The Mexican senate unanimously passed a law on April 24 that requires the national government to protect journalists and human rights activists when they receive threats, the legislative chamber said. “The senate approved the Law for Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists, which will allow the government to implement preventive measures to guarantee the life and security of those in these professions and who are in an at-risk situation,” the chamber added. The...

Senator Alejandro González Alcocer, President of the Justice Committee of the Mexican Senate Senator Ricardo Pacheco Rodríguez, Secretary of the Justice Committee of the Mexican Senate Senator Leonel Godoy Rangel, Secretary of the Justice Committee of the Mexican Senate Dear Senators González Alcocer, Pacheco Rodríguez, and Godoy Rangel: I am writing on behalf of Human Rights Watch regarding the various legislative proposals being drafted in Congress to reform...

The federal senate’s 95 members yesterday unanimously passed an amendment to article 73 of the constitution allowing the federal courts and investigators to deal with crimes that threaten the work of journalists and freedom of information. The amendment was already approved by the lower house last November. The amendment says: “The federal authorities will also be able to try crimes under state jurisdiction when they are linked to federal crimes or when they are crimes against...

Washington, DC-South Carolina Congressman Jeff Duncan’s legislation concerning the Iranian government’s activities in the Western Hemisphere took a major step towards becoming law on Wednesday, when it passed out of the House Foreign Affairs Committee with strong bipartisan support. The legislation, which currently has 73 cosponsors, will now move to the House floor for a vote. “Congress is recognizing the seriousness of the threat that Iran poses to both Americans here at...

The Mexican army seized a shoulder-fired missile, a rocket launcher and three grenades in an operation against drug trafficking in the Gulf of Mexico state of Veracruz, the Defence Department said Tuesday. Soldiers also found four rifles, 2,870 rounds of ammunition, a bulletproof vehicle, and packages of cocaine and marijuana in a raid in the ranch town of El Guayabal. Unidentified men fled the ranch when the troops arrived Monday and couldn't be captured. The Zetas drug cartel controls drug...

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday expressed concern about allegations that some Latin American drug trafficking organizations are linked with Hezbollah and Iran. "We are concerned about the activities of Iran and Hezbollah in the Western Hemisphere," the top U.S. envoy told the House Committee on Foreign Affairs at a hearing. Washington brands Hezbollah, a Shiite militant group in Lebanon, as a terrorist organization, while Iran's disputed nuclear program is...

Iran's president on Tuesday lauded his country's newly launched Spanish-language satellite TV channel, saying it would deal a blow to "dominance seekers" - remarks that were an apparent jab at the U.S. and the West. The launch is Tehran's latest effort to reach out to friendly governments in Latin America and follows Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's four-nation tour of the region earlier in January, which included stops in Cuba and visits to Venezuela, Nicaragua and Ecuador. It also comes...

Will the Inter-American human rights system survive beyond January 25? This is one of the decisions that will be put to the meeting of ambassadors to the Permanent Council of the Organization of Americans States on that day. Far from being a organizational tweak, the proposed overhaul of the way the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) functions would ratify a disgraceful political offensive by certain member states against one of its components, an important mechanism in the...

Univision, the largest TV broadcaster in Spanish of the United States, recently presented a report showing that Iran is actively preparing an attack against the US to be carried out from bases in Latin America. The documentary, "La Amenaza Irani" (" "), illustrated, though undercover footage, how the growing economic, political and military ties Iran has developed in South American countries are rapidly evolving into a tangible threat for the security of the US. The...

Less than 24 hours after he was reported missing, the badly beaten body of Jose Trinidad de la Cruz Crisoforo, a peace activist in his seventies, was found near the town of Aquila in Michoacan state. According to authorities, the corpse bore signs of torture. De la Cruz was found with his hands tied behind his back and at least four bullet wounds, and his left ear was almost detached. Other activists told press that de la Cruz had been beaten and threatened with death in June. As a result...