Amnesty International: Mexico climate defenders criminalized for exercising right to protest – JURIST

Amnesty International published a report Wednesday, labeling the “disproportionate use of criminal law” as “one of the main threats facing the right to protest peacefully in defense of land, territory and environment in Mexico.”

The report asserts that, rather than addressing the alarming rate at which climate activists are murdered in Mexico, the Mexican state has compounded the number of human rights violations faced by climate activists by using criminal law as a deterrent against protestors.

Based on four case studies, the Amnesty report alleges that “vague or ambiguous offenses” are leveled against climate offenders without regard for legality such as “rioting”, “obstruction of public works” and variations on the offense of “attacks on roadways.” It also alleges that charges are laid based on fabricated and contorted versions of events and that protest leaders are overwhelmingly targeted by offenses that can then drag on indefinitely.

Amnesty International in the report calls on the Mexican state to “immediately cease the criminalization of protest and to properly investigate the human rights violations in the cases documented in the report in order to ensure that the defenders receive full reparations.”

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has stated that Mexico is the second-largest greenhouse gas emitter in Latin America and the Caribbean. Mexico has begun to experience extreme climate events including flooding and tropical cyclones, with sea level rise predicted to affect much of Mexico’s tourism industry. Mexico also has a large agricultural industry which has suffered due to droughts and fluctuations in temperature.