RESEARCH REPORT PEOPLE AND FORESTS AT RISK Organized crime, trafficking in persons and deforestation in Chihuahua, Mexico FOREST FIRE AFTERMATH IN YUCATAN, MEXICO Andrea Pistolesi APRIL 2020 PEOPLE AND FORESTS AT RISK Organized crime, trafficking in persons and deforestation in Chihuahua, Mexico W April 2020 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS To all those people who shared their knowledge and information to obtain this research report and collaborated in obtaining data in the field; to state and regional government institutions, members of ejidos, members of community forestry companies, experts, consultants, civil society organizations, victims of organized crime. This report was made possible through the generous support of the United States Department of State’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Department of State. We would like to thank the US State Department for their support in funding this report. ABOUT THE AUTHORS Livia Wagner is Senior Expert of the Global Initiative and her work mainly covers the phenomenon of human trafficking in connection with other forms of organized crime with a special focus on Latin America, especially illegal gold mining in Latin America and comprehensive and sustainable alternative development responses to organized crime. Diana Siller and Rosalba Landa, both network members of the GI-TOC network of experts, have co-founded the Environmental and Justice Human Rights organization JADE A.C. Their work focuses on putting into practice integrated approaches for achieving environmental and social justice claims that enable resilient communities and cities, enhanced by a sustainable diagnosis and integrated management of natural resources. Their long-standing expertise on impacts from corruption and organized crime on natural resources of indigenous communities in Mexico and other Latin American countries was of utmost importance for this report. © 2020 Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the Global Initiative. Cover photograph: Between 2007 and 2012, an average of 8 434 forest fires occurred each year in Mexico, resulting in an average loss of 348 000 hectares annually. © Andrea Pistolesi/Getty Images. Please direct inquiries to: The Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime Avenue de France 23 Geneva, CH-1202 Switzerland www.globalinitiative.net CONTENTS Acronyms ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� iv Executive summary .................................................................................................................... 1 Methodology ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 4 Limitations ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 10 Security ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 10 Organized crime and violence ............................................................................................... 13 Organized-crime dynamics related to deforestation and labour exploitation in Chihuahua ..........16 Resilience to organized crime ..........................................................................................................................26 Deforestation ........................................................................................................................... 31 Deforestation in Chihuahua ..............................................................................................................................32 Illegal logging .........................................................................................................................................................33 Human trafficking and labour risks in Chihuahua forestry sector ...............................43 Recruitment and hiring ......................................................................................................................................43 Trafficking in persons, and forced labour .......................................................................................................44 Child labour .........................................................................................................................................................50 Discrimination .......................................................................................................................................................52 Wage and hour violations ..................................................................................................................................55 Health and safety .................................................................................................................................................57 Conclusion and recommendations ....................................................................................... 59 Recommendations for further research .........................................................................................................61 Recommendations for private-sector wood buyers ....................................................................................62 Recommendations for countries that import wood from Mexico ..........................................................62 Recommendations for civil society .................................................................................................................62 Recommendations for Mexican governmental institutions ......................................................................64 Annexes ...................................................................................................................................... 67 Annex 1: Law and policy review .......................................................................................................................68 Annex 2: Other country and sector factors that increase vulnerability to trafficking in persons ......76 Annex 3: Mexico’s forestry sector and supply chain ..................................................................................80 Annex 4: Land tenure in the forestry sector .................................................................................................89 Annex 5: Key actors and their vulnerabilities in Chihuahua .....................................................................93 Notes ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 98 ACRONYMS CEAV Executive Commission for the Attention LAC Latin America and the Caribbean of Victims LFT Federal Labour Law CFE community forest enterprise LFPED Federal Law to Prevent and Eliminate CIEL Center for International Environmental Law Discrimination CJNG Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación LPSTP Law to Prevent and Sanction Human CNDH National Commission on Human Rights Trafficking COEPI State Commission of Indigenous People MXN Mexican pesos CONAFOR National Forestry Commission of Mexico NEPCON Nature Economy and People Connected CONAPRED National Discrimination Prevention Council OECD Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development CONEVAL Mexico’s National Council for the Evaluation of Social Development Policy PFC Commercial Forestry Plantations CSO civil-society organization PPE personal protective equipment DTO drug-trafficking organization PROJAM Programme for Migrant Agricultural Labourers EIA Environmental Investigation Agency PROFEPA Federal Prosecutor of the Environment ENADIS National Survey on Discrimination Protection Agency ENOE National Occupation and Employment PSTF forestry technical services providers Survey RACT Regulation of Worker Placement Agencies FAO Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations SEMARNAT Mexico’s Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources FSC Forest Stewardship Council STPS The Mexican Secretariat of Labour and GI-TOC Global Initiative Against Transnational Social Welfare Organized Crime SINANP National System of Natural Protected Areas HDI Human Development Index UMAFOR Forest Management Unit ILO International Labour Organization UNAM National Autonomous University of Mexico IMEXFOR National Association for Importers and Exporters of Forest Products UNICEF United Nations Children’s Fund IMSS Mexican Institute of Social Security US United States INEGI National Institute of Statistics and USD United States dollars Geography WEF World Economic Forum IOM International Organization for Migration J/TIP United States Department of State’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons Coloradas de la Virgen, a remote village in the Sierra Tarahumara, Chihuahua. Indigenous populations are particularly vulnerable to marginalization, exploitation and violence linked to organized crime. © Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images iv SECTION HEADER v EXECUTIVE SUMMARY vi he Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC), with generous funding from the United States