National: 161 Defenders and 40 Journalists Murdered in Last Presidential Term of Office

(@Proceso)

On November 29th, at a press conference in Mexico City, the Network All Rights for All (Red TdT in its Spanish acronym) reported that during the administration of Enrique Peña Nieto (December 2012-November 2018), 161 defenders and 40 journalists were murdered with impunity. “This demonstrates conclusively that the six-year term of office that ended was lethal for dissenting voices: painful data, which become lives torn apart for a country that is democratic and that, officially, is not at war,” it stressed.

In its report “From Memory … Hope”, the Tdt Network stressed that only 3% of the cases of murdered defenders are judged and that these investigations “often ignore their activity as the cause of the murder.” 42 of the defenders belonged to an indigenous people. 40% of the people killed were community defenders, and most of them were working for the defense of Economic, Social, Cultural and Environmental Rights (ESCE) and of the Earth and the territory. 19 were women and three were trans. The most dangerous states were Guerrero (28% of cases), Oaxaca (20%) and Chihuahua (11%).

The Tdt Network denounced that the response of the Mexican State to this situation “has been limited to the action of the Protection Mechanism for Defenders and Journalists operated by the Ministry of the Interior, which has only reactive measures and does not obey the specific needs of the beneficiaries. This year, even, the Trust that endows the Mechanism with resources ran out of resources, putting 727 defenders and journalists at greater risk.”

It proposed that the struggle of all these defenders “was interrupted in a violent way, but not their ideals and convictions, not their dreams or the memory of their just struggle for a different world. There lies the hope. In all those people who during these six years and still now persist in the defense of human rights, in this service for life. The hope is in the learning, achievements and seeds sowed of those people who, although they are no longer there, continue to be present in their fighting and dignified spirit.”

For more information in Spanish:

161 personas defensoras de DH asesinadas en sexenio que termina, sembradores de esperanza: Red TDT (Red Tdt, 29 de noviembre de 2018)

Red TDT: 161 defensores de derechos y 40 periodistas asesinados en el sexenio (Proceso, 29 de noviembre de 2018)

En el actual sexenio, 161 defensores fueron asesinados en México (El Imparcial, 29 de noviembre de 2018)

Con Peña, 161 defensores de derechos humanos y 40 periodistas asesinados: Red TDT (30 de noviembre de 2018)

For more information from SIPAZ:

National/International: “The Time is Now, Effective Public Policies for the Right to Defend Human Rights” Report Published  (October 30th, 2018)

National: Federal Mechanism for Journalists and Defenders without Funding (October 14th, 2018)

National: Defenders and Journalists Denounce Insufficient Resources for Continuity of Protection Mechanism (September 26th, 2018)

National: UN-DH urges Mexico to guarantee resources for the protection of journalists and human rights defenders (September 17th, 2018)

National/International: International organizations call Mechanism for Protection for Human-Rights Defenders and Journalists into question (May 16th, 2015)

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Guerrero/National/International: CNDH and IACHR Ayotzinapa Reports

Ayotzinapa at Tlachinollan anniversary(@SIPAZ)

On November 27th, three days before the end of the six-year term of office of Enrique Peña Nieto, the president of the National Commission of Human Rights (CNDH in its Spanish acronym), Luis Raul Gonzalez Perez, presented recommendation 15VG/2018 on the events that took place in September 2014, in Iguala, Guerrero, that caused the forced disappearance of 43 students from the Normal Rural School of Ayotzinapa, the death of six people and 42 more wounded. He considered it as a “point of departure and a clear guide to what remains to be done” so that the next government of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador will get truth and justice in the case.

At a press conference, he said that, “what happened in Iguala should not be seen as an isolated case, but as a reflection of the situation that covers several regions of the country, and in which the possibility of generating an episode of similar dimensions and characteristics is a latent risk.”

He stressed that “a crime of the dimensions that happened in Iguala could only occur because of the penetration of organized crime in government structures”, while “various authorities, at federal, local and municipal levels, knew that things were rotten and contaminated, but nobody did anything. This would have prevented an outcome like the one that happened.”

