National: Official Visit to Mexico of UNO Working Group on Business and Human Rights

Pavel Sulyandziga and Dante Pesce, United Nations Working Group, during the presentation of their preliminary report. Photo:@Jesús Villaseca.

From August 29 to September 7, two representatives of the Working Group on Business and Human Rights of the UN made an official visit to Mexico: Pavel Sulyandziga, a human rights defender of Russian origin, who currently serves as president of the Working Group, and Chilean Dante Pesce, who has a long history of working with civil organizations both nationally and internationally. The purpose of the visit was, first, to identify cases of damages to individuals, communities and the environment due to business activities. After, to promote respect for human rights on the part of any company implementing the three Guiding Principles of the United Nations on business and human rights. The first principle states that, “the State is responsible to respect, protect and enforce human rights.” The second defines that “companies must comply with the laws made by the state and respect human rights.” The third states that, “Those affected should have access to redress mechanisms.”

Prior to the arrival of the Working Group, more than 100 civil society organizations, groups, communities and academics prepared a report to give an overview of the situation at national level. This coalition documented 68 cases that show serious violations and abuses of human rights by the State and companies from different sectors, and a lack of access to remediation for victims. It shows that the most frequently violated rights are: to land and territory (32 cases), access to information (28 cases) and to a healthy environment (22 cases). The sectors where most abuses were documented were: mining (11 cases), hydrocarbons (9), energy (8), construction (8) and industrial agriculture (6). In addition, more than 50% of cases of intimidation and threats against opponents of business projects were documented.

During their ten-day visit, members of the Working Group went to Mexico City, the States of Mexico, Oaxaca, Jalisco and Sonora, where they held meetings with various actors: officials from the three levels of government; companies like Grupo Bimbo, Grupo Mexico, Cemex, Pemex and CFE; civil society organizations and human rights defenders. They also received 81 testimonies from individuals and representatives of communities affected by various business activities, lack of access to information and consultation and on behalf of victims of violations of labor rights, and victims of serious impact to their health and environment. In Oaxaca, they listened to indigenous communities in the municipalities of El Espinal and Juchitan de Zaragoza affected by wind farm projects, who claim that “the whole consultation process was considered defective, since windmills had already been installed in the region without any prior consultation.” In the State of Mexico, they visited the Otomi-Mexica indigenous community in San Francisco Xochicuautla, opposed to a compulsory purchase order issued in October 2012 without any prior consultation in order to build the Toluca-Naucalpan highway on their land. Despite obtaining a restraining order, the construction of the highway has continued with the approval of state and federal authorities. The representatives of the Working Group reported that the Grupo Higa, builders of the project, never responded to their request for an interview.

On September 7, members of the working group presented a preliminary report on the results of their visit at a press conference. At the conference, Pavel Sulyandziga said: “It became clear that the main concerns about human rights violations linked to business are related to improper exercise of due diligence by the government and companies in the design and implementation of large scale projects. These are mainly projects in the mining, energy, construction and tourism sectors, which often affect indigenous communities. “

Furthermore, the preliminary report addresses challenges regarding labor rights in the country to remedy “the precarious situation of workers hired temporarily, the lack of access to social security, low wages and a minimum wage which is currently below the level [of the cost of] the basic food basket and is not sufficient to allow workers to support themselves and their families”, and “the weak capacity of the labor inspectorate to effectively monitor compliance with labor standards. “

The final report will be submitted in June 2017, at the 35th session of the Human Rights Council of the United Nations Organization. Meanwhile, the Working Group calls on the Mexican Government to “advance transparency, consultation, due diligence and respect for people and the environment” and on companies to “maintain standards of human rights and avoid seeking profit from impunity, corruption and lack of transparency and accountability.” It concluded by saying that there is much to be done to improve the current crisis of human rights in Mexico: “greater efforts are needed to change public policies, practices, mentalities but also to foster a culture of transparency, integrity, ethical behavior and democratic values.”

