Yesterday, amid public cries for "justice" directed at Roberto Campa, Undersecretary for Human Rights at the Secretariat of Government Relations [SEGOB], activist Abel Barrera Hernández*, founder of the Tlachinollan Center [Center for Human Rights of the Mountain of Tlachinollan], received recognition for equality and non-discrimination, which he dedicated to the parents of the 43 disappeared Ayotzinapa students.
The prize was awarded by the National Council for Prevention of Discrimination (CONAPRED). Accepting the award in a ceremony held at the Jaime Torres Bodet auditorium of the National Museum of Anthropology, Barrera denounced,
"The work that we have done at Tlachinollan, for the Ayotzinapa case above all, is the object of multiple insults."
Barrera recounted how they know what discrimination is: by the struggle of indigenous women Valentina Rosendo and Inés Fernández who reported the torture and rape they suffered from soldiers; by La Parota Dam's opponents, "whom no one asked whether they agreed to that construction"; with the Na savi children and their right to health, and when "we decided to walk with the parents of the 43 normal school students."
The activist dedicated the award to those families, who, he said, struggle because the only thing that might disappear is injustice and discrimination. Ending his speech, Barrera joined the audience in chanting:
¡Porque vivos se los llevaron, vivos los queremos! Because they were taken alive, alive we want them back!
The attitude of the audience was different when it was Campa Cifrián's turn to speak. The official began by stating,
"I want to note the commitment of the government of Mexico in protection of defenders of human."
But he was interrupted by voices from the audiences demanding "justice". Raising his voice, he continued guaranteeing "security, freedom of expression and access to justice" for activists.
Alexandra Haas, head of CONAPRED, pointed out,
"Let's face it, discrimination is pervasive and routine."As an exemple, Haas reported that the probability of an indigenous girl ending up living in poverty is twice as high as the rest of the population, all because of her ethnicity.
The prize was also awarded to México Negro, Black Mexico. In receiving the award, founder Sergio Peñaloza Pérez took advantage of the occasion to ask the Mexican State once again for constitutional recognition of Afro-Mexicans.
Emily Arnold, refugee activist, won the international award.
Receiving posthumous recognition was Esther Chávez Cano, who struggled against femicide in Ciudad Juárez. She was the first to document the killings and cases of violence against women in the border area. She also laid the foundation for the legal battle for gender equality. Spanish original
Receiving posthumous recognition was Esther Chávez Cano, who struggled against femicide in Ciudad Juárez. She was the first to document the killings and cases of violence against women in the border area. She also laid the foundation for the legal battle for gender equality. Spanish original
In 2007, Tlachinollan won the MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, which came with a cash prize of US$500,000. In March 2011 Amnesty International's German branch recognized Barrera's work with its Sixth Annual Human Rights Award, granted for his struggles "at great personal risk for the rights of the indigenous population in the state of Guerrero". In 2010, Barrera received the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award for "his courageous defense of the rights of rural and indigenous peoples living in Guerrero State in southern Mexico."