The Mexican Secretary of Government announced the 17 members that make up the Advisory Council for the Mechanism to Protect Human Rights Defenders and Journalists, reported the news agency Notimex.
The Advisory Council was created to supervise the implementation of the recently approved Law for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists that orders the Mexican government to provide security to threatened journalists.
The new council is composed of various human rights, journalistic and academic organizations.
The Permanent Campaign for Freedom of Expression reported that among the journalists represented on the council are Rogelio Hernández, director of Journalists' Rights House; Jade Ramírez, radio reporter and winner of the King of Spain National Journalism Prize; Jorge Israel Hernández, collaborator with the Master's in Journalism program at the Center for Economic Research and Teaching; and José Buendía, executive director of the Democracy and Press Foundation.
"Through broad consensus, we have achieved another milestone toward a Mexico where [human rights] defenders and journalists have protection," said organizations that participated in the design and creation of the protection mechanism.
Participating organizations also acknowledged that the selection process for the council was transparent and democratic, as previously demanded.
Note from the editor: This story was originally published by the Knight Center’s blog Journalism in the Americas, the predecessor of LatAm Journalism Review.