 Para más información:


http://www.proceso.com.mx/452190/onu-verificara-respeto-a-derechos-humanos-en-empresas-gobiernos-mexico ( Proceso, a 24 de agosto de 2016)
Visita a México del Grupo de Trabajo sobre Empresas y DDHH: Puntos desde la Sociedad Civil (Asociación Interamericana para la Defensa del Ambiente (AIDA), a 29 de agosto de 2016)

12 claves sobre la investigación de la ONU a empresas y los derechos laborales en México (Animal político, a 8 de septiembre 2016)
Boletín: El Estado mexicano debe cumplir las recomendaciones del Grupo de Trabajo de la ONU sobre empresas y derechos humanos ( Centro de Derechos Humanos Fray Bartolomé de las Casas, a 08 de septiembre 2016)

Deberá acatar México recomendaciones de la ONU sobre empresas y derechos humanos: ONGs (Aristegui Noticias, a 08 de septiembre 2016)

Declaración del Grupo de trabajo de Naciones Unidas sobre empresas y derechos humanos al final de su visita a México Ciudad de México, 7 de septiembre de 2016 ( Oficina del Alto Comisionada de las Naciones Unidad Derechos Humanos, a 09 de septiembre de 2016)

Concluye visita de grupo de trabajo de la ONU en México ( La Jornada, a 17 de septiembre 2016)

Para más información de Sipaz:

Nacional: Irrupciones en territorios indígenas para la implementación de megaproyectos: San Francisco Xochicuautla y Atenco (4 de abril de 2016)

Nacional: Xochicuautla obtiene cancelación de la autopista (17 de marzo de 2016)

Oaxaca: Indígenas zapotecos se amparan por violaciones graves al derecho a la consulta (21 de agosto de 2015)

 

Oaxaca: 500 Murdered Women Registered During Gabino Cue Monteagudo’s Term

Photo @EDUCA

On September 2, the indigenous education teacher Juanita Ramirez Osorio, a 25-year-old indigenous Triqui “was executed with ten gunshots, one to the head.” Juanita was found on the Copala riverbed, near the municipality of Constancia del Rosario. This crime makes four women, including a minor, murdered last weekend. The crime is in addition to the 75 cases registered this year. According to Consorcio Oaxaca, they have recorded “500 femicides during the administration of Gabino Cue Monteagudo”, while during the administration of Ulises Ruiz Ortiz, 283 violent deaths of women were counted. Higher numbers of femicides “have occurred in the Mixteca and Costa regions.” The Rosario Castellanos Women’s Studies Group (GESMujer) claimed that the “government’s discourse remained in formalisms despite the commitment that the governor had with social organizations that monitor cases of women murdered due to gender.”

Gender equity and respect for the human rights of women were part of the discourse of Gabino Cue “even before starting his administration, and with four months left to complete his term, the number of murdered women and victims of femicide in the state increased by over 60% compared to the figures of his predecessor Ulises Ruiz Ortiz.” With more than 20 years of recording violence against women, the president of GESMujer, Avellaneda Diaz, said that from January to August 2016 58 murders of women were recorded: 18 cases occurred in the Isthmus; Costa and Valles, 10 in each region; Cuenca, eight; and Mixteca, seven. In addition, 34 killings were done with firearms and seven with sharp weapons.

It is noteworthy that there is no “Gender Alert” in the state of Oaxaca, despite these figures. In July 2015, for the first time, the Interior Ministry declared a Gender Alert for 11 municipalities in the State of Mexico. Currently, there are alerts in the states of Morelos, Michoacan and Jalisco. The Gender Violence Alert emergency actions are implemented by a government to confront and end violence against women. As established in the General Law on Women’s Access to a Life Free of Violence, warning of gender violence aims to ensure the safety of women, the cessation of violence against them and to eliminate inequalities produced by legislation that offends their human rights. The National Citizens’ Femicide Observatory has documented 2,299 cases of femicide in the country only between 2012 and 2013. The presence of femicide in the country has led to civil organizations in Nuevo Leon, Chiapas, Oaxaca, Chihuahua, Colima, Baja California, Sonora, Veracruz, Queretaro and San Luis Potosi also seeking Gender Violence Alert to be decreed.

