The Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez Human Rights Center (Prodh Center) reported that the National Registry of Disappeared and Unaccounted for Persons has reached 100,000 in Mexico. The civil association called for the creation of policies for the prevention and eradication of disappearances, as recommended by the United Nations (UN).
On April 12, the UN presented the report it made after the Committee against Enforced Disappearances (CED) visited Mexico in 2021. They warned of an increase in the disappearance of infants, adolescents, and women in the country, in addition to pointing to organized crime and the authorities as responsible for the increase in the number of disappeared persons.
According to Centro Prodh, the committee requested to visit Mexican territory since 2013, however, it was not until eight years later that the visit was finally made. During their stay, the group, made up of ten independent experts, supervised the State’s actions regarding disappearances.
The association that released the figure uploaded a video on Twitter in which it stated: “The crisis of disappearances reached 100,000 people, 100,000 mothers who scream with dignity, 100,000 families who are looking for their loved ones, 100,000 broken hearts. A National Policy to prevent and eradicate disappearances is still pending. Until there is truth, until there is justice, until they are found. Until dignity becomes a habit.”
Some of the recommendations that the UN issued for the creation of the National Policy are the strengthening of search institutions and processes, coordination between the agencies involved in the process, removal of obstacles to the prosecution of cases of enforced disappearance, and attention to the forensic crisis, among others.
The Center’s statements came shortly after the celebration of Mother’s Day, the date on which thousands of women who have not found their children went out to march in many states. In Mexico City (CDMX) they protested in front of the National Palace, where they were attended by the Secretary of the Interior, Adán Augusto López Hernández, and other officials.
Missing women and girls are more difficult to resolve due to stigmatization and omissions during the search, as well as the re-victimization they suffer after being victims of a crime.
Among the causes supported by the Prodh Center is that of the women of Atenco, a group of 47 women who were sexually tortured by policemen, who were in charge of their transfer after a conflict between municipal authorities of Texcoco and florists of the State of Mexico that occurred in 2006. It also followed the case of Mónica Esparza, who was the victim of illegal detention, torture, and sexual violence, in addition to being unjustly prosecuted for the crime of kidnapping, of which she was finally acquitted in March 2021 after a legal process that lasted five years.
The Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez Human Rights Center (Prodh Center) reported that the National Registry of Disappeared and Unaccounted for Persons has . . .
