National: Mothers Demand Whereabouts of their Disappeared on 7th National March for Dignity

On May 10th, Mother’s Day in Mexico, thousands of mothers of missing persons marched, accompanied by national and international organizations, in several cities of the country, among others in Mexico City, Puebla, Colima, Morelos, Colima, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, Sinaloa, Tamaulipas, Veracruz and Guerrero, to demand justice.

In Mexico City, the VIII March for National Dignity arrived at the Angel of Independence, in the capital of the country, with the demand to put an end to the disappearances, the installation of state search committees and specialized prosecutor’s offices, and the creation of an International Extraordinary Mechanism on Forensic Identification in the case of the more than 26 thousand unidentified persons. The request list also included the strengthening of the National Search System, in which families of the victims, including those of migrants, participate; application of a reparations system with a human rights perspective “and not the administration of victims”; the implementation of the General Law on Disappearance in all states; guarantees for the proper functioning of the Foreign Support Mechanism for the search and investigation of cases of migrants who disappeared in Mexico, and for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to accept the competence of the UN Committee on Forced Disappearances (CFD) to analyze individual cases, among other demands.

“We do not want simulation, we will not endorse that they purge institutions when in reality they only recycle officials who are ignorant and responsible for the horror they should be fighting”, the women maintained, demanding from the current government “a State policy that recognizes truth and justice as urgent, necessary and non-negotiable.”

The representative of the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR), Jan Jarab, stressed that this date, which should be a day of joy, has become a day of mobilizations “a product of the tragedy that Mexico faces on regarding disappearance” with its more than 40 thousand disappeared. While acknowledging as a step forward a “change of attitude” in the government of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to have admitted the seriousness of the problem, Jarab warned that the emergency continues, so he urged the real construction of a search system throughout the country to “reduce the cloud of impunity.”

For more information in Spanish:

“Este día no es de fiesta”: Madres de desaparecidos marchan por justicia para sus hijos (Animal Político, 10 de mayo de 2019)

10 de Mayo en tiempos 4T: Madres de desaparecidos y su extenso pliego petitorio al Estado mexicano (Proceso, 10 de mayo de 2019)

El dolor por los hijos ausentes une a miles de madres por todo el país: unas marchan, otras buscan (Sin Embargo, 10 de mayo de 2019)

¿Dónde están nuestros hijos?, claman miles de madres en el país (La Jornada, 11 de mayo de 2019)

Otro amargo Día de las Madres en el México de los desaparecidos (CNN México, 11 de mayo de 2019)

For more information from SIPAZ:

National/International: World Network of Mothers of Disappeared Migrants Formed in Mexico (November 12, 2018)

National / International: Caravan of mothers of disappeared migrants arrives in Mexico

(November 1st, 2018)

Nacional : madres de desparecidos marchan en el Día de la Madre(11 de mayo de 2018)

National/International: “Caravan of Mothers of Missing Migrants” Arrives to Mexico

(December 27th, 2017)

México : Caravana de Madres de Migrantes Desaparecidos “buscando vida en caminos de muerte” (25 de noviembre de 2016)

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National/International: CNDH Requests Special Measures for Migrants

Laredo Morning

On April 15th, after the detection of situations contrary to the respect of the human rights of migrants located in the facilities of the National Migration Institute (INM in its Spanish acronym) at the Rodolfo Robles International Bridge, in the XXI Century Migration Station (EMSXXI in its Spanish acronym) and in the shelter installed in the municipality of Mapastepec, the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH in its Spanish acronym) requested various federal authorities and the state of Chiapas for precautionary measures and the extension of others previously requested in favor of foreigners.

The CNDH requested the INM to provide urgent attention and assistance to the people housed in the EMSXXI where “a population of over 2,000 people was reported, which represents more than 200% of its capacity, which is for 960 people. To ensure a dignified stay with full respect for their human rights (…) it is also necessary to channel people in the context of migration to different migratory stations to reduce overpopulation, streamline administrative procedures of the people accommodated, explore alternatives in detention, mainly of people in situations of vulnerability and of applicants for refugee status, as long as the procedure is determined, to provide clear, accurate and sufficient information about deadlines and possible resolutions to those who initiated migratory procedures. Likewise, it is requested that in the EMSXXI there be sufficient medical personnel in all the schedules and specialists in pediatrics given the high number of minors.”