He indicated that the investigation showed “that the authorities violated the right to the truth of the victims and of society when formulating or disseminating biased statements or partial or false information, which disorientated, confused and generated uncertainty in public opinion, causing the victims to be victimized again.”

On another note, two years after the Special Follow-up Mechanism was installed, this body of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) presented its final work report, in which it analyzes the main anomalies, deficiencies and omissions detected in the investigation conducted by the Mexican government. It concludes that “despite all the proceedings contained in a dossier of more than 618 volumes, the investigations continue fragmented, and require a comprehensive analysis (…) many of the proceedings seem to be incomplete, are discarded or fail to be procedurally driven.” The IACHR also expressed its concern at the fact that “there is still no change in the official narrative regarding the line of investigation of the Cocula landfill, despite what has been indicated by this Commission, by the Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts (IGIE), the Office of the High Commissioner of the United Nations for Human Rights (UNHCHR) and the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team (AFAT).” It urged the Mexican State “to redouble the efforts to determine the whereabouts of the student teachers, to know the truth of what happened on the night of September 26th and 27th, 2014, to provide comprehensive assistance to families and to ensure that these atrocious events do happen again”.

For more information in Spanish:

RECOMENDACIÓN No. 15VG/2018 « Caso Iguala » (CNDH, 28 de noviembre de 2018)

Toca a AMLO enderezar investigación por caso Ayotzinapa: CNDH al emitir recomendación a Peña (Proceso, 28 de noviembre de 2018)

La CNDH revive “versión histórica” de la PGR en caso Iguala: mínimo 19 personas calcinadas en Cocula (Proceso, 28 de noviembre de 2018)

La CNDH señala que autoridades violaron el derecho a la verdad en el caso Iguala (ADN Politico, 28 de noviembre de 2018)

Informe Final: Mecanismo de Seguimiento al Asunto Ayotzinapa (CIDH, 25 de noviembre de 2018)

Profundizar investigación a militares y policías por caso Ayotzinapa, recomienda CIDH (Informe) (Aristegui Noticias, 28 de noviembre de 2018)

Sin identificar, 19 calcinados en basurero de Cocula: CNDH (La Jornada, 29 de noviembre de 2018)

Caso Ayotzinapa: la CIDH detecta más indicios de federales y militares en ataque a normalistas⁩ (Animal Político, 29 de noviembre de 2018)

Caso Ayotzinapa aún incompleto y sin detención de involucrados: CIDH (Vanguardia, 29 de noviembre de 2018)

Incompleta y fragmentada la “versión histórica” del caso Ayotzinapa; CIDH pide desecharla (Proceso, 29 de noviembre de 2018)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Guerrero/National: Ayotzinapa, Four Years On…  (October 1st, 2018)

Guerrero/National: Incoming Government Confirms Creation of Truth Commission for Ayotzinapa Case (Aug. 13th, 12018)

Guerrero/National: Obstruction in Formation of Truth Commission in Ayotzinapa Case Denounced (Aug. 8th, 2018)Guerrero: Classmates of Ayotzinapa 43 Graduate

Guerrero: Classmates of Ayotzinapa 43 Graduate (Aug. 2nd, 2018)

Guerrero/National: Federal Court Orders Creation Truth Commission to Reopen Investigation of Ayotzinapa Case (July 12th, 2018)

Guerrero/Nacional : CNDH informa que se tiene a un preso inocente por el caso Ayotzinapa (22 de junio de 2018)

Guerrero/Nacional/Internacional : Llamados a redigirir investigación en el caso Ayotzinapa (14 de junio de 2018)

 

Mexico: Consultations on Maya Train and Nine “Priority” Projects of New Government

On November 24th and 25th, the consultation was held on the Maya Train and nine other projects that the next executive considers “priority” to implement as soon as it officially takes office on December 1st.

1,098 voting tables installed in 538 municipalities nationwide were used, according to the Arturo Rosenblueth Foundation, in charge of the organization. 946,081 people participated in this consultation and 89.9% voted in favor of the proposed Mayan Train project that seeks to communicate the main archaeological centers of the Maya zone in five states of southeastern Mexico. All the other proposals received more than 90% of votes in favor: the development of the Tehuantepec Isthmus Train; the refinery in Dos Bocas, Tabasco; the reforestation program; the increase in the pension for adults over 68 years of age; the granting of scholarships to all students of public high schools in the country; the delivery of pensions to disabled people; as well as guaranteed medical attention and free internet coverage.

