Evidence mounts on human rights abuses in MX(2)

A flock of live chickens are strewn on the ground after the truck transporting them was burned June 20 in Oaxaca. 

Human Rights, Page 2.

Far from an unprecedented tragedy, this echoed a similar massacre a decade earlier. Impunity allowed for repetition: as emphasized by Sánchez Maya, “Nobody has yet been arrested and convicted for the terrible repression that occurred in Oaxaca in 2006. The state has so far been unable or unwilling to guarantee access to justice, even in cases where responsibilities were clear as a result of victims’ testimonies. This has generated impunity, and therefore permissibility for human rights violations.”

In Mexico, the core freedoms that make up civic space, namely those of association, peaceful assembly, and expression, are not fully respected in practice, thus this impunity for violations prevails. According to data released by the Mexican government, more than 22 000 people have disappeared in the country since 2007. 

A 2016 Front Line Defenders  report, documented at least 8 human rights defenders murdered in Mexico in 2015, while the Mexican chapter of Article 19 documented 23 disappearances of journalists between 2003 and 2015 – an average of two per year. The latest annual report by the same organization describes a situation of widespread fear among media workers, with 397 aggressions against the press documented in 2015 (one every 22 hours, a 22 percent increase since 2014), including 7 murders.

Not surprisingly, the space for free expression, both in the mainstream media and online, is limited by self-censorship. Participation in street protest also entails risks, as the smallest spark of violence by protestors is usually a welcome excuse for the excessive use of force by the security forces, oftentimes followed by arbitrary detention and even torture under custody. Several states have legislation allowing police to use firearms or deadly force to break up protests.

Violence and repression are part of everyday life in several states and localities across Mexico even though only a selected few cases eventually come under the international spotlight. The case of the 43 Ayotzinapa students who disappeared on their way to a protest in Iguala, Guerrero state in 2014 was a turning point in this respect. When Mexican activists are killed for speaking the truth, or demand explanations from the powerful, their fellow citizens are not looking away anymore.

Since the disappearance of the 43, there has been sustained demands for an investigation, which have been vigorously renewed in the last few weeks. Likewise, the teachers’ repression in Oaxaca pushed thousands of students and local residents who had so far remained ambivalent towards the proposed education reform out to the streets in solidarity. Massive crowds in other parts of the country, including Mexico City, added their voices. Smaller demonstrations were held in cities across the world as well.

From the streets, the media and international forums, a loud and clear call is being made to the Mexican government. The demands are straightforward. First of all, Mexican authorities at all levels should seek and maintain dialogue with protesting civil society groups, among them the teachers’ unions. Secondly, they should direct law enforcement agencies to immediately cease the use of disproportionate force against civil society organizations and activists exercising their legitimate right to assemble and petition the authorities.

Third, they should initiate an independent investigation into the use of force against protestors and all related human rights violations. Fourth, they should adopt the best practices recommended by the UN Special Report on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association on the management of public assemblies. Last but not least, they should strengthen and effectively apply the protective institutions already in place, such as the Specialized Unit to Search for Disappeared Persons and the Protection Mechanism for Human Rights Defenders and Journalists. In fewer words, officials should offer effective protection measures plus solid non-repetition guarantees: these are the formulas for change.