An international civil society mission to Mexico will launch on 9 November to examine the situation faced by human rights defenders and the response of the State to ensure the promotion and protection of their work.

An international civil society mission to Mexico will launch next week (9 - 14 November 2014) to examine the situation faced by human rights defenders in the country and the response of the State to ensure the promotion and protection of their work.

ISHR is pleased to be joining the mission, which will include visits to the States of Baja California, Guerrero, Oaxaca and the Federal District. Members will meet with human rights defenders, local and federal authorities and members of Mexico-based European Union missions.

Through its presence, the civil society mission aims to contribute towards acknowledgement of the important role of human rights defenders in Mexico. It also seeks to assess the degree of implementation and effectiveness of protection mechanisms for human rights defenders. This includes those mechanisms created under the 2012 Law for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists. A report and recommendations will be produced for relevant authorities on how to strengthen the measures taken to ensure a safe and enabling environment for the work of activists in Mexico. The mission will further provide recommendations to the European Union missions in regard to their commitments to the protection of human rights defenders, as articulated in the European Union Guidelines on Human Rights Defenders.

The civil society mission  is part of a broader effort to shine light on the situation for human rights defenders in the country. The Mexican Commission for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights (CMDPDH) has launched a campaign ‘Haz que se vean’ for this purpose. Follow the campaign at #HazQueSeVean   

Organisations convening, accompanying and participating in the Mission are: The Mexican Commission for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights (CMDPDH), Peace Brigades International – Mexico Project (PBI México) y Conexx – Europe, with the support of Amnesty International Mexico, Just Associates (JASS), and the International Service for Human Rights (ISHR); Front Line Defenders, Protection International (PI), the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights (RFK Center), the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (OMCT/ FIDH), and the German Coordinating Committee for Human Rights in Mexico.

For more information, please contact: Mariana Gurrola, Comunicación CMDPDH: [email protected]: Tel: (55) 55642582, ext. 114; Eleanor Openshaw, ISHR, [email protected]