Specialists, academics, environmentalists, scientists and civil organizations have questioned the development proposals included in this package, mainly due to the ecological damage that these projects could cause.

For its part, the Movement in Defense of the Land and the Territory in Chiapas questioned why none of these projects was brought to consultation with the people that will be directly affected when it is carried out in cities. “Of the 79 spaces that were installed in the state, only one was in the municipality of Palenque and it was located in the municipal capital, far from the places through which it will transit -in case of materializing- in its 45 kilometers,” they said.

For more information in Spanish:

El Tren Maya y su impacto en las comunidades, Proceso, 27 de noviembre de 2018

Tren Maya pasa la consulta de López Obrador en México con el 89,9% de los votos, CNN, 26 de noviembre de 2018

Equipo de AMLO presume que programas obtuvieron más del 90% de aceptación; Tren Maya, el menos votado (Animal Político, 26 de noviembre de 2018)

Consulta sobre Tren Maya no llegó a los pueblos, comunidades y ejidos que impactará en Chiapas (Aristegui Noticias, 26 de noviembre de 2018)

Pueblos indígenas no participaron como se esperaba: Claudia Muñoz (La Jornada, 26 de noviembre de 2018)

Resultados de la Consulta Nacional 10 Programas Prioritarios (Fundación Arturo Rosenblueth, 25 de noviembre de 2018)

Les falta baño de pueblo, dice López Obrador a críticos del Tren Maya (Animal Político, 25 de noviembre de 2018)

Entre burócratas y ciudadanos los que más participaron en la consulta de AMLO (Pagina3.mx, 25 de noviembre de 2018)

For more information from SIPAZ:

National: Faced with Rejection of National Guard, AMLO Proposes New Consultation (December 12th, 2018)

National: AMLO Announces Consultation for the Construction of the Maya Train (November 14th, 2018)

National: Mexico International Airport in Texcoco is canceled after consultation
(November 3rd, 2018)

Mexico: proposal from future AMLO government – Mayan Train to tour the southern states of the country and attract more tourism  (September 15th, 2018)

 

National/International: Marches for International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women

@CDMCh

On November 25th, as part of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, activities were held throughout the world as well as in several states of Mexico. This day was first promoted by the United Nations (UN) in 2009 to highlight the fact that “violence against women and girls is one of the most widespread, persistent and devastating human rights violations in the world today and that it is barely reported due to the impunity enjoyed by the perpetrators, and the silence, stigmatization and shame suffered by the victims.” The motto this year was “Orange the World: #HearMeToo”, calling on public opinion to “listen and believe the survivors, to put an end to the culture of silence and that our response be focused on survivors.”

In Mexico, marches were held in eight states. In Oaxaca, two years after the inauguration of Governor Alejandro Murat Hinojosa, women not only marched in the capital but also blocked the entry of the State Attorney General, criticizing that “nothing has changed” and “the simulation in the implementation of the gender alert, by not seeking justice, or attending to the victims.” According to the Consortium for Parliamentary Dialogue and Equity, femicide rates in Oaxaca have increased to 235 up to November 23rd, a fact that shows that “violence increases every day.”

In Guerrero, the protests of organizations, artists, journalists and social activists focused on the case of Valentina Rosendo Cantu with actions that began the day and will continue until December 10th, Human Rights Day. Valentina obtained a sentence against the military that raped and tortured her in July 2002 and continues to defend the rights of women in Guerrero. However, the “State is no guarantee to safeguard our rights,” said the Montaña Tlachinollan Human Rights Center, speaking of “an average of 4.5 cases [of femicides] per month” and that “this escalation of violence against us occurs in the middle of public thoroughfare, the perpetrators shoot their weapons without fear of being arrested and investigated.”

In San Cristobal de Las Casas, Chiapas, a march was also held that closed the Sixth Assembly of the Movement in Defense of the Land, the Territory and for the Participation and Recognition of Women in Decisions. In their pronouncement, they demanded that the government “guarantee our right to land and participation in decision-making without mediation and without violence.” According to the Center for Women’s Rights (CDMCh in its Spanish acronym), there were “95 known cases of serious violence against women in Chiapas” between January and July 2018. Since 2015, Chiapas ranks “third place nationwide with the most violence against women.”

