Mexico City.- On April 19 the photographic exhibition "Protect human rights defenders and journalists" opened in the Mexican Chamber of Deputies (San Lazaro), coordinated by Peace Brigades International (PBI) and Amnesty International (AI). The ceremony was hosted by representatives of promoting organizations of the Protection Mechanism bill for HRDs and Journalists in Mexico, which was passed by the Senate on April 17th.

The exhibition captures faces of Mexican human rights defenders and journalists through 30 images taken by photographers Enrique Carrasco, Prometeo Lucero and Ricardo Ramírez Arriola.

The inauguration was attended by defenders such as Father Alejandro Solalinde, accompanied by PBI in the state of Oaxaca, and Silvia Vázquez Camacho, lawyer for the Mexican Commission for Defense and Promotion of Human Rights (CMDPDH), and the Mexican magazine journalist Contralínea Ana Lilia Pérez. They have all born witness to the attacks faced by the people featured in their promotion of human rights and freedom of speech. The bill was welcomed by them.

PBI, AI and supporting organizations of the mechanism process noted that Mexico is one of the most dangerous countries in the American continent for human rights defenders and journalists, which is confirmed by the Inter-american Human Rights Commission stating that between 2006 and 2010 at least 61 defenders were killed and in the last 10 years at least 66 journalists have been killed.

In addition, Ben Leather, representing PBI, highlighted the recent spate of attacks in the state of Oaxaca as a demonstration of the importance of this initiative, which would provide a legislative framework of protection complementary to the Mechanism presented by the Mexican Interior Ministry last March 28.

The session was opened by the Representative in Mexico of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Javier Hernandez Valencia. Representatives of some embassies in Mexico, who have shown special interest and monitored the process, were also present during the inauguration.

The exhibition will run until April 27 in Building H of the Chamber of Deputies (San Lazaro), Mexico City (Mexico)