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Letter to Ms. Margaret Sekaggya Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders Human Rights Council, UN

14 de agosto de 2011

Domingo 14 de agosto de 2011, por acuddeh

We therefore wish to request from you a clear statement in support of human rights defenders in Mexico, particularly addressing the recent declarations made by high-level authorities against the work done by human rights defenders. We also take this opportunity to suggest a joint visit of the Special Rapporteurs on the situation of human rights defenders, both from the United Nations and from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, as carried out successfully by the respective Rapporteurs on Freedom of Expression, which may prove fruitful in improving the grounds for a clear commitment of government authorities to the protection of human rights defenders.

Mexico City, 10 August 2011

Ms. Margaret Sekaggya

Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders Human Rights Council, UN

Dear Ms. Sekaggya,

The undersigned Mexican human rights organizations write to call your attention to a series of alarming events that are causing harm to human rights defenders in Mexico, especially since the beginning of the so called “war against drugs” that the Federal government is currently fighting.

From the beginning of the war in 2006 through October 2010, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Mexico registered a total of 165 attacks and aggressions against human rights defenders, of which 98.5% went unpunished. The Office and multiple other bodies have also documented the use of the justice system to incriminate human rights defenders as a means of hindering and blocking their work.

Abuses against human rights defenders in Mexico are not the work of isolated individuals, as the government has tried to argue, but rather occur within a context of stigmatization and criminalization by high-level authorities and are committed with the acquiescence and complicity of a large number of public officials. Recent public statements by the highest ranks of the Armed Forces make this clear.

Just recently, during a navy graduation ceremony, attended by President Felipe Calderon, the Minister of the Navy, Admiral Francisco Mariano Saynez, declared that “there are criminal groups trying to smear the reputation of State institutions by using citizens’ groups who, through deceitful tactics, try to make these institutions victims of the criminals’ perverse game, since by using the banner of human rights, they seek to damage the image of our institutions, with the evil purpose of obstructing the government’s anti-crime actions so as to have the field open to their wickedness.”

A few weeks earlier, the General Director for Human Rights at the Ministry of Defense expressed his rejection of the decision of the Supreme Court establishing that all military members who commit human rights violations against civilians must be tried by civilian courts. Coronel Anibal Trujillo Sanchez stated without apparent basis that criminal gangs are filling most of the complaints against the military presented to the National Human Rights Commission in order to discredit State institutions, ignoring the legitimacy of victims who are suffering human rights violations.

We are convinced that statements such as these expose human rights defenders to greater risk and increase our vulnerability. Moreover, the statements are contrary to the spirit of the recently approved Constitutional reforms on human rights and the purpose of the Agreement issued by President Calderon that lays the groundwork for the implementation of the governmental Mechanism for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, published during the recent visit of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to our country last month.

The Mexican NGO’s engaged in the promotion and design of the Mechanism for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders decided to suspend the dialogue with the Ministry of the Interior until government officials recognize the legitimacy of the work done by human rights defenders, as recommended by many UN bodies, including the OHCHR. We reiterate the urgency of a robust and effective mechanism for human rights defenders, but it must be grounded on a solid basis of willingness and cooperation.

We therefore wish to request from you a clear statement in support of human rights defenders in Mexico, particularly addressing the recent declarations made by high-level authorities against the work done by human rights defenders. We also take this opportunity to suggest a joint visit of the Special Rapporteurs on the situation of human rights defenders, both from the United Nations and from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, as carried out successfully by the respective Rapporteurs on Freedom of Expression, which may prove fruitful in improving the grounds for a clear commitment of government authorities to the protection of human rights defenders.

Sincerely,

Acción Urgente para Defensores de los Derechos Humanos AC (ACUDDEH)

Centro de Derechos Humanos Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez

Centro Nacional de Comunicación Social Cencos (CENCOS)

Comisión Mexicana de Defensa y Promoción de los Derechos Humanos (CMDPDH)

Grupo de Información en Reproducción Elegida (GIRE)

i(dh)eas, Litigio Estratégico en Derechos Humanos, A.C.

Instituto Mexicano de Derechos Humanos y Democracia A.C.

Litiga OLE

Red Nacional de Organismos Civiles de Derechos Humanos “Todos los Derechos para Todas y Todos”