 For more information in Spanish:

Registra Oaxaca 500 mujeres asesinadas durante el sexenio de Cué (Educa, 6 de septiembre de 2016)

GESMujer: Discurso a favor de las mujeres fue eso, un discurso (Oaxaca a Diario, 3 de septiembre de 2016)

Ejecutan a dos mujeres en el Istmo, pese a operativos de Seguridad (Página 3, 3 de septiembre de 2016)

La alerta de género, una herramienta ineficaz para detener los asesinatos de mujeres (18 de abril de 2016, Animal Político)

 For more information from SIPAZ:

Oaxaca: En 2016 continúan los feminicidios (25 de febrero de 2016)

Oaxaca: Alarmante incremento de los feminicidios: organizaciones de la sociedad civil (18 de diciembre de 2015)

Chiapas: Feminicidios a la alza: seis víctimas en menos de diez días (23 de octubre de 2015)

Chiapas: Gran incremento de feminicidios, se construirá un monumento en honor a las víctimas(4 de septiembre de 2014)

 

Implementation of Follow-up Mechanism for Ayotzinapa Case Approved

IACHR approves special mechanism to follow Ayotzinapa case (Photo@Tlachinollan)

On September 10, after a meeting between the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and the Mexican state, implementation of the Follow-up Mechanism for the Ayotzinapa case was approved. The mechanism aims to follow up the recommendations made by the Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts (IGIE) in the two reports that it gave the government during its yearlong investigation into the case of the disappearance of the 43 students from the Normal Rural School on the night of September 26 and 27, 2014, in Iguala, Guerrero state.

 For more information in Spanish:

Forenses argentinos también desmienten a Zerón: no estuvieron en el río San Juan (La Jornada, a 28 de abril 2016)

COMUNICADO | CIDH anuncia el inicio de la implementación del Mecanismo de Seguimiento del GIEI (Tlachinollan centro de derechos humanos de la montaña, a 12 de septiembre 2016)

CIDH aprueba mecanismo especial de seguimiento para investigación Ayotzinapa (Fundar centro de analysis o investigacion, a 1ero de agosto 2016)

CIDH aprueba mecanismo especial de seguimiento para investigación Ayotzinapa (Tlachinollan centro de derechos humanos de la montaña, a 29 de julio 2016)

National: Fourth Report of Peña Nieto’s Government

Demonstration in Mexico City marking the Fourth Presidential Report (@Centro PRODH)

On 1 September, thousands of people demonstrated in the streets of Mexico City to express their disagreement in response to the delivery of the Fourth Report of the Government. The march was led by relatives of the 43 student teachers who are missing from the Normal Rural School, Ayotzinapa, Guerrero since 2014. It is noteworthy that in mid-August, a survey published by the newspaper Reforma showed that support for the government of Peña Nieto stood at only 23%, the lowest a Mexican president has had in the last two decades.

In the days before the report, several media criticized the performance of the current administration, questioning, among other things, the increase in violence, political scandals, human rights violations and poor economic results.

The Secretary of the Interior, Osorio Chong, gave the document to the Mexican Congress, where he stressed that the relationship between the executive and legislative branches has shown effective dialogue towards establishing agreements, which allowed the approval of “the reforms that Mexico demanded.” He stated that “the transformation is already underway” and that it is time to move from a project with vision for the future to a better reality in the present. However, speaking to media, legislators from both the National Action Party (PAN) and the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) questioned the lack of results.

For his part, President Enrique Peña Nieto held a meeting with about 300 young people (under 35) at the National Palace, which was broadcast via streaming through YouTube and Facebook Live, to talk about the report.

The event began with a recorded message in which the president said the goal of this new format was “change from monologue to dialogue.” Peña Nieto gave details on the content of the report, noting among other things, lower prices for Internet and cellular services; the creation of two million formal jobs (“four times the jobs generated in the same period in the previous six years”), and the fact that Mexico is one of the countries that receives most tourists and attracts most investment. However, while employment figures are intended to show that things are going well for this government, beyond the national unemployment rate (3.9% in June 2016) there is another concept called “rate of critical employment conditions” (RCEC). THE RCEC measures the percentage of the working population working less than 35 hours and as a result receives a monthly income lower than the minimum wage. At national level, according to the government report, about 14.5% of the employed population, i.e. 7.7 million Mexicans, is in that condition. In 2015, the rate was 12.2% of the employed population, some 6.2 million people. In 2014, it was 11.4%, some 5.7 million workers. That is to say, one and half million Mexicans joined these deteriorating conditions of employment and salary from 2015 to date in 2016. Two million when compared with 2014. In some states the rate is above 20% and even 30%, as in Chiapas.

Peña Nieto was questioned about the visit of US presidential candidate, Donald Trump, (he said that “it allowed (the Republican candidate) to realize the relevance of Mexico for the USA”); on accusations of plagiarism of his law thesis (he said it was a “methodological error”); and increasing the price of gasoline (on which he assured that “he never promised gasoline wasn’t going to go up”).