For more information in Spanish:

Por qué debemos eliminar la violencia contra la mujer (ONU)

Mensaje de la Secretaria General Adjunta de la ONU y Directora Ejecutiva de ONU Mujeres, 2018 (ONU)

Marchas en ocho entidades para erradicar la violencia contra mujeres (La Jornada, 26 de noviembre de 2018)

Feministas clausuran Fiscalía General de Oaxaca por su desatención a víctimas (Video) (La Minuta, 26 de noviembre de 2018)

Contra la violencia de género… a costa de nuestra vida (El Sur, 26 de noviembre de 2018)

Pronunciamiento 25 de noviembre “Día Internacional por la Eliminación de la Violencia en contra de las mujeres y niñas” (La Bridaga Feminista Lucero, 24 de noviembre de 2018)

Pronunciamiento del Movimiento en Defensa de la Tierra, el Territorio, por la Participación y el Reconocimiento de las Mujeres en las Decisiones (25 de noviembre de 2018)

Violencia contra Mujeres y Feminicidios en Chiapas (CDMCh, 25 de noviembre de 2018)

For more information from SIPAZ:

National/International: “Green Tide” – Activists March for Free and Safe Abortion; Threatened across Republic (October 9th, 2018)

Oaxaca: Nine Femicides after 28 Days of Gender Violence Alert – Some Municipalities Yet to Implement Declaration (Oct. 2nd, 2018)

Oaxaca: Segob decrees Gender Violence Alert in Oaxaca for unfullfillment of governor Murat  (Sept. 18th, 2018)

Nacional : OSC denuncian omisiones en investigación y combate a feminicidios (Aug.16th, 2018)

National/International: “Final Observations on the Ninth Periodic Report from Mexico, the Convention for the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women” Published  (August 6th, 2018)

Chiapas : Reunión de evaluación de la Alerta de Violencia de Género sin participación de las organizaciones peticionarias (June 19th, 2018)

Guerrero: Femicides Rocket Despite Gender Violence Alert (July 12th, 2018)

Guerrero: Femicides on the Rise in 2017 (Jan. 26th, 2018)

Oaxaca: Special Comission to Investigate Femicidal Violence Set Up after Delays  (January 24th, 2018)

 

National: Faced with Rejection of National Guard, AMLO Proposes New Consultation

@Guillermo Solguren, La Jornada

On November 21st, President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) reported that on March 21st the formation of the National Guard, in addition to asking about the possibility of trial of former presidents for alleged acts of corruption and on the formation of the business advisory board will be tentatively put to consultation. He said that this consultation would take place until this date so that the amendment to Article 35 of the constitution is approved, which would allow the National Electoral Institute (INE in its Spanish acronym) to organize it.

Since the presentation of the security plan of the next government and what would be the National Guard, national and international organizations have questioned this option. “Lopez Obrador commits a colossal error that could thwart any hope of ending the atrocities that have caused so much suffering in Mexico in recent years,” Human Rights Watch said, referring to allegations of human rights violations committed by the military that have been occurring since 2006 (such as extrajudicial executions, torture and disappearance of people). “Lopez Obrador should commit to improving the country’s civilian police forces, a task that, however complex, is essential to sustainably end the violence and abuses that have proliferated in Mexico,” it said.

“It is extremely serious that the next federal government is committed to a militarized security model, as announced last week with the proposal to create a National Guard,” the National Network of Civil Human Rights Organizations said. All Rights for All” (TDT Network, made up of 87 organizations in 23 states of the Republic), expressed its “great concern” over “the political speed and inconsistency” with which the deputies of MORENA have presented various initiatives for constitutional reform that would allow the creation of the National Guard: “Even more so than the binned Law of Internal Security, the new initiative intends to raise military participation in public security tasks to constitutional rank, as it seeks to attach elements of the Secretariats of National Defense and the Navy to this institution in the work of public security and procurement of justice. In addition to this, its organic link with the Public Ministry puts at risk the advances that the model of delivery of justice is having in Mexico.”