Conformed by 72 organizations: Agenda LGBT (Distrito Federal, Asistencia Legal por los Derechos Humanos, A.C. (Distrito Federal); Asociación Jalisciense de Apoyo a los Grupos Indígenas, A.C. (Guadalajara, Jal.); Asociación para la Defensa de los Derechos Ciudadanos "Miguel Hidalgo", A.C. (Jacala, Hgo.); Católicas por el Derecho a Decidir, A.C. (Distrito Federal); Centro “Fray Julián Garcés” Derechos Humanos y Desarrollo Local, A.C. (Tlaxcala, Tlax.); Centro de Apoyo al Trabajador, A.C. (Puebla, Pue.); Centro de Derechos Humanos "Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas", A.C. (San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chis) ; Centro de Derechos Humanos "Fray Francisco de Vitoria O.P.", A.C. (Distrito Federal); Centro de Derechos Humanos "Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez", A.C. (Distrito Federal); Centro de Derechos Humanos “Don Sergio” (Jiutepec, Mor.); Centro de Derechos Humanos “Fray Matías de Córdova”. A.C. (Tapachula, Chis); Centro de Derechos Humanos de la Montaña, Tlachinollan, A.C. (Tlapa, Gro.); Centro de Derechos Humanos de las Mujeres (Chihuahua), Centro de Derechos Humanos, “Juan Gerardi” , A.C. (Torreón, Coah.); Centro de Derechos Humanos Ñu’u Ji Kandií, A.C. (Tlaxiaco, Oax.); Centro de Derechos Humanos Paso del Norte (Cd. Juárez), Centro de Derechos Humanos Solidaridad Popular, A.C. (Monterrey, N.L.); Centro de Derechos Humanos Tepeyac del Istmo de Tehuantepec, A.C. (Tehuantepec, Oax); Centro de Derechos Humanos Victoria Diez, A.C. (León, Gto.); Centro de Derechos Indígenas “Flor y Canto”, A.C. (Oaxaca, Oax.); Centro de Derechos Humanos Toaltepeyolo (Tlilapan, Veracruz); Centro de Derechos Indígenas A.C. (Bachajón, Chis.); Centro de los Derechos del Migrante (Zac. Zacatecas); Centro de Estudios Fronterizos y Promoción de los Derechos Humanos, A.C. (Reynosa, Tamps.); Centro de Justicia para la Paz y el Desarrollo, A.C. (CEPAD) (Guadalajara, Jal.); Centro de Reflexión y Acción Laboral (CEREAL-DF) (Distrito Federal); Centro de Reflexión y Acción Laboral (CEREAL-Guadalajara) (Guadalajara, Jal.); Centro Diocesano para los Derechos Humanos “Fray Juan de Larios”,A.C. (Saltillo, Coah.); Centro Juvenil Generando Dignidad (Comalcalco, Tabasco); Centro Hermanas Mirabal de Derechos Humanos (León, Gto.), Centro Mujeres (La Paz, BC.), Centro Regional de Defensa de DDHH José María Morelos y Pavón, A.C. (Chilapa, Gro.); Centro Regional de Derechos Humanos “Bartolomé Carrasco”, A.C. (Oaxaca, Oax.); Ciencia Social Alternativa, A.C. - KOOKAY (Mérida, Yuc.); Ciudadanía Lagunera por los Derechos Humanos, A.C. (CILADHAC) (Torreón, Coah.); Ciudadanos en Apoyo a los Derechos Humanos, A.C. (Monterrey, NL); Colectivo Educación para la Paz y los Derechos Humanos, A.C.
(San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chis.); Colectivo contra la Tortura y la Impunidad (Distrito Federal); Comité Cerezo (Distrito Federal); Comisión de Derechos Humanos "La Voz de los sin voz" (Coyuca de Benítez, Gro.); Comisión de Derechos Humanos y Laborales del Valle de Tehuacan, A.C. (Tehuacan, Pue.); Comisión de Solidaridad y Defensa de los Derechos Humanos, A.C. (Chihuahua, Chih.); Comisión Independiente de Derechos Humanos de Morelos, A.C. (CIDHMOR) (Cuernavaca, Mor.); Comisión Intercongregacional "Justicia, Paz y Vida" (Distrito Federal); Comisión Parroquial de Derechos Humanos “Martín de Tours”, A.C. (Texmelucan, Pue.); Comisión Regional de Derechos Humanos "Mahatma Gandhi", A.C. (Tuxtepec, Oax.); Comité de Defensa de las Libertades Indígenas (Palenque, Chis.); Comité de Derechos Humanos Ajusco (Distrito Federal); Comité de Derechos Humanos "Fr. Pedro Lorenzo de la Nada", A.C. (Ocosingo, Chis.); Comité de Derechos Humanos "Sembrador de la Esperanza". A.C. (Acapulco, Gro.); Comité de Derechos Humanos “Sierra Norte de Veracruz”, A.C. (Huayacocotla, Ver.); Comité de Derechos Humanos de Colima, No gubernamental, A.C. (Colima, Col.); Comité de Derechos Humanos de Comalcalco, A.C. (Comalcalco, Tab); Comité de Derechos Humanos de Tabasco, A.C. (Villahermosa, Tab); Comité de Derechos Humanos y Orientación Miguel Hidalgo, A.C. (Dolores Hidalgo, Gto.); Comité Sergio Méndez Arceo Pro Derechos Humanos de Tulancingo, Hgo A.C. (Tulancingo, Hgo.); Frente Cívico Sinaloense. Secretaría de Derechos Humanos. (Culiacán, Sin.); Indignación, A.C. Promoción y Defensa de los Derechos Humanos (Chablekal, comisaría del municipio de Mérida, Yuc.); Iniciativas para la Identidad y la Inclusión A.C. (Distrito Federal); Instituto Guerrerense de Derechos Humanos, A.C. (Chilpancingo, Gro.); Instituto Mexicano de Derechos Humanos y Democracia (Distrito Federal); Instituto Mexicano para el Desarrollo Comunitario, A.C. (IMDEC), (Guadalajara, Jal.); Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Occidente, - Programa Institucional de Derechos Humanos y Paz. (Guadalajara, Jal.); Programa de Derechos Humanos. Universidad Iberoamericana-Puebla (Puebla, Pue); Programa Universitario de Derechos Humanos. UIA –León (León, Gto.); Proyecto de Derechos Económicos, Sociales Y Culturales (Distrito Federal); Promoción de los Derechos Económicos, Sociales y Culturales (Estado de México); Respuesta Alternativa, A.C. Servicio de Derechos Humanos y Desarrollo Comunitario (San Luis Potosí, S.L.P.); Servicio, Paz y Justicia de Tabasco, A.C. (Villahermosa, Tab.); Servicio, Paz y Justicia, México (SERPAJ-México) (Comalcalco, Tab.); Servicios de Inclusión Integral, A.C. (Pachuca, Hidalgo); Taller Universitario de Derechos Humanos, A.C. (Distrito Federal).

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