Not only is Mexico one of the most dangerous countries in the world for human rights defenders, but they are also subject to surveillance and spying on by the military using Pegasus spyware produced by Israel. A federal commission is being launched to investigate this.
Eight years after the disappearance of 43 student teachers in Guerrero, relatives and friends still seek justice. The main perpetrators remain in impunity in a case that the Tlachinollan Human Rights Center describes as a “shipwreck” in its 28th report.
February 22nd saw the launch of the Women and Autonomy campaign by Frayba at Taniperla Restaurant in San Cristóbal de Las Casas. The event was attended by women HR defenders from Frayba, women from the frontline communities in Chiapas, Schools for Chiapas and international solidarity workers. As part of their campaign, Frayba launched a new section on their website, which we translate for you here.
In our ongoing collaboration with Frayba, Schools for Chiapas is currently recruiting civil observer volunteers to work in communities under attack or threat, where women are often the main victims in these circumstances. If you are interested in volunteering through us, you can find out more on our website at https://schoolsforchiapas.org/become-a-human-rights-observer/
The ongoing tragedy of disappearances in Mexico continues and does so in impunity. It is an omnipresent problem which also affects the state of Chiapas, where almost half of the disappeared are children or adolescents. From 2021 to 2022, 1,171 girls, boys and adolescents were reported disappeared in the state. Girls and adolescent women represent the most affected group and often end up in sexual slavery. It is a phenomenon that especially affects indigenous populations and is largely underreported or not reported at all.
Women’s Movement in Defense of Mother Earth and Territory seeks a way to join efforts with other movements in the country and the world in defense of nature, the environment, peasants, indigenous peoples, and women who are the most affected by the violence of the capitalist system. The movement, driven by the strength and determination of indigenous and peasant women, has sought, since its inception, to transcend individual and local processes, heading towards the regional construction of the Movement to fight against all forms of violence against women and their families generated by the neo-liberal, patriarchal and neo-extractivist capitalist system — from the increase in poverty, migration and drug trafficking, to the dispossession of land by other groups, organized crime, or even sometimes by their own family members.
