The Mexican Senate today received a ruling that harmonizes the Law for the Protection of Human Rights Advocates (HRA) and Journalists that had been passed first by the Chamber of Deputies.
It is an initiative that changes articles of this legislation which state that the administrative responsibilities generated by the non-compliance of the obligations foreseen in this law will be sanctioned according to what is established in the General Law of Administrative Responsibilities, since now it only refers to it.
It also specifies that the fines will be in accordance with the Unidad de Medida y Actualidad (Unit of Measurement and Updating).
The Senate of the Republic will only endorse for constitutional purposes the important ruling approved by 447 deputies, which seeks to protect persons at risk of being victims of organized crime and others, such as human rights activists and journalists, particularly those dedicated to issues of violence and politics.
The reforms are intended to harmonize the current Law with the legislative changes that have taken place in recent years, thus ensuring better compliance and avoiding legal uncertainty.
It explains that the Measurement and Updating Unit is the unit of account, index, base, measure, or economic reference in pesos to determine the amount of payment of the obligations and assumptions outlined in federal and state laws, as well as in the legal provisions derived from all of the above.
Deputy Margarita Garcia Garcia, of the Partido del Trabajo, said that the proposal seeks to watch over those who day by day face unimaginable risks simply for exercising their work, such as journalists and human rights defenders.
We have to protect the right of journalists and human rights defenders to act and do their work freely, he said.
We must also harmonize legislation to provide more effective and real protection to those who with their pen, voice, radio, or cell phone seek and are in their struggle to have a better country. (https://www.plenglish.com/news/2024/02/29/mexico-senate-passes-law-for-protection-of-journalists-and-hrd/)
