On June 7th, 129 Mexican civil organizations warned that while Mexico “is plunged into an ever deeper human rights crisis recognized by all international human rights bodies”, negotiations for the “modernization” of the Global Agreement between Mexico and the European Union is speeding up.

In their statement, they pointed out that a new Global Agreement “with a commercial focus” may “deepen inequality, violence against defenders, journalists and the population in general; that is to say, it would deepen the human rights crisis in the country.”

As an alternative, they propose to work on a “Global Human Rights Agreement with concrete measures against impunity and corruption, with a strong democratic clause that should suspend cooperation in the event of serious violations of human rights and non-compliance with measures that improve governance before any new economic agreement. This agreement should also be applied in European society, since in recent times there are serious violations of human rights in these countries that concern us as Mexican society, for example, the migratory crisis in the old continent.”

In a similar vein, the German Coordination for Human Rights in Mexico and the National Network “All Rights for All” issued a letter to German Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel requesting that during her visit to Mexico in the coming days she address the alarming human rights crisis with the Mexican government and make it a central axis for the development and future of bilateral relations between the two countries.

For more information in Spanish:

Los riesgos del nuevo Acuerdo Global México-Unión Europea (Proceso, 7 de junio de 2017)

Un Acuerdo Global para el respeto de los derechos humanos en México (OSC, 7 de junio de 2017)

Más de 100 organizaciones de Alemania y México se pronuncian con motivo de la visita de la Canciller Federal alemana Angela Merkel a México del 9 al 10 de junio del 2017 (comunicado de prensa de OSC, 7 de junio de 2017)

Piden Ongs a Merkel tratar con gobierno mexicano crisis de DH (La Jornada, 8 de junio de 2017)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Nacional/Internacional: Presentan conclusiones del Quinto Diálogo de Alto Nivel sobre Derechos Humanos Unión Europea – México (18 de abril de 2015)