A recent judgment by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights ordered Mexico to reform its legal framework to eliminate and modify, respectively, two forms of detention: arraigo and pretrial detention. Complying with the Court’s judgment is a binding legal obligation and a necessary step to eliminate practices that violate human rights and undermine the effectiveness of Mexico’s criminal justice system, as we explain in this analysis. 

Meanwhile, Biden’s proposed asylum ban will imply new human rights challenges for Mexico. But this is not the only tool that the U.S. government has at hand to keep asylum out of reach, as we explore in this article that we published last week. That’s why WOLA participated in this press release with other U.S. and international organizations calling on the government to reverse its course on this radical change to asylum access. You can read more about this recent development and the current human rights crises at the U.S.-Mexico border in our weekly updates.

That and much more in today’s WOLA weekly.

Best,

Stephanie Brewer

WOLA's Director for Mexico

• 🇲🇽 Mexico's compliance with the IACtHR ruling to reform it's legal framework on detention will likely face resistance, given the government's stigmatization of the judiciary and defense of the overuse of pretrial detention. Learn more in this analysis.

• 🇲🇽🇺🇸 It’s hard to imagine how the Biden administration’s revival of the asylum ban, a cruel Trump-era policy, could be legal. Read this joint press release calling on the U.S. government to reverse this decision.

•  🇭🇳🇸🇻Governance that limits constitutional guarantees under states of exception is the normalized model in several areas of El Salvador and Honduras, in what appears to be the security model in the region. 

In the first panel of our ongoing Colombia's Truth Commission report series, we examined the ethnic and gender components of Colombia's Truth Commission. During this panel we spoke with Afro-Colombian and Indigenous Truth Commissioners who are spearheading efforts to  integrate a differentiated approach to the country's transitional justice system, as agreed on the 2016 Peace Accords. The panel explored how the system intersects with U.S. policy, and what next steps are required to fulfill the recommendations made by the Commission. Watch the event here.

In April 2022, WOLA launched its one-of-kind Border Oversight Database, which documents hundreds of reports of human rights violations and abuses against migrants and asylum seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border. 

Ana María Méndez

Director for Central America

Corrupt interest groups are seeking to frame the efforts to create an international commission to address corruption as a question of sovereignty. "So it’s complicated, because  this is not about the sovereignty of a country [...] but the corruption and organized criminal networks that affect a country more than any international mechanism that would strengthen justice.”

WOLA's Director for Central America Ana María Méndez told The Progressive

WOLA is looking for its next Director for Venezuela, to help us advance human rights and a peaceful, democratic, and just solution to the country’s deep political and humanitarian crisis. Learn more here.

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