95,000 disappeared persons and 52,000 unidentified bodies: UN Committee urges Mexico to act immediately to search, investigate and identify

The UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED) expressed serious concerns over the gravity of the situation of enforced disappearance in Mexico. As of 26 November 2021, the last day of CED visit to Mexico, 95,000 people were officially registered as disappeared in Mexico. Out of these, more than 100 disappearances allegedly took place during the Committee’s visit from 15 to 26 November. The Committee urged the Mexican authorities to quickly locate the disappeared, identify the deceased and take prompt action to investigate all cases.

During this visit, the CED delegation went to 13 Mexican states and held more than 150 meetings with authorities, victims' organizations and NGOs. The delegation, comprised four Committee members, held a press conference on the last day of its visit. The delegation’s statement is summarised as follows:

“This is our first country visit under article 33 of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons against Enforced Disappearance.

The Committee underlines the importance of Mexico's acceptance of this visit, which is a clear expression of the State's openness to international scrutiny and support.

We acknowledge that some legal and institutional progress has been made in recent years, but enforced disappearances are still widespread and impunity is almost absolute.

According to official figures, there were more than 95,121 disappeared people in Mexico as of 26 November, of which, more than 100 allegedly disappeared during our visit. We note that there has been an increase in the number of children and women disappeared, a trend that has worsened during COVID-19. We further note that migrants are particularly at risk.

Mexico also experiences a grave crisis with more than 52,000 unidentified bodies of deceased people.

We insist that Mexico must adopt a national prevention policy involving all authorities in order to put an end to enforced disappearances and ensure that victims have access to the truth, justice, integral reparation and guarantees of non-repetition.

We reiterate our commitment to support victims of disappearances and competent authorities in ensuring the State party complies with its conventional obligations.”

The full statement is now available online.

ENDS

For more information and media requests, please contact:
In Geneva: Vivian Kwok at +41 (0) 22 917 9362 / vivian.kwok@un.org
In Mexico: Sandra Martinez at +52 1 55 5438 1729 / sandra.martinez@un.org

Background
The Committee on Enforced Disappearances monitors States parties’ adherence to the International Convention for the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearance. The Committee is made up of 10 members who are independent human rights experts drawn from around the world, who serve in their personal capacity and not as representatives of States parties.

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