A/HRC/39/37 52. In February 2018, the office convened an event in Mexico City to showcase the work of human rights defenders, with the participation of 500 representatives from different indigenous communities. The event enjoyed extensive coverage from the national media. 53. The Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples has taken action on some 32 cases.18 In January 2018, the European Commission decided to suspend a climate change project in the Embobut Forest in Kenya pending an assessment of the project’s human rights compliance. Days before the decision, the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, together with the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders and the Special Rapporteur on the issue of human rights obligations relating to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment had sent two requests for urgent action to the Government of Kenya and the European Commission and had issued a press release expressing concern over allegations of forced evictions and attacks against the indigenous Sengwer people urging the authorities to investigate and the European Union to suspend funding of the project pending compliance with human rights standards. 54. In addition to following up on specific cases, the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples focused her thematic work in 2017 and 2018 on an assessment of the escalating problem of the criminalization of indigenous peoples who are defending their rights. 55. In May 2018, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders carried out an official visit to Honduras, where he met with numerous representatives and organizations of indigenous peoples. In his end-of-mission statement, he noted that indigenous people faced criminalization, stigmatization and judicial harassment, all of which were linked to the defence of their lands and environments. He noted the lack or the misuse of meaningful consultation with indigenous peoples, and the divisions and conflicts generated by private companies seeking access to their lands. 56. During the reporting period, the Human Rights Committee, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination provided recommendations to several States on the protection of indigenous human rights defenders. For example, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women addressed the protection of indigenous women human rights defenders, who are subjected to different manifestations of violence, such as threats, sexual abuse and harassment, including by non-State actors. It called for prompt and transparent investigation of all cases of intimidation, harassment or attack against them. 19 D. Early warning mechanisms and monitoring of human rights violations 57. Over the period under review, OHCHR continued to assist national authorities and other relevant actors in taking steps to prevent or mitigate human rights violations, including by supporting early warning mechanisms, risk assessments and rapid response capacities. 58. The OHCHR office in Mexico plays an active role as a member of the Board of the Federal Protection Mechanism for Journalists and Human Rights Defenders, to which it has presented a number of recommendations regarding cases of indigenous human rights defenders at risk. 59. Since March 2016, the country office has been actively participating in the implementation of the contingency plan of the State of Chihuahua — a public policy implemented by the Federal Ministry of the Interior and the local government to prevent attacks against human rights defenders and journalists. This initiative resulted in a baseline 18 19 The cases were from Bangladesh, Brazil, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ecuador, Egypt, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Kenya, Mexico, Nepal, Paraguay, Peru, the Philippines, the United Republic of Tanzania and the United States of America. See CEDAW/C/CHL/CO/7, para. 31. 9