2023-09-13 18:05:00
REUTERS/Paola Chiomante
The disproportionate use of criminal laws is one of the main threats to the right to peacefully protest to defend the land, territory and environment in MexicoAmnesty International said today as it published a new report. Mexico: Land and Freedom? Criminalization of defenders of land, territory and the environment documents the disproportionate use of the justice system to dissuade, punish and prevent defenders from protesting to demand their rights.
“The disproportionate use of the penal system against people who protest is part of a broader strategy of discouraging and dismantling the defense of rights related to land, territory and the environment. It is alarming to see how Mexico is among the countries where the most murders of environmental defenders are committed, while far from the State addressing and preventing this violence, other serious violations of their human rights are being added, such as stigmatization, harassment, attacks, bombings, forced displacement and disappearances,” said Erika Guevara Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International.
The report focuses on four cases: i) Colonia Maya in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, where a diverse group of people came together to protest against the construction of a residential subdivision in a protected area that would cause environmental damage ; ii) Zacatepec, in which Miguel and Alejandro, Nahua communicators and defenders, protested in opposition to the construction of a drainage in Ciudad Industrial Huejotzingo, Puebla, which would flow into the Metlapanapa River, contaminating it; iii) Chilón, Chiapas, where César and José Luis, Tseltal defenders, were criminalized for opposing the construction of a National Guard barracks in their territory; iv) Sitilpech, Yucatán, residents of this town such as Jesús Ariel, Arturo and Juan Diego, oppose the activities of a mega pig farm in their territory due to the pollution, impacts on water and health problems it generates.
The right to protest is a fundamental means that defenders of land, territory and the environment have used to demand their rights, particularly when other institutional mechanisms have failed or have not been accessible to them. Various state authorities have used criminal proceedings against them without complying with the principles of legality, necessity and proportionality. Nor have they considered the contexts of the protests, the causes that gave rise to them, or the right of people to defend the land, territory and environment.
Criminal prosecution and stigmatization
Our report highlights the use of vague or ambiguous criminal types that do not respect the principle of legality such as “riot”, “obstruction of public works” and the variations of the crime of “attacks on communication routes”. The adaptation, for convenience, of the events that occur during the protests to other types of crimes was also observed through broad interpretations of criminal types and statements that distort the facts. The accusations are constructed mainly through statements by public servants and company workers directly related to the events reported by the communities. In no criminal file is there conclusive evidence that allows for a crime to be established.
Amnesty International found some common characteristics in the cases that are worrying. The complaints presented are mostly directed at people who are considered leaders, or the most visible people of protest movements, who are being tried for vague crimes, without conclusive evidence and exclusively for their peaceful actions. The processes tend to be prolonged for various reasons; additionally, there is a constant threat of reactivation of processes or the fabrication of new crimes.
“Criminal proceedings against defenders attempt to be a dissuasive mechanism for other people who advocate for the same causes, as they tend to cause fear when they see that their legitimate demands can also end in stigmatization, repression and threats to their lives and security. This situation causes chiaroscuros: on the one hand, we were able to observe the hope and dignity of people unjustly criminalized as they felt supported by their communities, but also that some people decided to abandon the fight to demand respect for their rights,” said Edith Olivares Ferreto, director executive of Amnesty International Mexico.
Differentiated impacts of state pressure
The processes are usually accompanied by stigmatization towards defenders and serious problems to their safety and personal integrity. This situation also impacts their legal representatives and the people who constantly support them. The use of the punitive system for dissenting or raising one’s voice against projects of interest to local governments and companies is carried out without any consequences and in complete impunity. Other violations that occur within the framework of the protests have also not been investigated, such as violations of the right to freedom and security of defenders, as well as the excessive use of force.
The unjust criminalization of defenders who protest peacefully has both individual and collective impacts. Among the most common effects at an individual level, the physical, psychological and economic ones stand out, such as illnesses, physical pain as a result of blows received, fear, anxiety, difficulties sleeping, stress, helplessness, feeling of injustice for what happened to them and effects on their work defending rights. Among the collective impacts is the intimidating effect or inhibition of the demand for land, territory and environmental rights against people who advocate for the same causes.
The unjust criminalization of human rights defenders distracts attention from the root causes and challenges faced by defenders of land, territory and the environment. The approach to the right to protest must recognize that social conflicts that are addressed with punitive perspectives generally aggravate the problems and do not resolve the underlying issues. The demands of defenders must be heard and analyzed appropriately and their right to protest guaranteed.
The Amnesty International report details several general recommendations to address the problem of the disproportionate use of the penal system against those who protest and others specific to the cases documented in it. Among the first is that the authorities recognize the valuable work of defenders of land, territory and the environment; refrain from stigmatizing them; guarantee their participation in matters that affect their communities; Strengthen the Protection Mechanism for Human Rights Defenders and Journalists and refrain from using militarized security forces, such as the National Guard, to monitor protests.
Among the specific recommendations, Amnesty International calls on the State to immediately cease the criminalization of protests and that the facts of human rights violations in the cases documented in the report be adequately investigated, to ensure that defenders receive comprehensive reparation. of the damage.
The report is accompanied by the launch of the #ProtestarNoEsUnCrimen campaign that seeks to make visible the problem of the unjust criminalization of human rights defenders and the impact on the defense of land, territory and the environment.
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