Today, the Senate of the Republic has been called to an Ordinary Session to discuss and approve the draft decree issuing the Amnesty Law.

This law recognizes the need to deliver justice, grant freedom, and, above all, provide new opportunities for social reintegration to those individuals—primarily women, youth, and indigenous people—who, due to their poverty or vulnerability, have not had access to justice or have found in precarious employment, inequality, and social exclusion a reason to break the law and commit a minor offense.

At La Cana, an organization dedicated to creating opportunities and improving the quality of life for women in prison through the implementation of work and training programs, we advocate for the urgent approval of this law, especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic currently facing our country.

The measures planned for the control and prevention of coronavirus transmission within penitentiary centers are practically impossible to implement given the overcrowding that makes social distancing unfeasible and the unsanitary conditions in which incarceration occurs. This makes the lives of the country's prison population vulnerable and at risk, and compromises the capacity of an already weakened healthcare infrastructure.

Added to this is the growing risk of riots due to restrictions on visits and, consequently, the lack of basic supplies that incarcerated individuals usually receive from their families.

The foregoing obliges prison authorities, the criminal justice system, and, particularly today, Senators from all political forces, to manage the health crisis in penitentiary centers with the utmost responsibility.

We do not overlook the relevance that the subsequent and differentiated support for individuals benefiting from amnesty—whether through connection to reintegration programs or attention through post-penal services—will have in ensuring non-repetition measures for victims.

The crisis caused by the pandemic has brought with it the demand to make Mexico a less unequal, more just, and more humane country. The importance of reaching agreements to face the economic emergency cannot, for any reason, exclude the urgency of delivering justice and saving thousands of lives.

We trust in the commitment of the Senators from all political parties to protect the right to health of all people, including those who have been systematically excluded in our society.