The National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) expressed concern over an alarming increase in the number of assaults against civilians defenders of human rights in the last decade. Of the 380 cases the Commisson has opened from 2006 to date, 70 percent have been recorded in the last five years.
In addition, from January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2015, the national agency recorded 25 murders of defenders of human rights, and there have been three disappearances since 2009 to date. The states of Chihuahua, Guerrero and Oaxaca are those with the highest number of offenses committed against activists, including homicides, with 9, 6 and 4, respectively.
In its "General Recommendations on Offenses Against Defenders of Human Rights", it noted that there is a significant degree of underreporting in all cases of aggression, because several states from which the Commission requested information did not provide it, largely because it isn't known whether victims of crimes are activists or there is a lack of prosecutors or specialized units for this sector of the population.
In presenting the document, the president of the CNDH, Luis Raúl González Pérez, said that the document confirms an increase in the level of attacks against human rights defenders in the midst of an enormous impunity in the investigation of the facts and the criminalization of this sector of the population.
The recommendation even cites comments made by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (CIDH) in its on-site visit last October, which refers the situation of harassment and threats faced by this group of people.
The sixty-six page document is the first issued by the CNDH on this issue. It notes the wrongs committed against this group, as well as robberies and raids on the premises of various human rights organizations, which, coupled with the failure of investigations, has serious implications that damage society and cause the repetition of these kinds of aggressions.
The national agency concludes that the Mexican government has not responded in a timely manner to the recommendations issued by international committees to provide effective protection to defenders whose lives and safety are at risk because of their professional activities.
It also notes that these attacks come from both authorities and de facto powers such as organized crime, a fact that has been documented in some acts of repression and threats.
''These conditions show that the current situation regarding the activities of defenders in our country faces various obstacles and that their protection is deficient because they do not have guarantees of security for their activities,'' says the text.Accompanied by Edgar Corzo, fifth general visitor of the CNDH, the national ombudsman noted that human rights defenders contribute to the protection of fundamental guarantees both locally and internationally, helping to build the democratic system of our country.
In this context, Gonzalez Perez called on authorities of the three levels of government [federal, state and municipal] to attend to and fulfill their obligation to provide public security and prevent possible violations of the human rights of those in this at-risk group. Spanish original