the UN Committee against Enforced Disappearances released the findings they obtained after visiting Mexico last year
The number of victims of this crime amounts to 95,121. A UN human rights committee asks the State to adopt and implement a national policy to prevent and eradicate disappearances.
The Committee Against Enforced Disappearances (CED) of the United Nations Organization (UN) assured that public servants and organized crime are responsible for the growing number of forced disappearances in Mexico are public servants, both at the federal, state and municipal levels. , such as organized crime, which he considers to be the main perpetrator of the disappearances.
During the presentation of their report on the visit they carried out from November 15 to 26, 2021, the body of independent experts urged immediate action to end absolute impunity and to establish a national policy that serves to prevent this human tragedy.
“The Committee urges the State to adopt and implement a national policy for the prevention and eradication of disappearances that addresses the set of observations and recommendations presented in its report by the Committee,” said its president, Carmen Rosa Villa Quintana.
The Committee’s analysis concludes that forced disappearances are “a generalized situation or issue” and indicated that as of November 26, the number of registered persons who were victims of this crime amounted to 95,121, 112 of them during the Committee’s visit.
“Between 2006 and 2021 there was an exponential growth in disappearances in the country. This is 98% of the total number of disappearances that occurred during that period,” she said.
Roda indicated that the majority of the disappeared are men between the ages of 15 and 40, although it is noted that official figures report a growing trend of disappearance of girls and boys from the age of 12, although adolescents and children should also be included. women.
The expert added that “these would be disappearances that would have the purpose of hiding sexual violence, femicide, trafficking and sexual exploitation.”
She also expressed concern about the disappearance of human rights defenders and more than 30 journalists between 2003 and 2021, since “none of these people has been located and the investigations and sanctions against those responsible have not been successful.” progress”.
In the same way, the Committee considered the victimization of women to be of “particular concern”, since during disappearances they are the ones left in charge of the families and are in charge of searching for their loved ones by their own means.
“In addition to the social and economic effects, they are also victims of violence, persecution, stigmatization, extortion, and reprisals,” she added.
Impunity is a structural phenomenon
Another of the alarming trends reflected in the report is that the upward trend in disappearances was facilitated by the existence of “almost absolute” impunity.
“Impunity in Mexico is a structural feature that favors the reproduction and cover-up of forced disappearances and endangers and causes anxiety to the victims, to those who defend and promote their rights, to public servants who search for disappeared persons and they investigate their cases and society as a whole,” the Committee said.
Villa Quintana highlighted that in the last five years alone, there have been eight thousand cases of disappeared persons. This despite the fact that the population has stopped believing in the authorities.
In this sense, the CED urged the Mexican authorities to eliminate the obstacles that prevent criminal prosecutions from being carried out, as well as to address the disappearances of migrants and address the forensic crisis.
Until November 26 of last year, only between 2 and 6% of the cases of forced disappearances were prosecuted and at the national level only 36 sentences have been issued in the cases dedicated to this crime.
“The authorities’ passive attitude towards enforced disappearances contributes to the victims’ notable lack of trust in the authorities. Faced with this, a high number of cases of disappearances are not reported”, he stressed.
Finally, the president of the CED emphasized that it is important that the Mexican government abandon the militarization approach to public security.
“The CED is concerned about the militarized approach to public security, adopted by the State to combat crime, as it has been insufficient and inadequate in terms of the protection of Human Rights,” she said.
This concern is caused by the 162 recommendations that the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) has presented against the Secretary of National Defense (SEDENA) and the Secretary of the Navy (SEMAR).
Current forensic services are not enough
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By Araceli Aguilar Salgado
