International Women’s Day: Support Women Human Rights Defenders

Date Issued: March 8, 2006

Today, March 8, marks International Women’s Day, for nearly a century an occasion on which women’s rights activists celebrate achievements in the struggle for gender equality.

But the struggle is far from over. Around the world, women who stand up for human rights do so without recognition or support. As a result they continue to be the target of serious threats and attacks that go uninvestigated and unpunished.

On this occasion, Human Rights First announces its new focus on women human rights defenders. We will highlight gender-specific attacks against women activists and provide opportunities for you to take action to stop them. By supporting activists who stand up for women’s rights, we can help win the struggle for gender equality.

Today, please take action to protect Lydia Cacho Ribeiro, president of the Women’s Assistance Center in Cancun, Mexico. In December 2005, she was charged with criminal defamation and jailed for several days after implicating prominent businessmen in a child pornography ring. Credible evidence suggests that the prosecution was initiated solely to harass and silence her activism on behalf of women and children. If she is convicted, Ms. Cacho could face up to four years in prison.

Your voice can make a difference.

Learn more about the challenges facing women human rights defenders by visiting our new page.

Sample Letter:

Attorney General of Puebla
Maestra Blanca Laura Villeda Martínez
Procuradora General de Justicia del Estado de Puebla
Boulevard 5 de mayo y 31 Oriente, Colonia Ladrillera de Benitez, Puebla, Puebla, CP 72539, Mexico

Dear Attorney General:

I am writing to express my concern for the safety and wellbeing of Mexican human rights defender Lydia Cacho Ribeiro. I understand that Ms. Ribeiro, president of the Women’s Assistance Center in Cancun, Mexico, is being prosecuted as a means to intimidate and silence her. I ask that an investigation be conducted into these allegations of judicial harassment and that, if they are true, that the charges are dropped.

Ms. Cacho is a journalist and human rights activist who advocates on behalf of women and children who are victims of human rights abuses. While she has long faced threats to her safety on account of her work, the most recent harassment came as a result of a book she wrote about a child pornography ring that implicated prominent businessmen.

Ms. Cacho was detained in her home and then jailed for 30 hours before being released on bail. She faces charges of defamation, and if she is convicted, Ms. Cacho could face up to four years in prison.

Apparently, transcripts of taped conversations suggest that the prosecution was initiated solely to harass and silence her. An investigation should be conducted to determine the validity of these transcripts. If the prosecution was begun solely to harass Ms. Cacho, it should be discontinued.

Any arrests of defenders on account of their activities promoting and protecting human rights are direct violations of the 1998 UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, under which all persons have the right "freely to publish, impart or disseminate to others views, information and knowledge on all human rights and fundamental freedoms," as well as other international instruments that are binding on the government of Mexico, like the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the American Convention on Human Rights.

Furthermore, on June 7, 2005, the Organization of American States (OAS) adopted Resolution 2067, titled Human Rights Defenders: Support for the Individuals, Groups, and Organizations of Civil Society Working to Promote and Protect Human Rights in the Americas, reaffirming its commitment to the protection of human rights defenders. Accordingly, the Mexican government should recognize and support the important work of human rights defenders like Ms. Cacho.

I will continue to monitor this and other similar cases closely. I appreciate your attention to this most serious matter.