Relatives of missing people marched in Mexico City on 10 May, as a new report highlights the alarming rate of disappearances involving state actors. Since 2010, at least 27 people searching for lost family members have been killed, according to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).
State Complicity in Disappearances
The IACHR report, exclusively obtained by the Guardian, paints a dire picture of Mexico's disappearance crisis, where over 130,000 people have gone missing, mostly in the last 20 years since the government declared war on drug cartels. While criminal gangs are responsible for the majority of disappearances, the report finds that many occur in deep collusion with state agents.
Disappearances committed directly by state agents have not been eradicated, the report notes, with some regions experiencing nearly as many state-perpetrated disappearances as those by criminals. The report also describes an alarming number of cases involving torture, forced disappearances, and security actors.
Historical Context and Recent Trends
Forced disappearance has a long history in Mexico, dating back to the dirty war of the 1960s and 1970s. In recent years, organized crime groups have adopted the tactic to sow terror, intimidate rivals, or erase evidence. Disappearances have increased by over 200% in the last decade.
The IACHR emphasizes that state actors are often involved, either by directly detaining individuals and handing them to criminal groups, or by turning a blind eye. Organized crime recruits state agents in security, law enforcement, and political roles.
Government Denial and Activist Concerns
President Claudia Sheinbaum and her government have repeatedly rejected such assertions. When the UN suggested evidence of enforced disappearance on a widespread basis, Sheinbaum stated, "In Mexico there is no forced disappearance by the state." The government also dismissed a UN report indicating crimes against humanity as biased.
Activists say this underplays the crisis. In March, authorities suggested a third of disappearance cases lacked sufficient data, effectively abandoning about 40,000 missing people. Maria Luisa Aguilar Rodríguez of Centro Prodh said, "They were trying to minimize the scale and put the responsibility on families."
Families at Risk
The IACHR notes that families have organized into collectives to search for loved ones due to the meager state response, facing institutional challenges and risking their lives. The report chillingly describes how disappearance affects entire families, with some losing almost all relatives or having searchers killed or disappeared. Since 2010, at least 27 searchers, mostly mothers, have been killed.
Limited Progress and Impunity
The IACHR recognizes recent government actions, such as reactivating the National Search Commission, but the forensics crisis persists: 70,000 unidentifed bodies remain in state custody. Impunity is an insurmountable problem, with only 357 people charged since 2014 and nine convicted. Aguilar concluded, "The numbers are staggering."
