With President Andrés Manuel López Obrador as witness of honor, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet and Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard today signed an agreement in the National Palace on training the National Guard according to international human rights standards.

President López Obrador said that, by signing the agreement, Mexico was demonstrating both its commitment to peace and security and its confidence in the universal human rights system, which he said was valuable for ensuring fundamental rights and freedoms were protected and promoting international cooperation on issues common to all nations.

As an example, he gave the issue of public security, which is shared at the international level and of key importance for all Mexicans,  saying, "The National Guard will have the highest human rights standards in its training and operation, and this will be endorsed by the UN. Let's be clear, there will be public security with full respect for human rights."

The High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, said there is no public security without respect for rights and there can be no human rights without a context of security.

The Foreign Secretary said the negotiations carried out by the Undersecretary for Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights, Martha Delgado; Christopher Ballinas Valdés, Director General of Human Rights and Democracy; and Ambassador Socorro Flores, representative to the international organizations based in Geneva, resulted in an agreement that confirms Mexico's commitment to peace and security. He further said that Mexico is shaping a new paradigm of respect, promotion and protection of fundamental rights and freedoms, which puts unconditional respect for human rights at the center of the government's foreign policy.

The agreement will impart the highest human rights standards to the National Guard through training, advice on operation protocols and collaboration with the government to design capacity-building actions for the public security sector and methods of public participation.

Lastly, he said the agreement includes advice in three key areas: First, advice on designing programs to train and certify human rights instructors. Second, advice on developing operational protocols on issues such as the use of force and prevention of human rights violations, especially those involving the protection of women and vulnerable groups, especially children, adolescents and indigenous people. Lastly, the agreement lays the foundations for collaborating on actions to strengthen the capacities of the public security sector and on citizen participation mechanisms.

Security Secretary Alfonso Durazo said the new government firmly believes that public safety goes hand in hand with respect for human rights. The agreement reinforces the government's commitment to an exemplary national guard that holds to the highest human rights standards.