HRC recommendations on freedom of expression : Mexico

11 February 2009 -

ARTICLE 19 Welcomes the Human Rights Council’s Criticisms of Mexico’s Handling of the Aggressions and Assassinations of Journalists
On the occasion of the Human Rights Council’s examination of Mexico as part of the Universal Periodic Review, ARTICLE19 welcomes the international condemnation of the dangers facing journalists in the country.

The Mexican government, through the Minister of the Interior Fernando Gómez Mont, listed the following achievements of the Federal Government in their efforts to address issues preventing the exercise of freedom of expression, including freedom of the press, in the country.

1) Decriminalisation of defamation at federal level.
2) General Attorneys Office’s Initiative to “federalize” responses to crimes against journalists
3) Security measures against organized criminal gangs, who according to the government are the principal perpetrators of crimes against journalists.

Delegations present at the HRC’s session pointed out repeatedly that the Mexican government needed to take more concrete measures to eliminate impunity in cases of aggressions against journalists and in particular that it should strengthen the body responsible for prosecuting such crimes, namely the Office of the Special Prosecutor for Attention to Crimes against Journalists (FEADP). The delegations also recommended that Mexico thoroughly investigates the aggressions and assassinations that are currently taking place, creates programmes to effectively prevent such crimes, and works towards ensuring a federal level response (as opposed to state level) to crimes against freedom of expression as a whole.ARTICLE19 urges the Mexican Government to accept and comply with the HRC recommendations on freedom of expression and other vital human rights issues. In particular, ARTICLE 19 calls on the Mexican government to:

1) Harmonize local legislation with the federal reform on the decriminalisation of defamation. At the moment, defamation remains a criminal offence in 22 states. The gap between the federal reform and state-level law and legal practices must be addressed immediately and effectively;
2) Immediately create a programme of protection and prevention of aggressions against journalists.
Finally, ARTICLE 19 urges the Congress of the Union to federalize the crimes against freedom of expression as a whole and without delay, in order to effectively combat corruption and impunity.

NOTES TO EDITORS
• Under the Universal Periodic Review process, governments may submit a report on the fulfillment of their human rights obligations to be reviewed by the Human Rights Council. Government then participates in a dialogue with other states to present their report and answer questions from other states. Civil society organizations such as ARTICLE 19 may submit their own contributions to the UPR process to inform the review.

• For more information, please contact Ricardo Gonzalez, ARTICLE 19 Mexico, at ricardo@article19.org, + 55 11 30 57 00 42