On another note, a letter endorsed by 128 groups and 544 people, organized by Common Cause, makes a strong and urgent call to the president-elect to stop the constitutional reform announced to integrate the National Guard and opt, instead, for the development and strengthening of civilian security institutions. The text supports the reinforcement of the Federal Police, since although it is admitted that “it was abandoned during recent years, it considers that it has research, technological and operative capacities that allow contemplating a civil option for the attention of high impact crimes.”

AMLO, for his part, says he made this decision because the police bodies have no capacity to guarantee the country’s security. “The fact that the National Guard is attached to SEDENA in operational terms does not mean that the military personnel are responsible for security,” he says. “They will have a training process different from the military one, training to perform the tasks of public security,” including topics on the new criminal justice system and respect for human rights among others, he said.

For more information in Spanish:

AMLO prevé consultar en marzo sobre Guardia Nacional, juicio a expresidentes y consejo empresarial (Proceso, 22 de noviembre de 2018)

AMLO anuncia consulta sobre juicio a expresidentes, la Guardia Nacional y el consejo empresarial (Animal Político, 21 de noviembre de 2018)

Organizaciones de DH cuestionan plan de seguridad militar de AMLO (La Jornada, 20 de noviembre de 2018)

AMLO: las críticas al controvertido plan de seguridad en México presentado por López Obrador (BBC, 20 de noviembre de 2018)

ONGs y especialistas piden a AMLO dar marcha atrás en Guardia Nacional (Forbes, 20 de noviembre de 2018)

Guardia Nacional, el gran error de AMLO (Sin Embargo, 19 de noviembre de 2018)

For more information from SIPAZ:

National: Supreme Court Invalidates Security Law; AMLO Announces National Peace and Security Plan 2018-2024  (November 27th, 2018)

National: CNDH Asks SCJN to Declare Interior Security Law Unconstitutional (November 7th, 2018)

National: Reactions to Minister for Supreme Court’s Proposal on Interior Security Law (November 7th, 2018)

National: AMLO “The Army and the Navy will continue on the streets in internal public security tasks” (September 15, 2018)

 

Guerrero/National: 13th Meeting of MAPDER in Cacahuatepec

13th Meeting of MAPDER, Guerrero (@Mario Marlo)

The 13th Meeting of the Mexican Movement of People Affected by Dams and in Defense of the Rivers (MAPDER in its Spanish acronym) was held in the community of Salsipuesdes, in the Communal Property of Cacahuatepec, near Acapulco, in the state of Guerrero, from November 16th to 18th, within the framework of its 15 years of resistance. The objective of the meeting was “to share experiences and knowledge from the different resistance movements, affected and organizations that compose MAPDER, analyze MAPDER’s political proposal for the next political scenario, strengthen and provide solidarity to members of the Council of Ejidos and Communities Opposed to La Parota Dam (CECOP in its Spanish acronym).” Social organizations and defenders from Colombia and Brazil were also present at the event.

They recalled that hydroelectric projects have displaced people and caused environmental devastation in the name of progress. They also denounced “the deepening of the neoliberal model with a project to facilitate the control of territory by big capital, as are the special economic zones that the new government intends to continue promoting.”

They told the new government that they will not accept “the imposition of dams and hydroelectric projects as well as other extractive models that have led to confrontation, repression and criminalization of those who for many years have defended our lands, the rights of peoples and territories.” They said that “the so-called Agrarian Development Law which aims to abrogate the Agrarian Law, goes in that same direction, it is the law left pending by the Peña government and gives continuity to the Salinist reform of Article 27, which opened the Mexican countryside to national, foreign private capital, and if they intend this to be change, they will soon come up against the people who elected them.”

In particular, they called for an end to harassment against CECOP members, immediate release of 19 of its members and all political prisoners in the country, as well as the departure of the state police from the territory of Cacahuatepec. In addition to justice for the murder of the defenders of territory in the northern mountains of Puebla and the presentation alive of the defender Sergio Rivera; as well as the definitive cancellation of the projects of the dams, La Parota in Guerrero, Las Cruces in Nayarit, the Purgatory in Jalisco, Paso de la Reyna Oaxaca, the Naranjal in Veracruz, Milpillas in Zacatecas; and the immediate dismantling of the El Zapotillo dam in Jalisco and an audit of the restoration project of the Rio Verde basin.