In the municipality of Mapastepec the CNDH documented that there are more than 3,000 migrants and that “the former were already registered, although the procedure has not been determined, prompting anger in some of them who said they had been duped by immigration agents who informed them that their procedures can last between 15 days, two or even six months, so the lack of specific information motivated a violent protest causing the Federal Police to intervene.”

Regarding migrants from Cuba, it was observed “that the majority has resorted to lawyers and managers to process injunction proceedings to avoid their deportation; however, the CNDH also learned that, as the same protection does not have effects that allow transit through Mexican territory, some decided to continue on their way to the United States of America, but several of these were assured by immigration agents and conducted to the United States to various migratory enclosures, including the EMSXXI itself. In the interviews that personnel of the CNDH made with those of Cuban nationality, they expressed their desire to desist from the injunction and to request Mexico’s recognition of refugee status.”

For more information in Spanish:

SOLICITA CNDH A AUTORIDADES FEDERALES Y ESTATALES DE CHIAPAS MEDIDAS CAUTELARES EN FAVOR DE PERSONAS MIGRANTES, POR CONDICIONES DE HACINAMIENTO, DEBIDO A SOBREPOBLACIÓN EN INSTALACIONES DEL INM, ASÍ COMO LENTITUD EN TRÁMITES MIGRATORIOS (CNDH, 15 de abril de 2019)

La CNDH solicita medidas cautelares por sobrepoblación en el INM de Chiapas (Proceso, 15 de abril de 2019)

Calculan más de siete mil migrantes en Chiapas (La Verdad, 15 de abril de 2019)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Chiapas: Grupo armado ataca a camiones que trasladaban a migrantes (4 de marzo de 2019)

Nacional: Juez de Amparo reconoce como Refugiados a Niñas, Niños y Adolescentes de las Caravanas Migrantes (21 de febrero de 2019)

International: IACHR Asks Honduras and Guatemala to Respect Human Rights (March 6th, 2019)

International/National: Registration of Humanitarian Visas for Migrants Closes (February 12th, 2019)

Chiapas: Menores de edad no acompañados implica reto legal (30 de enero de 2019)

National/International: UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Visits Mexico

Michelle Bachelet (@CINU)

At the end of her official visit to Mexico, which took place between April 5th and 9th, the United Nations Organization High Commissioner of the for Human Rights (UN-DH), Michelle Bachelet, said she was surprised by the levels of violence and the dimension of the human rights crisis in the country. “It was a surprise to me what I found. Without a doubt, the case of Ayotzinapa is well known by the press, but the 40 thousand disappeared was not something that was so clear, of the 26 thousand bodies without identification (in the forensic services). Or ten women murdered a day. I knew very well about the violence, but I had no idea of ​​the dimension (…) The data are terrifying.” She pointed out that Mexico has figures for violent deaths equivalent to a country at war: 252,538,000 since 2006.

She highlighted outstanding human rights issues in different areas, in particular regarding forced disappearances, femicides, violence against defenders and journalists, torture, abuses against migrants, as well as high poverty rates -especially in indigenous communities- and the need to carry out consultations in accordance with international standards, among others, in order to undertake megaprojects.

The High Commissioner also signed a collaboration agreement on the National Guard and another on the collaboration of the agency in charge of the investigation of the forced disappearance of the 43 student teachers from Ayotzinapa (Guerrero, 2014).

The former president of Chile stressed that the new authorities of the country “have recognized that Mexico has a human rights crisis,” that there is political will to move forward with the pending issues and that “President Lopez Obrador has expressed his willingness to implement a change of paradigm.” She stressed that in the case of the National Guard, the Mexican government is talking about “accountability, transparency, human rights indicators that allow us to see if the National Guard is indeed going in the right direction or is deviating.” “The office will not hesitate to raise the alarm if it sees that there is any type of situation that does not correspond to the spirit of what is sought and the spirit of the agreement”, she said.

In the Ayotzinapa case, she said: “My office will be an ally that will not hesitate to contribute to progress and at the same time will raise the alarm in case of non-compliance. We request to know the whereabouts of the boys”, she added.

