IACHR Celebrates Full Compliance with Friendly Settlement Agreement in Case 12,627 Concerning Mexico

June 17, 2022

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Washington, D.C. – The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has decided to declare full compliance with Friendly Settlement Report 92/17, concerning Case 12,627—María Nicolasa García Reynoso, Mexico—and will stop monitoring it.

This case concerns the Mexican State's international responsibility for attacks, acts of intimidation, and threats allegedly perpetrated against María Nicolasa García Reynoso in retaliation for her work as a human rights defender in Mexico, as well as for the subsequent failure to effectively investigate these events.

On October 10, 2012, the parties signed a friendly settlement agreement that was approved by the IACHR on July 7, 2017. While verifying the implementation of this friendly settlement agreement, the Commission noted that the check for the amount that had been agreed as financial compensation had been delivered and that the clause concerning the conduct of a risk assessment had also been complied with. Based on this risk assessment, the beneficiary was included in the Mechanism to Protect Human Rights Defenders and Journalists, and the adoption of protection measures in her favor was implemented through that mechanism. Risk assessments continued to be periodically conducted and led to the adoption of security measures including the following: (a) a panic button; (b) an alarm system with an alert module for the petitioner's cell phone; (c) a request for the restoration of a bodyguard service; (d) rental of a digital IP closed-circuit television (CCTV) with five cameras; and (e) periodic verification calls to the beneficiary.

Among the most significant aspects of this agreement, it is worth noting that the State informed María Nicolasa García Reynoso about progress made in the investigation of these events and about the status of various judicial proceedings. The Commission notes that both parties have acknowledged that several convictions have been issued in high-impact cases, all of them major outcomes of this friendly settlement process.

The Inter-American Commission closely followed the implementation of the friendly settlement that was agreed in this case. The IACHR commended both parties on their efforts in negotiations and, later, during the monitoring stage of the friendly settlement agreement. Based on information provided by the parties during the monitoring process, the IACHR declared that full compliance had been attained and ended its supervision of compliance with this friendly settlement agreement.

The Commission commends the Mexican State on its efforts to solve cases that are taken before the petition and case system—through its friendly settlement mechanism—and congratulates it for its work to achieve the full implementation of this friendly settlement agreement. The IACHR further congratulates the petitioning party for all its efforts to contribute to improving the friendly settlement procedure.

A principal, autonomous body of the Organization of American States (OAS), the IACHR derives its mandate from the OAS Charter and the American Convention on Human Rights. The Inter-American Commission has a mandate to promote respect for and to defend human rights in the region and acts as a consultative body to the OAS in this area. The Commission is composed of seven independent members who are elected in an individual capacity by the OAS General Assembly and who do not represent their countries of origin or residence.

No. 137/22

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