Supreme Court of Mexico launches indigenous territorial rights workshops

The Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) has launched the “Learning Workshops: Tools and Knowledge for Territorial Rights.” Organized by the General Directorate of Human Rights and Pluricultural Justice, the initiative aims to connect judges with the realities and territories of indigenous communities through an intercultural and human rights-based approach.

The workshops include dialogue sessions with representatives from the Sierra Norte of Puebla, the Central Valleys, and the Sierra Norte of Oaxaca. During the opening session, Víctor Leonel Juan Martínez, head of the DGDHJP, emphasized the importance of “listening to the voices of the territories” to inform jurisdictional tasks.

Community representatives participated in the discussions, with Josefina Santiago of Copuda noting that indigenous groups oppose the destruction of life rather than development itself. Other speakers, including Beatriz Casas Arellanes and Rufina Edith Villa Hernández, highlighted that justice must be built from the collective and the territory to defend community harmony and values.