In October 2011, a broad network of Mexican civil society groups, associations, movements and individuals filed a petition with the Tribunal, requesting an investigation into the effects of the country’s adopted neoliberal economic policies since NAFTA came into force. The opening session was held in Ciudad Juárez from 27 to 29 May 2012, during which the complaint was presented. It alleged that these policies had produced serious economic, social and environmental consequences, systematically affecting human rights. Between 2012 and 2014, ten thematic hearings were held, each focusing on areas most impacted by these policies, such as labour, the environment, food sovereignty, and education, as well as specific social groups including youth, women, and migrants. One of the hearings also addressed the legacy of the ‘guerra sucia’ and the consequences of impunity, with particular reference to human rights defenders.
Based on the evidence gathered and the approximately 500 documented cases, the Tribunal concluded that the human rights violations in Mexico were extremely serious, impacted large sections of the population and could undermine the fundamental structures of the state. According to the Tribunal, the Mexican State has failed to fulfil its obligations under international human rights law by not guaranteeing the individuals, communities, and social groups in question the full exercise of fundamental rights. These rights include the right to life and physical integrity, the right to collective land ownership, freedom of expression and association, the right to health, a healthy environment and decent housing, the right to social protest, decent work, the right to self-determination, cultural identity, language and one’s own customs and traditions, the protection of territory, access to justice and the presumption of innocence (as in the case of environmental defenders facing legal proceedings), and the right to free, prior and informed consent.
These failures have resulted in the State being found responsible for violating its duties to prevent, investigate, prosecute and provide redress for the above human rights violations. Evidence that emerged during the ten thematic hearings linked these violations to the country’s free trade policies and neoliberal economic models, demonstrating their systematic and structural effects on communities and fundamental rights
Download the Judgements of the thematic preliminary hearings and the final session:
- Introductory Hearing (Ciudad Juárez, 27-29 May 2012) in Spanish
- First hearing on Violence against workers (Mexico City, 31 May-2 June 2012) in Spanish
- Second Hearing on Environmental Devastation and Peoples’ Rights (Mexico City, 15-17 November 2013) in Spanish
- Third hearing on Violence against corn, food sovereignty and peoples’ autonomy (Mexico City, 19-21 November 2013) in Spanish
- Fourth hearing on Repression of social movements and human rights defenders (Mexico City, 22-24 November 2013) in Spanish
- Fifth hearing on Disinformation, Censorship and Violence against Journalists (Mexico City, 17-19 September 2014) in Spanish
- Sixth hearing on Feminicide and gender-based violence (Chihuahua, 21-23 September 2014)
- Seventh hearing on Dirty war as violence and impunity (Indigenous Community of Santa Fe della Laguna, 26-28 September 2014) in Spanish
- Eighth audience on Migration, forced displacement and refuge (Mexico City, 29-30 September – 1 October 2014) in Spanish
- Ninth Hearing on Education (Mexico City, 3-5 October 2014) in Spanish
- Tenth hearing on Destruction of youth and future generations (Mexico City, 8-10 November 2014) in Spanish
- Final Session, Judgement in Spanish and English (Mexico City, 12-15 November 2015)