The Mexican legislature’s approval last week of the Internal Security Law marks a turning point for a country already reeling from unprecedented levels of violence and widespread human rights violations. In response, on December 18, 2017, a coalition of ten international organizations committed to human rights and the rule of law called on President Enrique Peña Nieto to veto the bill and announced the formation of an International Observatory on Mexico, whose mandate will be to observe and document the country’s deteriorating human rights situation.

Inaugural members of the Observatory on Mexico include Amnesty International, the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL), the Due Process of Law Foundation (DPLF), the German Network for Human Rights in Mexico, Latin America Working Group (LAWG), the Open Society Justice Initiative (OSJI), Peace Brigades International, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT); other international organizations are expected to join in the future. As Mexico moves further away from its democratic foundations, the world is watching.