A/HRC/39/17/Add.2 authorities and their procedures.13 Various factors prevent indigenous persons from gaining access to the national judicial system in order to defend their rights. They face economic, cultural, linguistic and geographic barriers, as well as racism and discrimination. 65. Access to justice programmes developed by government authorities have focused on the situation of indigenous persons in the criminal justice system. Indigenous persons who are arrested and prosecuted face violations of their rights to due process and a proper defence, owing to the shortage of interpreters, lawyers, defenders and justice officials who speak indigenous languages or know about indigenous cultures. There are only 25 bilingual public defenders, for example. Indigenous persons are also subjected to abuse during arbitrary arrests by police and military officers. As noted by IACHR, discrimination is a factor that makes indigenous persons “more likely to be victims of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment when arrested”.14 The excessive use of pretrial detention as an automatic precautionary measure in cases involving indigenous persons and women is also a source of concern. 66. The National Human Rights Commission, the National Commission for the Development of Indigenous Peoples, the Federal Public Defender Service and other institutions have developed programmes to promote the right to due process of indigenous persons who face charges; the provision of interpreters and lawyers who speak indigenous languages and specialized public defenders; the use of anthropological expert reports; and the early release of indigenous persons in pretrial detention. In addition, programmes organized in indigenous communities, such as the Travelling Public Prosecution Service in Chihuahua, have helped to draw attention to criminal complaints filed by indigenous victims. 67. The Special Rapporteur received many complaints about the misuse of criminal law against indigenous persons defending the rights of their peoples. She is concerned about the statements made by various representatives of the State and the private sector that undermine the work of these indigenous persons and the organizations that help them, including their legal action against development projects. Their work as rights defenders places them at greater risk of reprisals and violence and shows there is a need for appropriate protection mechanisms. The denigration of the work of indigenous rights defenders, who are publicly labelled as being “opposed to development”, is also worrying. 68. Government authorities reported on the implementation of the mechanism for the protection of human rights defenders and journalists; this mechanism is attached to the Ministry of the Interior and currently benefits 58 indigenous persons, which is only a fraction of those who are in need of support. Collective and culturally appropriate measures must be adopted in order to protect indigenous peoples. 69. The amparo remedy introduced by the constitutional amendment of 2011 is an important step forward. There are still a number of obstacles, however, such as the high cost of legal proceedings of this kind. There is not yet any case law that comprehensively addresses the root causes of problems relating to megaprojects launched without prior consultations. The effectiveness of the justice system is also undermined by the fact that some rulings in favour of indigenous communities have not been implemented. 70. As regards indigenous legal systems, in some states, community police forces, indigenous courts and other means of settling conflicts have been recognized. Under the National Code of Criminal Procedure, in cases involving offences that affect the legal rights of an indigenous people or person and where both parties accept the means of resolution provided for by the community’s regulatory systems, federal criminal proceedings are to be terminated, unless human dignity or the rights of women and children are at stake. There is no comprehensive mechanism ensuring harmonization and coordination between indigenous and ordinary courts at the federal level. 13 14 12 National Institute of Statistics and Geography, national survey on victimization and perceptions of public safety, 2017. See IACHR, The Human Rights Situation in Mexico, para. 258. GE.18-10617