For more information in Spanish:

No aceptarán la imposición de presas en el gobierno de AMLO, dicen ambientalistas (El Sur, 19 de noviembre de 2018)

Llaman activistas a mantener la lucha contra construcción de presas (La Jornada de Guerrero, 18 de noviembre de 2018)

Activistas de 3 países piden a pueblos seguir su lucha contra proyectos hidroeléctricos (La Jornada, 18 de noviembre de 2018)

Movimiento Mexicano de Afectados por las Presas prepara encuentro en Salsipuedes, Guerrero (Somos el medio, 15 de noviembre de 2018)

CONVOCATORIA AL 13° ENCUENTRO NACIONAL DEL MAPDER (MAPDER, octubre de 2018)

For more information from SIPAZ:

National: XI National Meeting of the Mexican Movement of Those Affected by Dams and in Defense of Rivers (MAPDER) in Olintla, Puebla (September 15th, 2014)

Guerrero: national and international organizations visit prisoners of the CECOP and the CRAC-PC (October 10th, 2018)

Guerrero: 50 arrest warrants against members of CECOP (September 24th, 2018)

Guerrero : Detienen a otro integrante del Consejo de Ejidos y Comunidades Opositoras a La Parota (CECOP) en medio de presiones de fuerzas civiles armadas (September 5th, 2018)

Guerrero: Nine of 25 Detainees from Confrontation in La Concepción in January Released
(September 17th, 2018)

Guerrero / National: Nestora Salgado announces campaign for the freedom of political prisoners  (September 16th, 2018)

Guerrero : Cancelación definitiva de la Parota y libertad de presos, pide CECOP en su 15 aniversario (31 de julio de 2018)

Guerrero: Extrajudicial Executions and Arrests of Community Police and Members of CECOP  (January 22nd, 2018)

 

 

Chiapas/National/International: EZLN Invitation to 25th Anniversary of Zapatista Uprising and Meeting of Networks

In a communiqué published on November 17, the date of its 35th anniversary, the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN in its Spanish acronym) invited people to two events to be held at the end of the year: from December 26th to 30th, to a “Meeting of Resistance and Rebellion Networks, of Support for the CIG (Indigenous Council of Government), or Whatever they Are Called” to be carried out in the “Traces of Memory. Subcomandante Insurgente Pedro Did his Duty” center,” in the vicinity of the town of Guadalupe Tepeyac, MAREZ San Pedro de Michoacan.

Also, on December 31st, 2018 and January 1st, 2019, the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the armed uprising will be held in Zapatista La Realidad, location of the caracol “Madre de los caracoles del mar de nuestro sueños”, in the Border Jungle zone.

The email for registration to the first event is redesdic18@enlacezapatista.org.mx; and for the second anniversary25@enlacezapatista.org.mx.

For more information in Spanish:

Invitación a la celebración del 25 Aniversario del Alzamiento Zapatista y a un Encuentro de Redes (EZLN, 17 de noviembre de 2018)

Convoca EZLN a encuentro de apoyo al CIG (La Jornada, 18 de noviembre de 2018)

#EZLN: 35 años de lucha (Subrayado.mx, 18 de noviembre de 2018)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Chiapas: EZLN Publishes Program for First Film Festival “Puy Ta Cuxlejaltic”  (November 5th, 2018)

Chiapas: EZLN Announces “The Impossible Cinema”  (October 14th, 2018)

Chiapas : segunda y tercera parte del comunicado del EZLN compartido durante el Encuentro de Redes en Morelia, (23/08/2018)

Chiapas: Comunicado EZLN (primera parte) UNA FINCA, UN MUNDO, UNA GUERRA, POCAS PROBABILIDADES, (22/08/2018)

Chiapas: Meeting of CIG Support Networks, COMPARTE 2018 “For Life and Liberty” and 15th Anniversary of the Zapatista Caracoles  (August 22, 2018)

Chiapas/National: Roundtable Discussion “To Watch, to Listen, to Speak: Forbidden to Think?”  (May 5th, 2018)