During the biannual strategic meeting of the Mexico Project (MEP) of Peace Brigades International (PBI), held this October, PBI Mexico has decided to open a new regional team during 2013 to address the situation of Human Rights Defenders (HRDs) in the states of Chihuahua and Coahuila. This decision is the result of an exploratory mission carried out in 2012.

In order to respond to the context faced by HRDs in Mexico¹ and the growing requests for PBI's accompaniment, the MEP began an exploratory mission in 2012. The mission included visits to the states of Baja California, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Mexico State, Puebla and Tlaxcala. The main goal of the mission was to gather information on the situation of HRDs and investigate the possibility for PBI's work in new parts of the country. Through the opening of this regional team next year, PBI will monitor the situation of HRD and their work in Coahuila and Chihuahua.

Data collected during the exploratory mission indicates that most of the human rights issues in the region reflect issues of national relevance. In 2013, PBI will publish an in depth assessment of the situation of HRDs and their work in Mexico, based on the information gathered during the mission.

In 2013, the MEP will establish a regional team to identify the possibilities of accompaniment in the states of Coahuila and Chihuahua. PBI has worked in Mexico for over ten years with a mandate to create space for the work of human rights defenders and will continue to maintain international support in the states of Guerrero, Oaxaca and Mexico City next year.

PBI would like to take this opportunity to thank the non-governmental organizations and governmental bodies for their contributions to the Mission and recognize the important work of HRDs in Mexico. PBI Mexico also reiterates its commitment to keep a constant dialogue with both civil society and Mexican authorities at all levels in order to contribute to an improvement in the human rights situation in the country.

¹The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navy Pillay, the Human Rights Committee of the UN, Rapporteur for Mexico in the Interamerican Commission on Human Rights Commissioner Rodrigo Escobar Gil and The European Union Parliament, have recently expressed concern about the difficult situation faced by HRDs in Mexico and the rise of attacks against them. According to a report by Acción Urgente para Defensores de Derechos Humanos (ACUDDEH) in 2011, 188 HRDs suffered human rights violations. Chihuahua and Oaxaca were the two most affected states. International and civil society organizations have demanded the lack of an adequate response from the Mexican government to ensure the protection and integrity of HRDs.

More information

Human rights in Baja California: ancestral communities and indigenous migrants, PBI Mexico News, November 2012.

"International community has not looked into the violations occurring in Edomex", PBI Mexico News, September 2012.

Attacks on human rights defenders in Chihuahua unrelieved, PBI Mexico News, August 2012.

Widespread violence against HRDs in a context of industrial development in Puebla and Tlaxcala, PBI Mexico News, July 2012.

Meetings with HRDs and authorities in Coahuila; disappearances and violence against migrants are the most highlighted HRs violations, PBI Mexico News, June 2012.