Last year, we interviewed Mexican human rights lawyer Jorge Ruiz del Ángel about his experience attending one of our Litigation Surgeries and becoming part of our global network of lawyers.
Our Litigation Surgeries
Our litigation surgeries are a core component of Media Defence’s global work, offered both in-person and online. These are focused seminars where participants are able to present and discuss a case they are working on to peers and experts. The seminars focus on preliminary problem identification, framing of violations, formulation of human rights arguments and remedies. The surgeries also provide an in-depth understanding of strategic litigation and litigating before international human rights bodies. Litigation surgeries are intended to be a space for litigators to receive technical legal expertise on relevant thematic issues. It is also a space for litigators to network and find out what other litigators in the region are working on.
We aim to tailor litigation surgeries to participants’ needs and interests to make them as relevant as possible. Between 2020-2024, 194 lawyers have attended our litigation surgeries in nine different countries. We have also convened five online litigation surgeries during this time. In 2025, we have a number of litigation surgeries planned across the world [anchor].
Jorge Ruiz del Ángel: Human Rights Lawyer & Litigation Surgery Participant
In August 2024, we spoke with Jorge Ruiz del Ángel, a lawyer in Mexico and founder of Estudio Asistencia Legal Y En Derechos Humanos (ALDH). He has been a national and international consultant on issues of Protection and Self-Protection of human rights defenders and journalists; freedom of expression; rights of children and adolescents; indigenous people and rights of people deprived of liberty. He also currently works as a professor at Tec de Monterrey, State of Mexico campus.
Guatemala Litigation Surgery 2022
Jorge attended our litigation surgery in Guatemala in 2022 with ten other participants, after a friend sent him the call for applications. Until December 2021, he was the Director of the Protection Mechanism for Human Rights Defenders and Journalists for the Mexican government, with over 20 years of experience working on human rights issues in Mexico. At the time that he applied, Jorge was not familiar with Media Defence’s work.
During the litigation surgery, Jorge had the opportunity to discuss the cases he was handling. Throughout the session, he drew on the experiences of other participants and Media Defence’s expertise at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. Jorge told us that this exchange shifted his perspective, enabling him to see the cases not as isolated criminal matters but as part of a broader pattern of effective criminalisation of journalistic activities.
After the litigation surgery, a Whatsapp group was set up to facilitate contact and sustained networks between attendees. This is a common follow up that Media Defence provide, and we now have several different groups across a number of different regions to facilitate communications and exchange of knowledge. Jorge noted that the group was quite active and a useful way to ensure ongoing discussion about regional and international legal freedom of expression issues, and the development of cases.
Establishing Estudio ALDH
Shortly after completing the litigation surgery, Jorge decided to become an independent lawyer and establish Estudio Asistencia Legal y en Derechos Humanos (ALDH), a law firm dedicated to providing legal assistance and holistic support in human rights cases. The firm focuses on supporting human rights defenders, journalists, Indigenous communities, children and adolescents, and victims of forced displacement.
Recognising the urgent need for accessible legal support for journalists, he envisioned a firm that would go beyond technical assistance. Estudio ALDH not only provides free legal support but also empowers journalists to better understand the legal risks and implications of their work. Additionally, the firm offers support to the families of journalists impacted by violence. Estudio ALDH works with international and local organisations to help deliver this support across both urban and rural areas.
Mexico remains one of the most dangerous and deadly places for journalists, according to Reporters Without Borders.[1]In October 2024, Mexico witnessed a spate of violent attacks against journalists and independent media. 25-year-old journalist Mauricio Cruz Solís was shot dead in the western Mexican state of Michoacán. The newspaper El Debate in Culiacán, in the state of Sinaloa, was also the target of an armed attack, when assailants opened fire on the office building. In the same week, journalist Arturo Hernández, editor-in-chief of Impacto Publicitario in the state of Oaxaca, had his car burnt down by unknown assailants.[2]
Despite these challenges, Estudio ALDH has to date worked on nine cases involving journalists, two cases involving whistleblowers, and three cases involving human rights defenders. Additionally, it provides training and capacity-building initiatives across Mexico to enhance understanding of freedom of expression issues. These programmes aim to improve protection mechanisms and help journalists and human rights defenders design effective self-protection strategies, empowering those who rely on freedom of expression principles in their work. For instance, it provides advice to groups of journalists in various regions of the country, such as Guanajuato, Chiapas, and Veracruz, on the scope of their publications and any potential restrictions they may or may not face.
Sharing and promoting Media Defence materials
Jorge has incorporated several Media Defence resources throughout the course of his work, sharing them internally with his team and incorporating them into trainings that he has delivered for state authorities in 44 different municipalities in Guanajuato, central Mexico.
These trainings have focused on strengthening protocols and state responsibility to protect journalists and other human rights defenders who are at risk due to their work. They have also contributed to the initiative of the municipalities to develop a policy on Municipal Action Protocol for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists at Risk.[3].
In 2024, Jorge and Estudio ALDH developed a guide on tools for journalists and others reporting on elections in Mexico for the State Commission for the Care and Protection of Journalists (Comisión Estatal para la Atención y Protección de los Periodistas, CEAPP) in Veracruz, eastern Mexico[4]. The guide includes references to Media Defence’s Resource HubLatin American modules.
While there is still much to do to create an enabling environment for journalists in Mexico, it is a positive indication of how litigation surgery participants can utilise Media Defence materials and adapt them for local context, contributing to building local capacity and knowledge on freedom of expression issues.
Developing networks
Between October 2023 to January 2024, Jorge participated as a consultant to the Technical Mission of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Peru for the development of a Self-Protection Toolkit for Human Rights Defenders and Journalists in Peru. While there, he shared Media Defence’s details with other lawyers who were representing journalists. Consequently, we were able to support their cases when they applied through our emergency defence grant programme.
In 2024, there were at least six instances where we received requests for emergency support directly from previous litigation surgery participants, helping us to expand our reach. Through these connections, we received our first request from Albania and our first request from Angola in over a decade.
Jorge’s experiences also show us that litigation surgery participants can continue to act as ambassadors for Media Defence, extending our reach to individuals and communities we might not otherwise have the opportunity to support.
Please check our NEWS page for updates on upcoming litigation surgeries or follow us on Bluesky, LinkedIn, Instagram and other social media platforms.
[1] https://rsf.org/en/country/mexico
[2] https://rsf.org/en/mexico-rsf-condemns-cruel-murder-journalist-mauricio-cruz-sol%C3%ADs-michoac%C3%A1n
[3] https://boletines.guanajuato.gob.mx/2022/12/15/presenta-el-consejo-estatal-de-proteccion-a-personas-defensoras-de-derechos-humanos-y-periodistas-de-guanajuato-su-informe-anual/
[4] https://ceapp.org.mx/CEAPP_HERRAMIENTAS_2024.pdf
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