MEXICO: AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL ONCE AGAIN REQUESTS MEETING WITH PRESIDENT LÓPEZ OBRADOR IN LIGHT OF HUMAN RIGHTS CRISIS

Amnesty International sent an open letter to President Andrés Manuel López Obrador today requesting a meeting and expressing its concern over the government’s response to the grave human rights crisis that Mexico is facing.

“Although the government has taken some action on human rights issues, this action is still not enough to seriously address the crisis that the country has been facing for many years now. It is worrying to hear disparaging speeches from President López Obrador about the role of human rights defenders, or to see how the National Guard is used to thwart the passage of migrants and refugees, or that, faced with a wave of homicides and femicides, the government would maintain failed strategies of militarization of public security tasks of previous administrations,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International.

“Rather than evading responsibility and attacking the individuals and organizations working to highlight the crisis that Mexico is facing, we urge the President to approach civil society to find solutions to this grave situation and to position human rights as a central focus for the remainder of his presidential term.”

Amnesty International has reported on human rights violations in Mexico for more than four decades. Since the inauguration of the current government, the organization has recorded some specific progress on human rights issues, particularly acknowledging the efforts that have been made in relation to disappeared persons.

“This request for a meeting with the president is in response to an invitation that he himself extended to the organization when he was running for office, and we issue it with the intention of contributing to addressing the human rights crisis facing the country,” said Tania Reneaum Panszi, executive director at Amnesty International Mexico.

“It is important for the president to listen to our suggestions from civil society to put a stop to the human rights crisis in the country that sadly implies a high cost in terms of people’s lives and other grave human rights violations every day.”

The organization is increasingly concerned about the president’s statements against civil society and human rights defenders in Mexico, the role of the National Guard in issues related to migration and the violation of the right to asylum, the lack of results in terms of violence against women and femicides, and the need to protect human rights in the public security field.

In December 2019, Amnesty International published a review of the state of human rights during the first year of President López Obrador’s government in the report When words are not enough. To date, the government has not responded to the appeals made by the organization nor has it followed up on the recommendations in the report.