Justice Centre for Peace and Development (CEPAD)

Cases
Case status
Unknown
Location of case in SG report
2021-074-001
Relevant SG report
Year of the report
2021
Country Geolocation

Latitude: 23.634501

Longitude: -102.552784

Country Geolocation (linked Cases)
Mexico
From Region
UN body that raised the case prior to the SG report
  • UN Treaty Bodies: CED
  • OHCHR: OHCHR Field office
Dates of prior UN action
June 2020, August 2020, December 2020
Type of record
Named organization
Was the victim a foreign national?
No
Was the victim a minor?
No
Individual's/organization's activity

Justice Centre for Peace and Development (CEPAD), an NGO documenting and reporting violations in the state of Jalisco

Type of rights defended
  • Unclear in SG Report
Was the victim a civil servant or member of the security forces or of the judiciary?
No
Reported trigger of reprisal

Cooperation with OHCHR in Mexico and the Committee on Enforced Disappearances. The reprisals took place in the context of demonstrations in Guadalajara about the extrajudicial execution of Mr. Giovanni López Ramirez, who was reportedly arrested during the implementation of emergency health measures to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, and who died in detention on 5 May 2020. 75. OHCHR in Mexico, including through the support of civil society organizations such as CEPAD, monitored the demonstrations and expressed concerns to authorities about excessive use of force by the police, and arbitrary arrests, detentions and alleged enforced disappearances between 4 and 6 June 2020.50 CEPAD reported incidents to the Committee on Enforced Disappearances, including one in which a group of protestors were reportedly intercepted, detained without a warrant by men in civilian clothes, had their money and mobile phones confiscated, and taken to the Prosecutor’s Office, to be finally released. 76. Following these events, CEPAD and its staff were reportedly the target of harassment, intimidation, and physical surveillance near their offices. They were reportedly subjected to the wiretapping of their mobile phones, as well as discrediting remarks on and the hacking of Twitter accounts and WhatsApp groups. The attacks were reportedly carried out by security forces or other state authorities in the state of Jalisco. In view of CEPAD’s engagement in the Urgent Action procedure of the Committee on Enforced Disappearances, and reprisal allegations potentially linked to such engagement, the Committee addressed the allegations and raised concerns with the State party in confidential letters sent in June, August and December 2020 through its Rapporteur on Reprisals. OHCHR in Mexico is in contact with relevant authorities.

Engagement with UN body
  • UN Treaty Bodies: CED
  • OHCHR: OHCHR Field office
Dates of engagement
June 2020
Type of attempted engagement
  • Submission of information to UN
Dates of mentioned reprisals
June 2020
Location of mentioned reprisals
Jalisco, Mexico
Reprisal information

According to information received by OHCHR, the Justice Centre for Peace and Development (CEPAD), an NGO documenting and reporting violations in the state of Jalisco, was the target of harassment, stigmatization, surveillance and on-line attacks since June 2020 following its cooperation with OHCHR in Mexico and the Committee on Enforced Disappearances. The reprisals took place in the context of demonstrations in Guadalajara about the extrajudicial execution of Mr. Giovanni López Ramirez, who was reportedly arrested during the implementation of emergency health measures to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, and who died in detention on 5 May 2020. 75. OHCHR in Mexico, including through the support of civil society organizations such as CEPAD, monitored the demonstrations and expressed concerns to authorities about excessive use of force by the police, and arbitrary arrests, detentions and alleged enforced disappearances between 4 and 6 June 2020.50 CEPAD reported incidents to the Committee on Enforced Disappearances, including one in which a group of protestors were reportedly intercepted, detained without a warrant by men in civilian clothes, had their money and mobile phones confiscated, and taken to the Prosecutor’s Office, to be finally released. 76. Following these events, CEPAD and its staff were reportedly the target of harassment, intimidation, and physical surveillance near their offices. They were reportedly subjected to the wiretapping of their mobile phones, as well as discrediting remarks on and the hacking of Twitter accounts and WhatsApp groups. The attacks were reportedly carried out by security forces or other state authorities in the state of Jalisco. In view of CEPAD’s engagement in the Urgent Action procedure of the Committee on Enforced Disappearances, and reprisal allegations potentially linked to such engagement, the Committee addressed the allegations and raised concerns with the State party in confidential letters sent in June, August and December 2020 through its Rapporteur on Reprisals. OHCHR in Mexico is in contact with relevant authorities.

Types of reprisals suffered
  • Defamation / Defamation campaign
  • Online harassment
  • Surveillance
  • Threats/Intimidations (incl. "fear of reprisal")
Alleged/likely perpetrators
State actors
Was the reprisal based on new legislation?
No
Does the report make general comment about country’s environment for engagement with UN?
No
Was the case raised by a State at the UN?
No
Is the country cited for a "pattern of reprisal" in the context of this case?
No
Is a pattern of reprisals mentioned otherwise in the context of this case?
No
Does the report cite "self-censorship" as an issue in the context of this case?
No
How many times has the case been followed up in subsequent SG reports?
1
In which SG report was this case followed up on? 0
2022
Follow up information provided in SG report 0
  1. The case of staff of the Justice Centre for Peace and Development, a non-governmental organization documenting and reporting human rights violations in the state of Jalisco, was included in the 2021 report of the Secretary-General on allegations of harassment, stigmatization, surveillance, and on-line attacks since June 2020 following its cooperation with OHCHR in Mexico and the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances. According to information received by OHCHR, while security incidents decreased during the reporting period, in March and April 2022, members of the NGO were reportedly subject to physical surveillance from unidentified cars and from municipal police cars. Likewise, the presence of drones was detected near the courtyard or windows of the NGO premises. OHCHR-Mexico is closely monitoring the situation and in contact with relevant authorities.
Followup Trends 0
Deterioration/further reprisals
Did the government respond? 0
No
Was this case followed up by a UN body? 0
  • OHCHR: OHCHR Field office