Mexico to investigate alleged human rights abuses by military after spying claims

The Guardian, 03/15/2023

Lawmakers in Mexico this week will launch a federal commission to investigate allegations of human rights abuses by the country’s military, including the use of powerful spyware technology, the head of the governing Morena party in the senate has said.

The commission, made up of lawmakers from both Mexico’s upper and lower houses of congress, will request a report from the army in the wake of recent media reports alleging that it used Israeli software known as Pegasus to hack the phone of a prominent human rights activist.

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In Mexico, Mother of Child with Autism Killed after Seeking Help from Authorities

07/25/2022

Source: Human Rights Watch

Luz Raquel Padilla Gutiérrez, 35, was burned alive after a group of people doused her with alcohol and lit her on fire at a park near her home in Zapopan, Jalisco state, Mexico. Her brutal murder appears to be a horrific example at the extreme end of the disability hate spectrum. Statements by her colleagues indicate that one factor in her murder may have been disability hate toward her and her son, an 11-year-old with autism.

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Mass same-sex wedding in Mexico challenges discrimination

06/25/2022

Source: Associated Press

Even after five years of living together in the Pacific resort city of Acapulco, something as simple as holding hands or sharing a kiss in public is unthinkable for Dayanny Marcelo and Mayela Villalobos. There is an ever-present fear of being rejected or attacked in Guerrero, a state where same-sex relationships are not widely accepted and one of five in Mexico where same-sex marriage is still not allowed.

But this week they traveled the 235 miles (380 kilometers) to Mexico’s capital, where the city government hosted a mass wedding for same-sex couples as part of celebrations of LGBT Pride Month.

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Mexico issues 7,000 temporary documents to migrants in south

06/13/2022

Source: ABC News

Mexico’s migration agency has issued nearly 7,000 temporary documents and transit visas over the last few days to members of a migrant caravan which by Saturday had broken up in southern Mexico.

Hundreds of people were heading north in buses while others were spread out over various towns north of Tapachula, near the Guatemalan border, resting or waiting to receive money from relatives to continue their trip to the United States.

In its statement, the Mexican migration agency did not specify what kind of documents were issued but most of the migrants showed papers that gave them a period of one month or more to leave the country or begin regularization procedures in Mexico. Most want to use the documents to reach the U.S. border.

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Migrants split on whether to keep walking through Mexico

06/10/2022

Source: Tribune Chronicle

A group of about 2,000 mainly younger male migrants set out walking Thursday from the southern town of Huixtla.

But about 1,000 migrants, mainly families with children, decided to wait in Huixtla to see if they could get some sort of temporary exit visa. The families were tired after walking some 25 miles since departing the city of Tapachula, near the Guatemalan border, on Monday.

The goal of almost all the migrants is to reach the U.S. border. But none of the migrant caravans that have crossed Mexico starting in 2018 have ever walked all the way to the border, which is over 1,000 miles to the north.

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US files 4th labor complaint on Mexican workers’ rights

06/08/2022

Source: ABC News

The United States on Monday filed its fourth labor complaint about purported violations of union organizing rights in Mexico.

The complaint was filed under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada free trade pact, which requires that Mexico enforce a law that says employees are allowed to freely choose the union that represents them. For decades, undemocratic, pro-company unions kept wages in Mexico low by reaching behind-the-scenes deals with employers.

The complaint says the United States found “credible evidence” that workers at the Teksid Hierro automotive parts plant were being denied the right to freely choose which union will represent them.

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Mexico: Address Persistent Violence Against Journalists

(Washington DC) – Escalating violence against journalists in Mexico is seriously undermining press freedom, Human Rights Watch said today, on World Press Freedom Day. 

Date: May 3rd, 2022

Source: Human Rights Watch

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador should take urgent steps to strengthen the federal government protection mechanism, stop official harassment of journalists who criticize the government, and ensure prosecutors end the near-total impunity for these crimes.

Eight journalists have been killed so far in 2022 in Mexico – more than of the number of media workers who were killed in 2021, and ranking Mexico second only to Ukraine, where at least 12 have been killed covering the war, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. At least 33 journalists have been killed in relation to their work since President López Obrador took office in December 2018, according to the press freedom group Article 19, which tracks these killings.

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Migrants are sewing their lips shut to protest the policy that stranded them in Mexico

Date: Feb 17, 2022

Source: Vox News

Migrants stranded in southern Mexico because of US and Mexican border policies are taking increasingly drastic measures to draw attention to their plight. On Tuesday, a dozen migrants staged a protest in which they sewed their lips together and went on a hunger strike.

They are among the thousands staying in what has become known as an “open-air prison” in the city of Tapachula on Mexico’s southern border with Guatemala. Migrants there have struggled to access food and shelter, and have reported being preyed on by government officials.

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Mexico detains more than 1,200 migrants in 1 day

Date: February 18, 2022

Source: DW News

Mexican authorities on Thursday detained 1,266 migrants in the last 24 hours, Mexico’s National Migration Institute (INM) said.

The migration agency said they were detained across operations carried out in 22 states of the country.

Those intercepted arrived from “different continents that were transiting irregularly,” the INM said, identifying migrants from at least 33 countries.

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Only 3% of domestic workers enjoy social security benefits

Date: February 3, 2022

Source: Mexico News Daily

The Supreme Court ruled in 2018 that domestic workers must must have access to social security benefits like any other worker, but only 3% actually do, according to the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women).

Belén Sanz Luque, Mexico representative of UN Women, said that 97% of Mexico’s 2.2 million domestic workers – most of whom are women – are employed informally and don’t receive benefits such as health care and paid vacations.

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