On cases of human rights violations, such as Nochixtlán (Oaxaca) and Tanhuato (Michoacan), he argued that there is a commitment to the clarification of events from the investigations of the Attorney General’s Office (PGR). He stressed that there has been progress to create better conditions regarding human rights and that cases of violations involving the armed forces and the federal public security institutions have decreased.

Finally, on the topic of teachers, he reiterated that education reform aims to improve the quality of education in the country for young people to have more opportunities and tools for their future. He insisted that dialogue could be resumed until the right to education of children and young people of Oaxaca and Chiapas is guaranteed.

For more information in Spanish:

Reporte sobre ‘México Próspero’ confirma golpe a los más desprotegidos (Zocalo Saltillo, 2 de septiembre de 2016)

Peña Nieto sostiene que México avanza en materia de DH (La Jornada, 1ero de septiembre de 2016)

Peña ha logrado grandes cambios pese a resistencias, defiende Osorio Chong (Revista Proceso, 1ero de septiembre de 2016)

Palabras del presidente Enrique Peña Nieto, previo al encuentro con jóvenes en Palacio Nacional con motivo de su 4o Informe de Gobierno (Radio Formula, 1ero de septiembre de 2016)

Nadie puede decir que plagié mi tesis, responde Peña a jóvenes por su Cuarto Informe (Animal Político, 1ero de septiembre de 2016)

Osorio Chong entrega el Cuarto Informe de Peña y pide a legisladores analizarlo sin ideologías de por medio (Animal Político, 1 de septiembre de 2016)

4to. Informe de Gobierno: más muertos, menos dinero y muchos escándalos (Aristegui Noticias, 31 de agosto de 2016)

Para descargar el cuarto informe de gobierno (@gob.mx)

For more information from SIPAZ :

Nacional: Múltiples críticas a la presentación del Tercer Informe de Gobierno de Peña Nieto

(8 de septiembre de 2015)

 

Chiapas: Tila Ejido Reports Violent Murder of Two Youths in its Territory, Intended to Destabilize its Assertion of Autonomy

Protest in Tila (@ Ejido Tila)

In a statement released on September 7, and the ejidatarios of Tila, reported that two brothers (a man aged 20, and a woman aged 19), originally from Tiontiepa Benito Juarez ejido, but whose grandparents are originally from Tila ejido, were attacked with machetes and the young woman raped on August 27.

They suggested that the relatives of the deceased said they did not want the intervention of government authorities “because they never investigate and everything remains unpunished, even more so if you do not have money, because in the courts justice is bought and so they ask that  the autonomous ejido do its work.”

Following this, the assembly of Tila ejido decided to investigate, stating that, “we have reported for many years that during the term of office of the municipal council gang members, drug use, drug dealing, alcoholism increased and they have left all this trouble and the ejido now has to clean up all this trash they left behind.”

At the same time, they warned that a small group of people related to official government tries to exploit such cases to destabilize the process of building autonomy, “They are a tiny group of people who want to impose their way of life in Tila ejido who have lived off the government, from dispossession and exploitation of our people and they are racists who are responsible for misinforming and criticizing our ejido autonomy, but despite this we will continue to advance because no one can stop us.”

For more information in Spanish:

Comunicado sobre el asesinato violento de dos jovenes en territorio ejidal (Ejido Tila, 7 de septiembre de 2016)

Advierten ejidatarios de Tila de intentos de desestabilizar su autonomía (Somosmás99, septiembre de 2016)

Denuncian intento de Grupo institucional de Abrir COBACH 14 en Tila (Reporte Ciudadano, 8 de septiembre de 2016)

 For more information from SIPAZ :

Chiapas: Incursión de la Marina en territorio del ejido Tila (4 de agosto de 2016)

Chiapas: Denuncia ejido Tila agresión a uno de sus ejidatarios (10 de junio de 2016)

Chiapas: Organizaciones alertan por posible represión en el ejido Tila (24 de febrero de 2016)

Chiapas: Indígenas Ch´oles toman la alcaldía de Tila tras décadas de no haber sido atendid@s (17 de diciembre de 2016)

 

Chiapas: Injunction and Compensation Denied to Released Defendants of Acteal Massacre

The second chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ) denied an injunction requested by two people implicated in the murder of 45 people in Acteal, municipality of Chenalhó, Chiapas, on 22 September 1997. This occurred although it was the first chamber of the same Supreme Court which ordered their release in November 2014 for violation of due process (having been sentenced based on evidence obtained illegally). 60 others indicted on the same charges were also released for the same reason in different processes.

