Call for action to end impunity for the crime of enforced disappearances in Mexico

Call for action to end impunity for the crime of enforced disappearances in Mexico
photo: Thomas Aleto via Flickr, 18-01-2016

18-05-2022

Myrthe Niemeijer

International Justice and Human Rights Researcher

Global Human Rights Defence 

As it was reported Tuesday that more than 100,000 people in Mexico are officially registered as “disappeared”, UN high commissioner for human rights Michelle Bachelet called on Mexican authorities to end impunity for the crime of enforced disappearances. To date, only 35 of the registered disappearances have resulted in the conviction of the perpetrators. 

The registration of enforced disappearances dates back to 1964, and the number continues to increase to date with persistent drug cartel violence. Enforced disappearances were particularly prevalent between 1965 and 1990 when grave human rights violations occurred, and again after Mexico implemented a militarised model of public security in December 2006. Further, infamously, 43 men were forcibly disappeared from Ayotzinapa in 2014. 

To address the culture of impunity surrounding the grave crime of enforced disappearances, Mexico has adopted the General Law on Disappearances, created search committees and the National Centre for Human Identification, as well as the Extraordinary Mechanism for Forensic Identification. In 2021 the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances officially visited Mexico and met with authorities and organisations. However, because of the longstanding nature of the problem and the continuance of enforced disappearances without accountability, Ms Bachelet called on the Mexican government to place the victims’ families at the forefront and implement all provisions of the General Law.   

Sources and further reading: 

United Nations Human Rights. (2022, 17 May). Mexico’s 100,000 ‘disappeared’ is a tragedy, says UN rights chief Bachelet. United Nations News. https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/05/1118382