More than a hundred countries that participated in the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Mexico at the UN Human Rights Council urged the Mexican state to redouble its efforts, more investigation, implement improvements and greater accountability in matters of enforced disappearance, murders of journalists and defenders, violence against women and the situation of migrants.
Countries from different latitudes such as Tunisia, Ukraine, Uruguay, Venezuela, Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Cape Verde, Canada, Chile, Croatia, Ecuador, France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Jordan, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland, among almost a hundred, urged Mexico to redouble its efforts with respect to enforced disappearance, the registry of missing persons and the impunity that prevails over this scourge.
Of all the countries that participated, the vast majority recommended safeguarding the security and protection of journalists and human rights defenders, as well as allocating more resources to the Protection Mechanism for Journalists and Defenders, investigating murders and bringing the perpetrators to justice4.
As an example of the recommendations, the United Kingdom said: “We are concerned about impunity and corruption, as well as the high rate of violence against women and girls. We recommend the following: carry out a comprehensive plan to demilitarize the National Guard and transfer its control to civilian authorities. Also strengthen the capacities of the prosecutor’s office in charge of crimes against freedom of expression, journalists and defenders”, said the representative of the United Kingdom.
The United States urged “to continue with the national centers for human identification and properly identify the disappeared, apply stricter sanctions for crimes committed against LGBTIQ+ people”. It also recommended “to properly investigate crimes against journalists and we invite you to better protect the Protection Mechanism and the Prosecutor’s Office that investigates these crimes”.
Uruguay recommended “exhaustive and independent investigations of all enforced disappearances and bring the perpetrators to justice and guarantee reparations to the victims, particularly for their relatives and ensure that journalists and activists can carry out their work in a safe and free environment”.
Venezuela, for its part, recommended “to safeguard the work of journalists in the country, impartial investigations of enforced disappearance, arbitrary detention and excessive use of force by state agents”.
Canada expressed concern that “the registry of disappearances be accurate” and recommended “to strengthen the protection mechanism for journalists and guarantee safe abortion in all states. Ensure that indigenous peoples are consulted in decision-making before adopting measures that affect them”.
China urged “to strengthen the health structures to guarantee the right of people to health, fight against trafficking and drug trafficking crimes by actively participating in international cooperation”.
Costa Rica urged “to investigate and eliminate excessive use of force and address cases of surveillance of the civilian population by digital means by law enforcement agencies”. In the same sense, the representative of the Netherlands spoke.
Cuba recommended to continue strengthening the achievements in education, increase the standard of living of the population and celebrated the agreements that Mexico has established with Cuba “to expand medical care to its citizens based on the agreements it has established with Cuba to increase the health professionals who contribute to this purpose”.
Switzerland called for “transparency in the civil tasks of the army” and, for its part, Sweden expressed concern about human rights violations committed by the military.
On the other hand, a large majority of countries also recommended more progress with respect to violence against women, discrimination, investigating femicides, trafficking, as well as taking effective measures to protect migrants, avoid their detention, especially children.
Other recommendations were related to the excessive use of military force, the increase of violence by criminal gangs, the increase of massacres, the recruitment of children by these gangs as well as the structural violence against indigenous peoples and the rights of LGBTIQ+ people.
The Mexican delegation was led by Joel Hernández, Undersecretary for Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights; Roberto de León, Director General of Human Rights of the Foreign Ministry; Ambassador Francisca Méndez, Senator Yadhira Tamayo, Senator Nestora Salgado García and Senator Raúl de Jesús Elenes Angulo. No representative of the Interior Ministry attended.
Joel Hernández, highlighted Mexico’s progress in human rights matters. He affirmed that the government of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has prioritized the rights of people in vulnerable situations, under the principle “for the good of all, first the poor. Mexico’s social and human rights policy in the period under review has yielded very important results in combating poverty, addressing the structural causes of inequality, discrimination and violence”.
“As a result of these actions, between 2018 and 2022, the percentage of the population in a situation of multidimensional poverty in Mexico was reduced, as it went from 41.9% to 36.3%; that is, 5.1 million people left the condition of poverty”, he explained.
“Thanks to the policy of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, today the social fabric is being recomposed. As the Mexican State has invested in social programs, poverty is being reduced and the security conditions of the population are improving”, he stressed.
In health matters, he pointed out that “in Mexico, public and free health services have been strengthened. Between 2018 and 2022, of the 49 million people who requested medical attention, 99.6% were attended to, that is, 48.8 million Mexicans”.
On the other hand, “strategies oriented to the social prevention of crime and violence were implemented, in the exercise of a policy that pays attention to the causes, with coordinated actions of the three orders of government and the participation of the population”.
In line with the recommendations received during the UPR session by the 116 UN member states, Hernández acknowledged that “although we have achieved important progress and have a robust agenda in human rights matters, we have to recognize that we have to deepen key issues for the exercise of human rights in our country, such as: disappearance of persons, enforced disappearance, the protection of journalists and human rights defenders; the gender gaps that persist; violence against women, youth and girls in all their diversity (in particular femicides), and the situation of human rights of people on the move”.
Finally, he affirmed that “the Mexican State maintains a full commitment to the fundamental values of democracy, recognizing that human rights, the rule of law and democracy reinforce each other”.
Source: Proceso
