Statement from the Global Campaign to Dismantle Corporate Power on the occasion of the Historic Final Hearing of the Mexican Chapter of the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal: Free Trade, Violence, Impunity and Human Rights
After 3 years of consultations, and dozens of pre-hearings, the Mexican chapter of the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal has entered its final hearing. We, the members of the Global Campaign to Dismantle Corporate Power stand in solidarity with the thousands of victims of human rights abuses that presented over 500 cases during the course of the Tribunal and we severely condemn the political, economic and criminal architecture that allowed these violations to occur and allows them to continue.
This chapter of the TPP is nothing short of historic having exposed hundreds of instances of human rights violations from almost every Mexican State. The pre-hearings focused on 8 themes including: the dirty war, violence, impunity and lack of access to justice; migration, refugees and forced displacement; femicide and gender violence; violence against workers; Corn, food sovereignty and autonomy; environmental devastation and the rights of indigenous populations; misinformation, censorship and violence against media workers; and the destruction of the country’s youth and future generations.
As the title of the Mexican chapter indicates one of the cross-cutting root causes of many of the violations exposed by the tribunal is the global political and economic system that is dominated by free trade agreements that benefit only the owners of capital and the governments that are complicit in their execution. Vast amounts of evidence was presented during the tribunal that has proven that the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has led to mass violation of the human rights of diverse populations in Mexico. Unfettered trade in the Mexican context has also led to unprecedented levels of impunity where intense criminal abuse goes unpunished. Indeed, the criminal entities are now solidly engrained into the political and economic structures of the country.
The primary benefactors of Mexico’s experience with trade liberalization are the Transnational Corporations who, since NAFTA was implemented in 1994, have captured the national industry through privatization schemes, have invested heavily in exploiting the country’s resources and have profited from the destruction of the internal market and the shift to an export-led economy that does not benefit Mexicans. In addition to raising the voices of the victims and condemned the role of free trade agreements in systematic violations, the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal has clearly exposed how state repression, the collusion with criminal elements by the government, props up and protects this pillar of the architecture of impunity while destroying rural livelihoods, entire communities and the physical environment. Corporate profits grow as a result of this situation, while the value of life drops, and people, women, migrants, students, indigenous peoples and the environment are turned into commodities.
The Global Campaign to Dismantle Corporate Power applauds the organizers of the Mexican Chapter of the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal and recognizes the bravery of the witnesses who in some instances face repression for telling their stories. The cases presented at the TPP have shone a bright light on the perverse lack of access to justice for victims of human rights violation in Mexico. Clearly, the country’s judicial system – along with numerous international juridical mechanisms – is inadequate to bring justice and remediation for the victims whose testimony has painted a picture of corporate, state and criminal impunity.
The Global Campaign to Dismantle Corporate Power is determined to strengthen the mobilization of a broad and sustained counter-power that is pushing for the creation of a comprehensive intergovernmental legally binding treaty that would provide access to justice for victims of corporate crimes. The social movements, networks and organizations from the Global Campaign are also engaged in collectively building a popular International Peoples’ Treaty that affirms an alternative vision of law and justice inspired by peoples’ struggles.
We stand in solidarity with victims of the “war on drugs” in Mexico, and today in particular with the 43 students of Ayotzinapa disappeared by the Mexican State, with their families and with the tremendous nationwide movement in Mexico that, like the Zapatistas 20 years ago, are saying Enough!
Finally, we express our immense gratitude to the organizers of the Tribunal for their efforts in organizing this historic Chapter of the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal.