The ministers considered that the Attorney General of the Republic’s Office (PGR) should not indemnify those accused of homicide, serious injury and criminal association as well as unlawful possession of a firearm for exclusive use by the Army; and originally sentenced to 36 years in prison for participating in the massacre.

The Minister considered that, “regardless of the decisions that federal judges reach, regarding the innocence or guilt of the accused, it cannot be attributed to the PGR that it incurred in an irregular or abnormal administrative activity” as “it is enough that the Federal Public Ministry has fulfilled [its duty] in providing the existence of the corpus delicti and probable criminal responsibility”.

It should be recalled that in December 2016, Las Abejas Civil Society, an organization 45 victims of the massacre belonged to, and as part of its 18th anniversary, denounced that “instead of the bad government investigating the intellectual authors of the crime through the misnamed “Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation” or better said “Supreme Court of the rich and criminals”, it ordered the mass release of the paramilitary material authors of the massacre, which as far as we know there are only two in prison who will be released at any moment. Since then it became clear to us that the bad government is not going to give us justice, because it was the Mexican state that gave the order to massacre and therefore it is a criminal that cannot be judge and jury. The justice system in Mexico, is rotten, it is expired.”

For more information in Spanish:

La indemnización a acusados de la matanza de Acteal no procede, resolverá la SCJN (La Jornada, 7 de septiembre de 2016)

Determina Corte que PGR no indemnizará a 2 indígenas del caso Acteal (La Jornada Maya, 7 de septiembre de 2016)

La Suprema Corte rechaza indemnizar a indígenas encarcelados 11 años con pruebas falsas en el caso Acteal (Emeequis, 7 de septiembre de 2016)

 For more information from SIPAZ :

Chiapas: a 18 años de la masacre de Acteal (23 de diciembre de 2015)

Chiapas: Las Abejas de Acteal no aceptan llegar a una “solución amistosa” con el el Estado Mexicano (23 de octubre de 2015)

Chiapas: Pueblos originarios de Chiapas se organizan en Acteal para “seguir caminando La Otra Justicia” (12 de octubre de 2015)

Chiapas: Alejandro Diaz Santiz Reiterates His Demand for Freedom

Pilgrimage of Highlands Catholics, San Cristobal de Las Casas, September 2016 (@SIPAZ)

Alejandro Diaz Santiz, the indigenous Tzotzil prisoner held in the CEFERESO No. 15, Villa de Comatitlan near Tapachula, Chiapas, has again demanded his freedom. In the last letter he wrote, the adherent to the Sixth Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle of the EZLN denounced that he is the only sympathizer of the Voice of Amate not released on July 4, 2013, allegedly because his case had not occurred in the state of Chiapas but in Veracruz. “The bad governors that exist in our country and states live in pure lies only making promises of support that they never keep, especially Governor Manuel Velasco Coello,” Alejandro in his letter. He alleged that the state governor, Manuel Velasco Coello, pledged to see to his case and to seek his freedom with the Veracruz authorities more than three years ago but “to date has not achieved anything.”

On another note, Alejandro asked President Enrique Peña Nieto “to urge the Governor of Veracruz for my freedom that has been stolen for more than 17 years paying for a crime that I never committed.” Finally, he invited all national and international independent organizations to continue to demand justice and freedom for political prisoners and prisoners of conscience throughout the world.

 For more information in Spanish:

Alejandro Diaz Santiz reitera su exigencia de libertad (Chiapas denuncia, a 30 de agosto de 2016)

Velasco Coello el acérrimo enemigo de indígenas, a quienes se les fabrica delitos y se les encierra en la cárcel ( Revolución TRESPUNTOCERO, 11 de agosto de 2016)

For more information from Sipaz:

Chiapas: Denuncia Alejandro Díaz Santiz malos tratos hacia los reclusos (8 de junio de 2016)

Chiapas: Alejandro Díaz Santiz ayuna por 17 años de encarcelamiento (13 de mayo de 2016)

Chiapas: Exigen la liberación de Alejandro Díaz Santiz (11 de marzo de 2016)

Chiapas: Trasladan a Alejandro Díaz Sántiz, junto a 386 presos, a penal de alta seguridad (15 de septiembre de 2016)