The UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED) requested [4] April 2 that the United Nations secretary-general refer the crisis of enforced disappearances in Mexico to the General Assembly for consideration of response measures.
The CED announced [5] that since it began monitoring the situation in 2012 it had received "well-founded indications that enforced disappearances in Mexico have been and continue to be committed as crimes against humanity." The findings included the ongoing discovery of clandestine graves [6], with an estimated 4,500 graves found with over 6,200 bodies and 4,600 sets of human remains. There are also approximately 72,000 unidentified human remains.
The CED stressed that it did not find evidence of a government policy to commit enforced disappearances. Even if many disappearances are committed by criminal groups, however, the committee found substantiated information suggesting direct participation or acquiescence by public officials in many cases. In response to Mexico's assertion that such incidents should not be classified as enforced disappearances in the absence of state policy, CED chair Juan Albán-Alencastro stated: "International law does not require crimes against humanity to occur nationwide or be orchestrated at the highest levels of government. What matters is the scale, the pattern of the attacks, and the targeting of civilians."
The current figures on the Mexican government registry [8] indicate that at least 132,828 people are currently missing, although this may be incomplete. Regardless, the CED found that "the magnitude of the registered cases underscores the gravity of the situation." The committee added that the situation has not substantially improved since the committee visited Mexico in 2021.
The request invoked article 34 of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. [9] This provision enables the committee to bring the matter to the attention of the UN General Assembly when they have well-founded indications of systemic enforced disappearance. Albán-Alencastro expressed hope that this will result in substantive change, stating:
The Committee reaffirms its commitment to continue cooperating with Mexico through its different procedures. The procedure of article 34 is intended to facilitate timely cooperation and support so that the State Party can strengthen its response, protect victims and families, and prevent the situation from deteriorating further.
The Mexican government rejected [10] the CED's report as "biased and dismissive" of institutional advances in recent years.
The International Federation for Human Rights, which submitted evidence to the CED, welcomed [11] the report, however. The organization expressed hope that the Mexican government's rejection "will evolve into a dialogue with victims' groups and civil society."
Enforced disappearance [12] occurs when an individual is taken by state officials or others acting on behalf of the state, who then deny knowledge of the individual’s whereabouts. This practice often targets human rights defenders, witnesses and lawyers, to repress political opposition. Rights groups have consistently issued warnings related to the enforced disappearance crisis in Mexico, including Amnesty International’s recent report [13] on violence against women searching for their disappeared loved ones.
Media voices have also criticized [14] Mexico's "war on drugs" as contributing to the current situation, saying that militarized enforcement has enhanced collaboration between criminal groups and the government, and "ignited an explosion of human rights abuses linked to state forces and criminals—particularly disappearances."
From JURIST [15], April 4. Used with permission.
See our last report on Mexico's human rights crisis [16].
