Since PBI began the project in 1999, we have received petitions from several civil organizations in the state of Oaxaca. The exploratory team identified Oaxaca as one of the states where international accompaniment was most necessary. From the beginning, we have established contacts in the state of Oaxaca, both with state entities and with civil Oaxacan organizations.

On the night of June 14, 2006, after the state government´s attempt to evict the teachers from the town square, Peace Brigades International received a call from the Oaxaca Human Rights Network (RODH) requesting the presence of members of PBI to verify the human rights situation and the security situation of civil organizations in the following days. 

On June 18, 2006, two members of PBI traveled to Oaxaca City. Besides providing accompaniment in the RODH´s offices, and accompanying members of the RODH in their activities, the PBI team members met with state authorities and civil organizations.

On September 4, 2006, members of 16 organizations, both Mexican and International, were in Oaxaca city to begin the work of the "Civil Observation Mission in Oaxaca." This mission was an initiative of the National Network of Civil Human Rights Organizations "Todos los Derechos para Todas y Todos" and the Oaxaca Human Rights Network (RODH), and its objective was to document the reality of Oaxaca and to document human rights violations. At the request of the Oaxaca Human Rights Network, two members of PBI were present during the week of the Civil Mission and accompanied different members of the RODH during their observation activities, in order to guarantee their security.

RODH website

At the request of the Mexican Commission for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights (CMDPDH) and the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC), both located in Mexico City, the PBI Mexico team provided international accompaniment to members of Radio Calenda, while reporting on the elections for State Representatives to Congress in Oaxaca in August 2007.

Radio Calenda is a community radio, that is, a local, non-commercial radio that broadcasts informative programs of general and cultural interest for the local population. Radio Calenda is one of the few radios that has a legal permit to broadcast, which the Department of Communications and Transportation granted them in 2005. Only eleven community radios in Mexico have been granted this authorization.

Since it began broadcasting, the members of the radio have been victims of harassment and death threats. Due to this situation, in February 2007, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights granted precautionary measures to members of the radio.