E/CN.4/2003/85/Add.2
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55.
The Special Rapporteur recommends that the human rights procurators’ offices and state
human rights commissions should strengthen their action for the protection of the human rights
of migrants in their programmes. It is of the highest importance that migrants should have
access to complaint mechanisms. In addition, the Special Rapporteur proposes the establishment
of accessible complaint mechanisms and joint programmes with civil society to assist
undocumented migrant women victims of abuse by public officials, employers or relatives.
56.
The Special Rapporteur also invites the various states within Mexico to take all necessary
measures to consolidate mechanisms for the internal control of officials participating in
migration management and take continuous action to combat corruption.
57.
The Special Rapporteur welcomes the recent establishment by the Office of the
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) of an office in Mexico and
invites this new office to take the human rights of migrants into account in its forthcoming
activities, making use of the observations contained in this report. The UNHCHR office in
Mexico could organize with the migration authorities and civil society human rights training
programmes for INM officials and police forces involved in migration policies. This training
should go beyond relevant legislation and should take into account psycho-social effects on both
migrants and the officials themselves. It is also suggested that the office should offer its
technical cooperation in the implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of
Action.
58.
The Special Rapporteur invites the International Organization for Migration to provide
support for the Mexican Government and civil society in the implementation of migration
management in which the human rights and dignity of migrants are respected.
59.
The Special Rapporteur congratulates civil society on its work for the protection of the
human rights of migrants and invites it to continue working to this end by assisting migrants who
request its help, responding to appeals by the migration authorities in emergencies, regularly
visiting holding and detention centres, and increasing public awareness of the need to safeguard
migrants’ human rights. The Special Rapporteur also invites civil society to report, at the
national, regional and international levels, abuses committed against migrants or against
organizations and persons working to protect them. Lastly, the Special Rapporteur encourages
civil society organizations to take action on the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action.
Notes
1
Some of the migrants interviewed told the Special Rapporteur that police officers extorting
money from them had threatened to detain them for having no papers, saying they were entitled
to do that under the law.
2
Some of them, such as the “Mara Salvatrucha”, are organizations consisting of up to
300 people, said to be spread out in groups in the border region ready to attack and rob migrants.