras we are missing here in Chiapas, according to official figures.”

On the same day in several states of the Republic similar protests were held against violence and femicide.

For more information in Spanish:


Mujeres marchan en Tuxtla y San Cristóbal de las Casas contra los feminicidios, trans feminicidios y la violencia hacia genero (Alerta Chiapas, 17 de agosto de 2019)

#NoMeCuidanMeViolan: mujeres protestan en estados contra violencia y feminicidios (Animal político, 16 de agosto de 2019)

CERO IMPUNIDAD Esclarece Fiscalía feminicidio en San Cristóbal de Las Casas (Prensa libre Chiapas, 15 de agosto)

For more information from SIPAZ:

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)

Chiapas: Las Abejas de Acteal Pilgrimage-March to Demand True and Dignified Justice

Banner “Las Abejas Civil Society Demand True and Dignified Justice” Photo @ Sipaz

On August 12th, survivors of the Acteal Massacre and members of the Civil Society Organization of Las Abejas de Acteal, joined in solidarity by the Believing People of the diocese of San Cristobal de Las Casas and several organizations in Chiapas and Mexico, held a Pilgrimage to remember that the “Acteal Massacre continues to go unpunished for almost twenty-two years and, because the material and intellectual authors of the crime enjoy impunity.”

They recalled that on August 12th, 2009 “the misnamed “Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation” (SCJN), in the first court, protected and released 20 paramilitary prisoners, perpetrators of the Acteal massacre” as a “political strategy to avoid investigation of the main intellectual authors of said massacre.”

In the pilgrimage-march “true and dignified justice was demanded for the Acteal Massacre” and the IACHR was asked to “issue the report for case 12,790 of Manuel Santiz Culebra and others of “Acteal Massacre”, where it held the Mexican State responsible for serious violations of human rights and guarantee the non-repetition of events such as Acteal.”

For more information in Spanish:


Marcha-Peregrinación por justicia a la Masacre de Acteal y que la CIDH emita ya el informe de fondo por el caso 12.790 Manuel Sántiz Culebra y otros “Masacre de Acteal” (Sitio web de la sociedad civil Las Abejas, a 12 de agosto de 2019)

Parroquia de San Pedro y San Pablo, chicomuselo,Chiapas; se solidariza con la organización las abejas de Acteal (Sitio web de la sociedad civil Las Abejas, a 12 de agosto de 2019)

Las Abejas exige a CIDH informe de fondo sobre matanza de Acteal (La Jornada, 12 de agosto de 2019)

Las Abejas de Acteal, Chiapas: ¿Acaso Escandón va a reproducir lo que hizo Ruiz Ferro (Desinformémonos, 14 de agosto de 2019)

For more information from SIPAZ:


Chiapas: Forced Displacement of Four Families of Las Abejas Civil Society Denounced (August 18, 2019)

Chiapas: Sociedad Civil Las Abejas de Acteal rechaza solución amistosa en el caso de la masacre de Acteal presentado ante la CIDH (March 7, 2019)

Chiapas: A 21 años de la Masacre de Acteal (December 26, 2018)

Chiapas : Las Abejas recuerdan el inicio de la liberación de los perpetradores de la masacre de Acteal con una « Fiesta de la resistencia no violenta » (August 17, 2018).

Chiapas: Agresión armada a la sede de las Abejas de Acteal (April 26th, 2018).

Chiapas: Threats against Las Abejas Continue in Los Chorros, Chenalho Municipality(April 27, 2017)