Mexico City,- State of Mexico (Estado de México or Edomex) is the most populous federal entity in the country with over 15 million inhabitants. It has one of the highest levels of income of the republic and it attracts the largest number of internal migrants, mainly due to the expansion of México City1. The state is also a transit point for thousands of Central Americans who cross the country annually to reach the United States, especially in the town of Tultitlan (where migrants have to switch trains).
Local representantives of civil society highlight the lack of public knowledge of human rights violations in the state and note that "the international community has not looked into the violations occurring in Edomex. It seems that nothing happens here." Therefore, the opening of the Centre for Human Rights Zeferino Ladrillero (CDHZL) in June this year is reason for celebration for local organizations. This is the first human rights center in the State of Mexico and it arises from the needs of local society to have a means of dissemination of human rights issues, and to investigate, litigate and maintain dialogue with the Government.
The characteristics of the state have demanded hard work of civil society on Economic, Social, Cultural, and Environmental Rights (ESCR). The rapid urban growth has not been matched by access to basic services, housing, education, employment or environmental care. Concerning migration issues, in August this year, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) expressed concern about the lack of security in the shelters in the State of Mexico following the closure of the Casa del Migrante San Juan Diego located in Lecheria district, in the municipality Tultitlán. According to the Commission, "it is necessary that the State guarantees the conditions of security needed for this center to be able to re-open its doors." The shelter attended an average of 150 people per day, but on some days up to 600 migrants were cared for.
Moreover, in 2010, civil society organizations filed a “gender alert” request of in State of Mexico, although it was rejected last year.The organizations had detected that the number of femicides (murders of women because of their gender)in the state was the highest in the country, above that of Ciudad Juarez (Chihuahua). It is also worth mentioning the Atenco police operation of May 2006, in which it has been alleged the excessive use of public force to supress a social movement, resulting in over 200 arrests and 47 women being sexually abused2. In November 2011, the IACHR published the admissibility report on the case filed regarding the sexual violence suffered by 11 of these women.
A Peace Brigades International (PBI) delegation visited State of Mexico in August as part of the exploratory mission started earlier this year. The organisation held meetings in Mexico City, Tultitlan, Huehuetoca, Tecamac and Toluca with civil society representatives and State of Mexico authorities, as well as NGOs from Mexico City working in the region3.
Community efforts for decent housing and quality education
"In Edomex there is not an adequate infrastructure to meet the demands of the people. The neighborhoods have no government investment and projects are allocated selectively" say members of the State of Mexico Social Movement. Two examples of this are housing and education. According to them, the population growth in the state "also generates a lot of poverty, marginalisation; many people move to find work. Here there are a series of problems: housing, education, recreation, security, justice, peace. They become endless problems that organisations are recognising and taking on board as part of their struggle."
The Frente del Pueblo, the Alianza Única del Valle and Coordinadora de Colonias de Ecatepec are some of the organisations that have worked directly for the housing right for people living in marginalised areas of the state, "in addition to the land and housing, you then have to make sure you get the necessary services such as water and electricity," they added. With their organisational efforts, they have ensured the construction of affordable housing to families in the area. However, they say, the work has not been easy4: Alianza Única del Valle, for example, has seen the arrest of 41 of its members in the last 12 months in different repressive episodes5; Coordinadora de Colonias de Ecatepec leased a field for 8 years where it would be possible to build at least 97 homes, but they have failed to complete the project due to both the lack of resources for construction and because they can't be sure they will receive the basic services which the households need.
Another major challenge is access to quality education. Members of Unión Popular Jose Maria Morelos y Pavon, Izquierda Democrática Popular and Movimiento Social de Izquierda Democrática shared with PBI their experiences in the defense of this right in their communities: "In State of Mexico educational issues have really been solved by organised [civil] society” and, in a large part of the marginalised areas, schools are built with the efforts and the resources of the communities themselves. They then try to obtain from the official government recognition for the schools, so that they might receive the resources, infrastructure and teachers salaries they require.
In spite of having founded schools in their communities, a member of Unión Popular insists that, "the achievements are very few - you almost have to force the government to act: we march – they don't resolve things; we march - repression, lists of demands, complaints, repression - we march. Instead of resolving things, the state's response has been repression." The current state administration has stated that education is a priority; organisations have established a dialogue with the Government and they hope to receive a better response to the problem.
Access to water and the right to a healthy environment
State of Mexico has seen various experiences of community development of water extraction systems and distribution, such as those developed by the civil society association Sistema de Agua Potable de Tecámac. However, last year, the state government passed a new Water Law (April 28, 2011) and independent agencies now have greater difficulty to obtain concessions for water management and distribution. According to Tecámac activists, "The new law threatens us: if we do not take care of drainage services, wastewater treatment, sludge and grey water disposal, we have to deliver the system without compensation. The Government itself does nothing to treat wastewater, but we require it. It's an excuse to get rid of us. Anyway, they should give technical advice and financial resources so that we can do it, that's what we have requested." Sistema de Agua Potable de Tecámac challenged the law but local courts did not accept it. Tecámac has also refused to hand over their wells and continues to work on the project. However, several other community systems have been forced to abandon their activities, despite offering cheap water services to the residents without profit. The human rights defenders at Tecámac fear that privatisation will benefit businesses but not citizens.
The intense urbanisation of Edomex generates an increasing need for water. According to Sistema de Agua Potable de Tecámac, in the 1950s it was enough to dig 10 metres to find water, now we have to reach 150 metres deep to find underground sources. The over-exploitation of water in recent decades has resulted in the deterioration of resources, both surface and underground. Thus, in July 2008, the association filed a complaint against the Latin American Water Tribunal for the unsustainability of the water project Ciudades del Bicentenario, the industrial and commercial housing development plan of the state government. Tecámac advocates await the hearing in the court. Their main concern now is that the 2011 law could mean the disappearance of the community ststem which they have managed for 60 years.
