Legal
systems are established to deliver justice to wrongfully injured parties. Nevertheless, in societies around the world,
the law is frequently used to impede, rather than to facilitate, access to
justice. In such situations, the State might
use its attributes and powers to benefit private interests that are contrary
and prejudicial to public interests. The
Mexico chapter of the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal (PPT) characterizes this
phenomenon -- of private interests’ co-opting a State and diverting the State’s
resources to private, rather than public, needs -- as “desviacion de poder”: that is, “misuse of power.”[1]
The concept
of “misuse of power” is the central concern of the Mexico chapter of the
Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal (PPT). The
Tribunal does not simply affirm legal rights, but also highlights the
incompatibility of the free trade economic model with universally recognized rights.[2] In the Mexico chapter of the Tribunal, the Tribunal’s
main theme is “Free Trade, Violence, Impunity, and Peoples’ Rights.”
General Structure
of the Mexico Chapter of the Tribunal
To
understand the Tribunal’s work in Mexico, one must understand the Tribunal’s structure. The Tribunal consists of different audiences and pre-audiences throughout Mexico.
The audiences include (i) a general introductory audience; (ii) seven
thematic audiences; and (iii) a final audience.
The Tribunal held a general
introductory audience during May 2012 in Ciudad Juarez in the state of
Chihuahua. At this audience, the
Tribunal listened to communities and organizations present evidence on the
destructive relationship between free trade policies and the seven thematic audience
topics. The Tribunal issued a finding at
the end of the general introductory audience about the results of the hearing
and initiated the seven thematic audiences.[3]
The seven thematic audiences will
continue until the Tribunal adjourns in 2014.
These separate audiences, which are the Tribunal’s “work groups,” cover
the following topics: (i) dirty war; (ii) violence against migrants; (iii)
violence against women; (iv) violence against workers; (v) violence against
food sovereignty; (vi) environmental devastation; and (vii) violence against
the media.
Each thematic audience will involve
a hearing devoted to one of these topics, considered in relation to the
structural violence produced by a free trade, neoliberal economic model. For example, the Tribunal’s judges will hold
a separate hearing on the violence inflicted on women by this economic
model. The Tribunal’s judges will also
hold a separate hearing on the environmental devastation caused by free trade
neoliberal policies.
During the separate thematic audiences,
the goal is to reveal the relationship that each theme has to violence
generated by free trade neoliberal economic policies. The Tribunal encourages the presenting of witnesses’
testimony at each audience, but does not require it. Each thematic audience lasts about a day and
a half or two days. The judges issue a
finding that is made public at the end of the audience. Because the Tribunal is a public opinion
court, the findings do not legally bind the State or individuals. Nevertheless, grassroots movements and
organizations may use the findings as part of their overall strategies for
engaging in civil resistance.
After the seven hearings for the
different thematic audiences, the Tribunal will conclude with a final audience. In the final audience, the judges will use
the information collected and the findings issued in the other hearings to
discuss free trade’s adverse impact on the rights of the people, to indicate
those responsible for violating the people’s rights, to publicize the violations,
and to shed light on the relationships between free trade, violence, and the
judicial system.[4]
Structure
of the Thematic Audiences and Pre-Audiences
Although the work done in each
thematic audience is notable, the bulk of the grassroots component of the
Tribunal arguably occurs during the pre-audiences.
The next article in this series
will examine the pre-audiences, their structure, their importance to the
Tribunal’s mission, and their role in organizing communities practicing civil
resistance.
[1]
Silvia Ribeiro, Desviación de Poder,
La Jornada, July 28, 2012, at http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2012/07/28/opinion/028a1eco.
[2]
Tribunal Permanente de los Pueblos, Boletín
Informativo No. 3, at http://www.tppmexico.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/BOLETIN-3-TPP-CAPITULO-MEXICO.pdf.
[3]
Tribunal Permanente de los Pueblos, Dictamen
de la Audiencia General Introductoria, May 27-29, 2012, at http://www.tppmexico.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/TPP-Ciudad-Juarez-definitivo-1.pdf.
[4] Tribunal
Permanente de los Pueblos, Boletín Informativo
No. 3, at http://www.tppmexico.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/BOLETIN-3-TPP-CAPITULO-MEXICO.pdf.
