• 

  This October Mexico will present its report to the UN Human Rights Council

• Mexico has not implemented the majority of the recommendations issued in 2009. The cases of the Inter-american Court rulings remain unpunished

• Civil Society organizations will continue to maintain the media and the society in general well informed in the lead up to the Review

Civil Society Organizations (OSC) released a joint report about the situation of human rights in Mexico, in preparation for the second round of the Universal Periodic Review. The report will be presented before the Human Rights Council this October in Geneva, Switzerland. The document highlights the exponential increase in human rights violations, mainly derived from the context of violence and impunity that exists in the country.

More than 30 organizations contributed to the production of the report, which contains eleven themes that are of OSC concern: legislative harmonization; poverty and economic, social, cultural and environmental rights; access to justice and judicial reforms; the prison system; public security and militarization; forced disappearance and torture; indigenous peoples; human rights defenders and journalists; migrants; women; and finally, youth and infancy.

The report presents up to date information and recommendations regarding each of the topics. Many of the recommendations were released by the HRC in the previous round of he UPR in 2009. However, Mexico has not yet effectively implemented them.

During the period under review, Mexico was also penalized on five occasions by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in regards to the cases of Rosendo Radilla Pacheco, González and Others (Cotton Field), Inés Fernández Ortega, Valentina Rosendo Cantú and Cabrera García and Montiel Flores (campesino environmentalists). These paradigmatic cases of serious human rights violations have been the subject of recommendations by various human rights mechanisms, including the UPR.

It is also important to note that the recommendations rejected by Mexico in 2009, related to themes of military justice and detention, organized crime and transitional justice, are far from having been addressed and implemented.

Regarding the process of preparation for the evaluation, and faced with a lack of adequate enquiry for the completion of the State´s report, the organizations emphasized the need for the report to be publicized before it is presented to the UN Council for Human Rights, which has a presentation deadline of July 22.

The OSC have highlighted the actions they have taken in Mexico to publicize the joint report as well as the work on international advocacy that began in June and will continue until Mexico´s assessment day, with the aim of giving visibility to the situation of human rights in the country.

Finally, it was agreed that maintaining the general population, organized civil society and the media informed of the process in the lead up to the UPR is of vital importance. To do this, a comprehensive communication campaign was decided upon, which uses social networks as well as the web pages of the organizations that participated in the production of the report. This can be found at epumexico.wordpress.com

Yours Sincerely

Acción Urgente para Defensores de los Derechos Humanos (ACUDDEH); Asistencia Legal por los Derechos Humanos, A.C. (ASILEGAL); Casa de los Derechos de los Periodistas; Católicas por el Derecho a Decidir; Centro de Derechos Humanos de la Montaña “Tlachinollan”; Centro de Derechos Humanos de las Mujeres (CEDEHM); Centro de Derechos Humanos Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas, A.C.; Centro de Derechos Humanos Fray Francisco de Vitoria OP A.C.; Centro de Derechos Humanos Fray Juan de Larios; Centro de Derechos Humanos Fray Matías de Córdova; Centro de Derechos Humanos Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez A.C.; Centro Mexicano de Derecho Ambiental (CEMDA); Colectivo contra la Tortura y la Impunidad, Comisión Mexicana para la Defensa y Promoción de los Derechos Humanos (CMDPDH); Comité de Defensa Integral de Derechos Humanos Gobixha A.C.; Comité de Derechos Humanos de Tabasco A.C. (CODEHUTAB); Comunicación e Información de la Mujer A.C. (CIMAC); DECA Equipo Pueblo A.C.; Documenta A.C.; Equis: Justicia para las Mujeres; Espolea, A.C.; Espacio de Coordinación de Organizaciones Civiles sobre Derechos Económicos, Sociales y Culturales (Espacio DESC); Grupo de Información en Reproducción Elegida (GIRE); Iniciativas para la Identidad y la Inclusión, A.C. (INICIA); Instituto de Derechos Humanos Ignacio Ellacuría S.J. Universidad Iberoamericana Puebla; Instituto Mexicano de Derechos Humanos y Democracia (IMDHD); Observatorio Ciudadano Nacional del Feminicidio (OCNF); Red Nacional de Resistencia Civil contra las altas tarifas de la energía eléctrica; Red Nacional de Organismos Civiles de Derechos Humanos “Todos los Derechos para Todas y Todos (RedTDT); Red por los Derechos de la Infancia en México (REDIM); SMR Scalabrinianas. Misión para Migrantes y Refugiados.