For more information in Spanish:

Enfrentar las desapariciones forzadas es el problema central en México, insta Michelle Bachelet (ONU México, 9 de abril de 2019)

México tiene cifras de muertes violentas propias de un país en guerra: Bachelet (Proceso, 9 de abril de 2019)

La ACNUDH asesorará la creación de la Guardia Nacional (Proceso, 9 de abril de 2019)

Bachelet defiende a la sociedad civil: Es importante para la democracia, le dice al gobierno de México (Animal Político, 9 de abril de 2019)

Bachelet se va desolada de tanto horror en México: “No sabía de todo lo que me he encontrado…” (Sin Embargo, 9 de abril de 2019)

Bachelet: como una guerra, las muertes violentas en México (La Jornada, 10 de abril de 2019)

For more information from SIPAZ:

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

National: Chamber of Deputies Approves Law that Creates National Guard after Three Months of Debate and Negotiation (March 9, 2019)

National / International: UN-DH denounces that 10 Human Rights Defenders have been murdered in Mexico until now in 2018

September 21, 2018

National / International: UN-DH denounces that 10 Human Rights Defenders have been murdered in Mexico until now in 2018 (September 21, 2018)

National/International: Contrasting Mexican and US Government Approaches to Central American Migration

AGENCIAS/LIBERAL Olga Sanchez Cordero

Mexico is preparing to stop the growing flow of Central American migrants and for this it will establish a kind of containment belt of federal forces in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, the narrowest part of the south of the country, and therefore the easiest to control.

This was announced on Wednesday by the Secretary of the Interior, Olga Sanchez Cordero, a day after meeting in Miami with her American counterpart Kirstjen Nielsen. Sanchez Cordero stressed that the situation is especially complicated, because in Honduras the so-called “Mother Caravan” is forming, which could have more than 20,000 people.

“We are going to deploy the migratory, Federal Police and Civil Protection bodies and, harmoniously and with collaboration among all the federal government bodies, in such a way that we have the containment in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec,” she said. “That’s going to be the big change.”

Although she did not specify how many troops will be used for this plan or offer more details, Sanchez Cordero stressed that it will not mean the militarization of the border with Guatemala nor its hardening because it is not intended to affect the economic activity of that area, where people constantly flow on both sides of the border.

The flow of Central American migrants to the United States has multiplied since last year with the formation of caravans from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador (the well-known Northern Triangle) that have put Mexican and US authorities in check by saturating the shelters and the systems to request asylum or refuge, especially at the northern border of Mexico.

The detentions at the US-Mexico border increased to 66,450 in February, 149% more than in the same period last year, given the increase in the arrival of Central American families in search of asylum, according to Customs and Border Protection (CBP in its English acronym). That agency estimates there were about 100,000 arrests in March. More than 55,000 of these immigrants would have arrived as a family, including 40,000 children.

The president of the United States Donald Trump increased his rhetoric against countries that are sources of migrants to the US, and last Saturday announced cutting off economic aid to El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, countries that he accuses of sending migrant caravans deliberately. Given this, he announced that he would close the border or large sections of it, if the Mexican government does not slow the flow of migration.

Meanwhile, the Secretary of the Interior, Olga Sanchez Cordero, caused a diplomatic dispute with Honduras, which rejected the US and Mexican accusations in relation to the “Mother caravan”.

In his morning press conference, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador was reiterative in his plan to promote cooperation for development, he recalled that the Central American countries are the main producers of migratory flows, as he assured that only between 10% and 15% of Mexican citizens are the crossing to the United States, of the total migratory intake of the US: “I say, nothing else to know where we stand.”

The president of Mexico was hopeful that the expulsion of Mexicans would stop, insisting on not wanting to fall into a dynamic of confrontations, particularly with the president of the United States, who has not shown prudence with his foreign policy.

Since his arrival in power in December, the Lopez Obrador government opted for the development of the countries of origin and for facilitating work visas for Central Americans, but shortly after opted to stop handing over humanitarian visas, which were granted more than 15,000 and with which the majority of caravan members crossed the country.

Now he is opting for more controlled visitor permits that, in addition, only allow the migrant to live and work in southern Mexico.

According to Sanchez Cordero, the United States will not contribute money to the new containment plan on the Isthmus but will have the technology and intelligence to detect who is behind the caravans and who is involved with organized crime or haa a criminal record.

