Report: AMLO government’s targeting of journalists and activists could be crimes against humanity

A new report by researchers at the University of California-Berkeley Human Rights Center (HRC) claims that the former Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) could be held accountable for crimes against humanity. This conclusion emerged from a comprehensive examination of the targeting of journalists and human rights activists during AMLO's six-year term.

The HRC's investigation found a clear pattern of persecution, encompassing hostile rhetoric and digital espionage, that could potentially constitute crimes against humanity under the Rome Statute, the international treaty forming the basis for the International Criminal Court. The report, titled "Under Attack: Targeting of Journalists and Human Rights Defenders in Mexico," detailed 337 killings, including 78 journalists and 259 human rights defenders, alongside 75 cases of enforced disappearances.

The Berkeley researchers also documented 2,827 instances of rhetoric aimed at undermining journalists and civil society organizations, describing the constant disparaging remarks as contributing to a hostile atmosphere. State institutions, particularly the Defense Ministry, were implicated in the unlawful use of surveillance tools like Pegasus spyware to spy on targeted groups.

The report's lead author, Lindsay Freeman, emphasized that the killings and harassment were part of a systematic attack encouraged by the state and rarely punished, highlighting how AMLO used his daily press conferences to discredit the press and amplify threats online through networks of fake accounts.