Since 1995 over 9,000 children in Mexico have disappeared, the country’s ombudsman Luis Raul Gonzalez announced Wednesday during the 3rd National Conference on the Rights of Children and Adolescents. Almost 5,000 disappeared during the 6-year government of Enrique Peña Nieto.
Sandra Mejia, of the Network for the Rights of Children in Mexico (Redim), said that of every four cases of disappearances involving children, three occurred during Peña Nieto’s administration. She also said Radim recorded 4,677 minor who are still missing, of which 2,840 are girls. “The numbers on disappearances are alarming,” Mejia lamented.
Gonzalez explained forced disappearances are the most extreme form of violence against children because it exposes the victims to abuse and even the loss of life. He also called on the government to tackle the issue “seriously” and work to address the indifference of public servants who deal with these cases and to improve the infrastructure and investigation capabilities.
“It is unacceptable that the pain and suffering caused by uncertainty are met with attitudes of indifference by public servants,” Gonzalez stressed.
Juan Martin Perez, executive director of Redim said “we are concerned that this continues to be an invisible topic, absent in the public agendas… In any other country, this would be an international scandal, not in Mexico, in Mexico it goes unnoticed.”
Original story: Mexico: Over 9,000 Children Disappeared Amid Violent Security Policy