“We are going to establish order for those who enter our country,” she said.

While Sanchez Cordero was making such statements in Mexico, a caravan of approximately 2,500 migrants crossed the southern part of the country and the US National Security Secretariat was in Tegucigalpa, where she held a six-hour meeting with internal security officials from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador.

In a meeting with the press after that meeting, Nielsen was satisfied with the agreements reached before what she described as “an unprecedented migration crisis.”

The US official did not give details about the agreements, but she sent a clear message: “We are united, we are committed, we are operating jointly and this is our message to the criminals: they will be captured and brought to justice.”

For more information in Spanish:

Ante amenazas de Trump por migrantes, “prefiero ser prudente”, reitera López Obrador (Proceso, 1 de abril de 2019)

Centroamericanos serán “contenidos” en el Istmo (Milenio, 28 de marzo de 2019)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Nacional/Internacional: Secretaria de Gobernación se reúne con funcionarios del gobierno de Donald Trump para abordar el tema Migración (5 de marzo de 2019)

International/National: Registration of Humanitarian Visas for Migrants Closes (February 12, 2019)

National: Judge Recognizes Migrant Caravan Children and Adolescents as Refugees (March 6, 2019)

International/Mexico: Xenophobic Violence Erupts Against Migrants in Tecun Uman (February 1st, 2019)

National/International: Sanchez Cordero Warns Migrant Caravan Will Only Have “Orderly Access” to Mexican Territory (January 16, 2019)

International: Trump’s Plan to Finance Border Wall Faces Legal Challenges

Current border wall (@Cuartooscuro)

On February 26th, the House of Representatives of the United States passed legislation to block the “national emergency” that President Donald Trump wanted to declare, as a means of financing a wall on the border with Mexico.

Trump decreed the emergency on February 15th, after Congress approved $1.38 trillion to strengthen border security, a fraction of the $5.7 trillion Trump had requested for it.

The declaration of a national emergency as a way to obtain funds for the construction of the border wall is considered unconstitutional by legal experts. Several states have also initiated legal proceedings over this.

In the mid-term elections of 2018, the Republicans (Trump’s party) lost control of the House of Representatives. Not having enough legislative support to finance what was one of his campaign commitments, Trump has sought to achieve it in other ways. When declaring a national emergency, he could use funds initially earmarked for other items.

Many Democrats and even several Republicans have expressed their concerns about this strategy that does not respond to legal regulations. Trump has justified his decision by stating that immigrants who cross the border from Mexico are “criminals” and “terrorists” from the Middle East.

For more information in Spanish:

Congreso de EU vota para bloquear “Emergencia Nacional” de Trump (Publimetro, 26 de febrero de 2019)

Ex altos mandos y legisladores rechazan ‘emergencia nacional’ de Trump (La Jornada, 25 de febrero de 2019)

Trump declara emergencia nacional para hacer su muro (La Jornada, 16 de febrero de 2019)

For more information from SIPAZ:

National / International: First Migrant Caravan advances in Mexico; a person dies in the second caravan trying to enter; Trump announces operation “Faithful Patriot” to close US border (November 3rd, 2018)

Chiapas / National / International: Migrant Caravan about to enter Oaxaca (November 3rd, 2018)

National/International: OSC Asks for Suspension of Agreement with US to Convert Mexico into “Migration Filter” in Return for Favors in Renegotiation of NAFTA (June 25th, 2018)

 

National: Judge Recognizes Migrant Caravan Children and Adolescents as Refugees

Photo @ SIPAZ

On February 18th, the Network for the Rights of Children in Mexico (REDIM) reported at a press conference that a Mexican judge issued a ruling, number 86/2018, in favor of the rights of migrant minors in Mexico.

According to information from Proceso, the ruling “provides ample protection” for migrant children “by recognizing that the Mexican State and particularly COMAR [Mexican Commission for Refugee Aid] omitted collectively to recognize refuge for all children and adolescents who are part of the caravans through the prima facie recognition contemplated in Mexican legislation (…) prima facie recognition means that, faced with a massive influx of asylum seekers, a situation that deserves collective protection is evident, without waiting for analysis of each individual case.”

