Mexico City. – The Under-Secretary for Legal Affairs and Human Rights (Subsecretaria de Asuntos Jurídicos y Derechos Humanos) of the Interior Ministry (Secretaría de Gobernación), Lía Limón García, committed to implement the Protection Mechanism for Human Rights Defenders (HRDs) and Journalists during an event organised by Peace Brigades International (PBI) last December 11th.
In the context of International Human Rights Day, PBI organised the forum 'The Duty of the Mexican State to guarantee the security of human rights defenders and journalists' ('El deber del Estado mexicano de garantizar la seguridad de personas defensoras de derechos humanos y periodistas'), which took place in the Museum of Memory and Tolerance in the centre of Mexico City.
Members of the Civil Society Organisations Group (Espacio OSC), Amnesty International Mexico and the Under-Secretary Lía Limón spoke about the importance of continuity and the challenges facing the application of the Protection Mechanism.
Introducing the event, PBI Mexico Advocacy Coordinator Ben Leather highlighted the fact that the majority of HRDs and journalists killed in the last year had denounced threats previously, as evidence that in practise the Mexican state has not yet protected these populations. He called upon the new Government to take up this responsibility through the Protection Mechanism. PBI accompanied the process through which the Law for the Protection of HRDs and Journalists was created and continues to push for its implementation to ensure the application of effective protection measures for activists and journalists at risk.
Brisa Maya Solís, Director of the National Centre for Social Communication (CENCOS) announced that her organisation has registered 212 cases of aggressions against journalists and 69 against HRDs in 2012. Some of the states with the highest number of documented attacks were Chihuahua, Oaxaca and Guerrero.
Agnieszka Racynska, Executive Secretary of the National Network of Civil Human Rights Organisations 'All rights for All' (Red TdT) said that the federal government ought to ensure an adequate budget and trained staff for the Mechanism. She underlined that it is vital that results be achieved in the investigations of crimes against journalists and activists if these populations are to be protected.
Amnesty International's Daniel Zapico presented their new report on the situation lived by HRDs in the Americas, 'Transforming pain into hope'. Between January 2010 and September 2012, Amnesty took actions in almost 300 cases throughout the continent, 47 of which were in Mexico, including HRDs Alba Cruz from Oaxaca and Vidulfo Rosales from Guerrero.
Representing Enrique Peña Nieto's new Government, the Under-Secretary recognised that aggressions against HRDs and journalists are not only perpetrated by organised crime but also by state actors. She committed the new Government to an effective application of the Protection Mechanism and to maintain dialogue with civil society organisations. Regarding resources for the Mechanism, she affirmed that the instrument will be assured a budget of 41 million pesos for 2013.
During the event, PBI also presented their new video 'The Duty to Protect' ('El deber de proteger') which outlines the process which created the Protection Mechanism. The video contains testimonies from HRDs Agnieszka Racynska, Brisa Maya Solís, Abel Barrera, Alejandro Cerezo, Imelda Marrufo Nava and Father Alejandro Solalinde Guerra, all of whom agreed that the joint efforts of civil society were key to ensuring the creation of the Mechanism. They also highlighted the responsibility which the Mexican state must take in the protection of HRDs and journalists.
Over 130 people attended the forum, including representatives of the diplomatic community, state and federal level authorities, Javier Hernández Valencia (Representative in Mexico of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights) and members of national and international non-governmental organisations and press.
Video: THE DUTY TO PROTECT (with English subtitles)