State of Mexico has important aquifers and lakes that supplywater to urban areas of the central basin of the country, mainly Mexico City. This contrasts with the lack of water supply in local indigenous communities. The Mexican Centro Mexicano de Derechos Ambientales (CEMDA) has documented the denial of the right of access to water for the Mazahua community, which for years has opposed the construction and expansion of treatment plants in the Valle de Bravo area. This is the case of the Los Berros plant which supplies the majority of its product to Mexico City. Communities still continue to claim water shortages.
According to the testimonies heard by PBI, State of Mexico faces a huge problem of environmental rights violations and attacks against those who defend these rights. According to statistics compiled by CEMDA, environmental advocates in State of Mexico are among those who most suffer repression and attacks across the country: 17% of the attacks against environmental rights defenders in Mexico between 2006 and 2011 took place in this state. According to CEMDA, illegal logging is the issue that causes most violence. In many cases, authorities attribute these activities to organised crime or gangs, but there are organisations which claim governmental involvement. A recent report argues that "environmentalists have been harrassed by security forces, transnational corporations, caciques or loggers, with the consent of the three levels of government."6
Migrant shelter in Lecheria closed
From 2009 to 2012 the migrant shelter in Lecheria district, Tultitlan, run by the Diocese of Cuautitlan, provided assistance to thousands of migrants who came to the city on the train known as La Bestia (The Beast). However, in July this year due to the hostile local context which developed amongst the local community, the house was closed. The Pastoral Dimension of Human Mobility7 (Dimensión Pastoral de Movilidad Humana, DPMH) documented at least 10 assaults on shelter staff and migrants from January 2012 until its closure in July.
Father Cristian Alexander, who was in charge of Tultitlan, observes a lack of governmental support to solve the conflict with members of the local community. However, he recognises that, since the closure of the shelter, both the Tultitlan municipal authorities and the state government have provided security measures and equipment for a new temporary tent erected in the same municipality to shelter the migrants. According to Father Cristian, much awareness-raising must still be done with residents regarding the situation of migrants and the people who defend their rights.
PBI visited the new temporary shelter and interviewed Father Juan Antonio Torres who runs it. The priest explained that currently fewer migrants are now coming to seek shelter in Huehuetoca than they were in Lecheria, a big concern given the vulnerable situation which they will be left in.
Staff of other migrant shelters in Edomex, such as the San Juan Diego and the San José in Huehuetoca, have also denounced harrassment by immigration and municipal authorities, making it difficult for them to provide the humanitarian assistance which the migrants require.
The DPMH has also expressed concern due to testimonies received from dozens of migrants who have been assaulted by municipal police and railway workers (known as brakemen), as well as the harassment of several trucks that surround one of the shelters. They are also worried by the the criminalisation, by municipal and state authorities, of those who defend migrants, citing for example a s facebook page which defames migrant advocates and has a “following” which includes municipal and federal authorities.
PBI would like to thank the human rights defenders for their time and for sharing their experiences. PBI strongly emphasises the importance of the support, protection and recognition for the work of those who defend and promote human rights in State of Mexico Likewise, we thank the state authorities for sharing their plans to promote human rights in the state, and the problems they still face.
1 El Estado de México y las migraciones, Human Rights Center of State of Mexico, July/August 2003.
2 For more information see Informe sobre el estado de México durante el sexenio 2005-2011 and Informe Atenco: 6 años de impunidad por tortura sexual contra mujeres.
3 PBI met with Frente del Pueblo, Izquierda Democrática Popular, Movimiento Social de Izquierda Democratica, Alianza Unica del Valle, Unión Popular Jose María Morelos y Pavón, Coordinadora de Colonias de Ecatepec, Human Rights Centre Zeferino Ladrillero, Sistema de Agua Potable de Tecamac, Human Rights Centre Fray Francisco de Vitoria, Dimensión Pastoral de la Movilidad Humana, Centro Mexicano de Derecho Ambiental. PBI also met with the former director of the migrants shelter in Lecheria and the current director of the new migrants shelter in Huehuetoca, PBI held meetings with the following state authorities too: Defensoría Municipal de Derechos Humanos of Tultitlan, Dirección de Gobernación of Tultitlan, Comisión Estatal de Derechos Humanos of Edomex, Instituto de Atención a Víctimas del Delito, Subsecretaria General de Gobierno, Unidad de Derechos Humanos de la Procuraduría General de Justicia del Estado, Unidad de Derechos Humanos de la Subsecretaria de Asuntos Jurídicos and Departamento de Derechos Humanos de la Secretaría de Seguridad Ciudadana.
4 Informe sobre el Estado de México durante el sexenio 2005-2011: la violación sistemática de derechos humanos como política de estado, Human Rights Centre Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez and others, 2011.
5 Urgen Action: Liberen a los detenidos de la Alianza Única del Valle ¡No más abuso de poder en el Estado de México! Human Rights Centre Fr. Francisco de Vitoria, Centro Nacional de Comunicación Social (CENCOS), 8 May 2012.
6 Informe sobre el Estado de México durante el sexenio 2005-2011: la violación sistemática de derechos humanos como política de estado, Human Rights Centre Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez and others, 2011.
7 The Dimensión Pastoral de la Movilidad Humana is a body which forms part of the Catholic Church and provides assistance to the migrant population which transits through Mexico.