The resolution means that COMAR must provide refugee status to all the children and adolescents that are part of the migrant caravans. If they want to obtain refuge in Mexico, they will get it in a “pre-approved” manner and it will not be necessary to carry out the usual procedure that normally lasts between six months and one year.

In addition, “Mexican institutions are obliged to recognize migrant children as a vulnerable population, to which the Mexican State has an obligation to protect, and neither they nor their families can be deported.”

They pointed out that the authorities have been omitted to provide comprehensive protection to migrant children and that the Mexican State is obliged to draw up an “intervention plan through a comprehensive diagnosis of protection needs.”

For more information in Spanish:

Instruyen a la Comar a acelerar calidad de refugiados a migrantes menores de edad (Proceso, 18 de febrero de 2019)

Conferencia de Prensa: Juez de amparo reconoce como refugiados a niñas niños y adolescentes de las caravanas migrantes. (REDIM, 18 de febrero de 2019)

For more information from SIPAZ:

International: IACHR Asks Honduras and Guatemala to Respect Human Rights (March 6th, 2019)

International/National: Registration of Humanitarian Visas for Migrants Closes

(February 12th, 2019)

International/Mexico: Xenophobic Violence Erupts Against Migrants in Tecun Uman

(February 1st, 2019)

National/International: 181 Countries Approve United Nations Global Pact for Refugees

(January 4th, 2019)

National/International: 164 Countries Approve UN Global Migration Pact (January 2nd, 2019)

International: IACHR Asks Honduras and Guatemala to Respect Human Rights

Photo @ BBC

On February 19th, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) expressed its concern in a press release about the human rights situation of migrants and refugees that make up caravans that since January began to settle in San Pedro Sula, Honduras.

The IACHR informed that they received information that members, mostly Hondurans, of a caravan, which is headed to Mexico and the United States, “faced various obstacles to leave their country, such as the establishment of at least seven roadblocks, blockades with human fences formed by agents of different security bodies, and filters implemented by the police that requested identity documents at the border checkpoint. Likewise, the use of force was recorded by the Honduran police, who allegedly fired tear gas towards the caravan, wounding several people, including children and adolescents (…) as a consequence, many people, including families and children, and girls, decided to avoid regular crossings, using more dangerous routes through blind spots.”

On the Guatemalan side of the border, they documented the use of force by Guatemalan authorities, “as well as the use of a riot police barrier with batons, rubber bullets and weapons, which only gave way to women with children.”

In the communiqué they reminded the Honduran and Guatemalan states, “that any person has the right to freely leave any country, including their own, in terms of Article 22.2 of the American Convention on Human Rights. Likewise, the impossibility of leaving their country may also imply a restriction on the right to seek and receive asylum, in accordance with the provisions of Article 22.7 of the American Convention.”

In addition “that the use of force in migratory operations should be used only in compliance with the principles of legitimate purpose, absolute necessity and proportionality; and that migrants do not pose a threat to national security and that the human rights of migrants and refugees are guaranteed, including the right to seek and receive asylum, the right to non-repatriation.”

In this regard, the Rapporteur on the Rights of Migrants of the IACHR noted: “Today more than ever we must remember that migration is not a crime. The massive migratory movements that we have been observing for several years are a reflection of the situation of generalized violence, discrimination, poverty and inequality faced by people in a greater situation of exclusion in the countries of the Northern Triangle.”

For more information in Spanish:

CIDH insta a garantizar derechos de personas que integran la caravana de migrantes y refugiados en Honduras y Guatemala (CIDH, 19 de febrero de 2019)

CIDH insta a Guatemala y Honduras a garantizar derechos de migrantes (24-horas, 20 de febrero de 2019)

For more information from SIPAZ:

International/National: Registration of Humanitarian Visas for Migrants Closes
(February 12th, 2019)

International/Mexico: Xenophobic Violence Erupts Against Migrants in Tecun Uman
(February 1st, 2019)

National/International: New Migrant Caravans Arrive at Border; Others Advance through Mexico (January 28th, 2019)

National/International: New Migrant Caravan Reaches Mexico (January 23rd, 2019)

National/International: 181 Countries Approve United Nations Global Pact for Refugees

(January 4th, 2019)

National/International: 164 Countries Approve UN Global Migration Pact (January 2nd, 2019)