Instituto Mexicano de Derechos Humanos y Democracia

Instituto Mexicano de Derechos Humanos y Democracia works to advance democratic governance and human rights protections through research, advocacy, and education. It is one of the founding members of a civil society coalition that worked to advance the creation of Mexico’s National Prosecutor’s Office. The award supports efforts to improve Mexico City’s criminal justice system through technical assistance to policymakers for designing a professional civil service that will raise the standards for employment, job performance, professional development, and political neutrality of personnel in the Mexico City Prosecutor’s Office.

Instituto Mexicano de Derechos Humanos y Democracia works to advance democratic governance and human rights protections through research, advocacy and education. It is one of the founding members of a civil society coalition that focuses on the planning process for Mexico’s new National Prosecutor’s Office. The award supports efforts to improve investigative capacity in Mexico’s criminal justice system through contributing to the creation of professional civil service training that will raise the standards for employment, job performance, job stability, and political neutrality.

The IMDHD was founded in 2007 and works with a diverse set of social, political, academic, and civil actors on initiatives that ensure respect for human rights. Funds will support a project focused on three states (Puebla, Campeche, and the Federal District) to strengthen the implementation processes of the 2008 Constitutional reform of the criminal justice system. Specifically, it will work to increase the knowledge of system operators concerning human rights standards and to provide assistance in the preparation of proposals for institutional change that will be required to implement these standards. More generally, it will make available to the public information concerning the benefits of human rights reform and the challenges in achieving them. Funds will be used for salaries, convenings, travel, and communications.

This project funds the establishment of a new organization, the Citizens’ Observatory of the Criminal Justice System, the first civil society entity dedicated to monitoring Mexico’s eight-year reform of its justice system. The Observatory will help ensure that human rights and due process guarantees are incorporated in the operation of the justice system. The project will contribute to improved justice system practices in the areas of the provision of adequate defense, use of pre-investigative detention, alternatives to pretrial detention, and judicial oversight.

To incorporate human rights protections in the implementation of Mexico's new accusatorial criminal justice system (over three years).