CAT/C/72/D/992/2020 2.23 On 6 March 2017, Mr. Gallardo Martínez led a hunger strike, in which more than 100 detainees participated, to protest against prison conditions and treatment constituting torture or cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment (solitary confinement, confinement to a cell for 22 hours per day, forcing inmates to remain in awkward positions for a prolonged period, exhaustive searches and lack of adequate medical care). In retaliation, Mr. Gallardo Martínez was subjected to further harassment. 2.24 In March 2017, Mr. Gallardo Martínez made an urgent request to join the National Protection Mechanism for Human Rights Defenders and Journalists. Receipt of this request was not acknowledged until an appeal was filed in August 2017, which was eventually dismissed eight months later. After his release and, owing to his high-risk status as a result of the “media lynching” to which he had been subjected, he again requested to join the Mechanism. Although his request was accepted informally in March 2019, to date, he has not received any formal notification that he is now a member of the mechanism, let alone benefited from protection measures. International pronouncements on the case 2.25 On 22 April 2014, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders; the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, and the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association issued urgent appeal 3/2014 in response to the violations reported by the complainant. On 26 August 2014, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention issued Opinion No. 23/2014, in which it confirmed the arbitrary character of Mr. Gallardo Martínez’s detention and recommended that he be released immediately. On 24 January 2017, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders published the final report on his mission to Mexico, in which he called for the release of Mr. Gallardo Martínez.5 Context. Criminalization of social protest 2.26 The complainants claim that the criminal proceedings brought against Mr. Gallardo Martínez are part of a pattern of torture and criminalization of social protest. 6 In Oaxaca in particular, the criminalization of social protest intensified in 2013 to quell resistance to socalled “structural reforms” by the Oaxaca teachers’ union; at least 141 instances of arbitrary detention of defenders of the right to education were documented. The complainants submit that this new wave of repression was characterized by recourse to criminal offences seldom before used to bring prosecutions: in the past, the crimes of terrorism, sabotage and conspiracy were used but, since 2013, the State has been charging activists with offences such as kidnapping, involvement in organized crime and money-laundering. These false accusations made it difficult to provide support, mount a legal defence and arrange family visits because the accused were transferred to maximum security prisons far from their places of origin. In addition, the Government invested millions to ensure that these accusations made the headlines, which seriously discredited the activists. 2.27 The complainants submit that there are, in fact, several pieces of exculpatory evidence ruling out the alleged participation of Mr. Gallardo Martínez in the offences with which he was charged. On 6 March 2014, an exercise involving playing back and listening to audio recordings confirmed that there was no audio-based evidence of the alleged negotiation 5 6 GE.22-01556 While he was in prison, Mr. Gallardo Martínez also received many solidarity visits. On 6 February 2017, he received a visit from a delegation of the World Organization against Torture; on 16 March 2017, he received a visit from the representative of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Mexico; on 27 March 2017, he received a visit from a delegation of the German Network for Human Rights in Mexico, the Oficina Ecuménica por la Paz and Amnesty International; on 26 September 2017, he received a visit from a delegation of representatives of the embassies of the European Union and the United States; and, on 19 October 2018, he received a visit from a delegation of Front Line Defenders. Pattern recognized by several international bodies, such as the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, and the universal periodic review mechanism. 5