The government of Mexico responded to a group of United Nations human rights experts, who on Wednesday called on it to protect women searching for missing persons given the "alarming" levels of violence they suffer, which in the most serious cases has led to their own murder or forced disappearance. On the night of Wednesday, September 30, the Ministry of the Interior (Segob) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) said that these four experts from the Special Procedures of the United Nations Human Rights Council "carry out their mandate in a personal and independent capacity, so their opinions do not reflect the position of the United Nations."
The group of experts recalled some recent events in the state of Sinaloa that illustrate such risks, such as the disappearance of defender Elisa Altagracia Bonilla; the assault, alongside her daughter, of Alma Rosa Rojo Medina, founder of the collective Voces Unidas por la Vida; or the murder of Rubí Gómez-Tagle, a member of the collective Corazones Unidos por una Misma Causa, among other cases.
In this context, the experts stressed that the search for missing persons and the investigation of these cases are the responsibility of the State and cannot fall on the shoulders of families, although the participation of families must be guaranteed.
"The Government of Mexico reiterates its commitment to the families of missing and unlocated persons, and condemns all acts of violence against searchers and members of search collectives," the SRE and Segob stated in a joint communiqué.
The agencies asserted that the Mexican State recognizes that challenges exist in the areas of search, investigation, human identification, and access to justice. They mentioned that to address them, various actions, legal reforms, and public policies aimed at combating this crime have been implemented and strengthened in recent years.
The Ministry of the Interior and Foreign Affairs indicated that international cooperation "is a central component of this effort." Together with United Nations agencies, such as OHCHR and UNFPA, as well as the IACHR, technical assistance and training mechanisms have been strengthened to have better tools for addressing this crime, they affirmed.
The Ministries reiterated that addressing the disappearance of persons constitutes one of the highest national priorities, and the Government of Mexico maintains full willingness to dialogue with international human rights mechanisms to share information on the progress achieved.
"The Government of Mexico specifies that the available information does not prove the existence of a state or recurrent pattern of forced disappearance of searchers. Every case of disappearance is important and is addressed with due diligence. For this reason, authorities of the highest level have traveled the country to dialogue with searching families and the organizations that accompany them, and to address their proposals," said the SRE and Segob.
The Government of Mexico reaffirmed that the search for persons "is a primary and non-renounceable obligation of public institutions," and that there is a specific legal and institutional framework to prevent, protect, investigate, punish, and provide redress to victims of this crime, which includes the protection of human rights defenders.
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