The Mexican government recently stated that it would be examining the official list of individuals who have gone missing, with the intention of removing any false entries. However, due to lack of transparency surrounding the process, activists believe this may be a tactic to decrease the number of missing individuals before the 2024 election.
The government recently reported that only 12,377 out of over 113,000 cases of missing persons could be officially verified.
An additional 16,681 individuals were found, either alive or through death certificates. However, in approximately two-thirds of the cases, there was insufficient information to identify or begin searching for them. This makes it uncertain whether they are still considered missing.
The registry had become highly influenced by politics, as the increasing amount of missing individuals served as a representation of the ongoing instability throughout the nation. Meanwhile, Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador claimed that it was being exaggerated in order to criticize the government.
However, researchers argue that the emphasis on this numerical value – which may be either an underestimation or an overestimation of the actual number – is misguided, as the main problem is the lack of accountability.
“Understanding the reasons and methods behind the disappearance of individuals is crucial, as well as the efforts being made to locate them,” stated Carlos Pérez Ricart, a political analyst based in Mexico City.
The implementation of the “war on drugs” in 2006 led to a significant increase in violence in Mexico, which has remained consistently high during López Obrador’s term as president, starting in 2018.
In that year, the National Search Commission was formed to search for missing individuals. They collaborated with local commissions and prosecutor’s offices in each state, and consistently released the growing number of cases in their registry.
Amlo pledged to alter the security approach, but has not successfully implemented improvements. The continually increasing count of missing persons, as well as the number of murders, which reached 30,000 for the fifth consecutive year in 2022, have frequently been criticized in his administration.
Earlier this month, Xóchitl Gálvez, a candidate for the opposition coalition, stated that this has been the most violent term in history. She revealed that in the past five years alone, 47,000 individuals have gone missing. These numbers are not fabricated, but rather provided by the government itself.
In June, Amlo declared a “census” to reassess the confirmed number of disappearances, examining each case individually.
Karla Quintana, who had been heading the National Search Commission since 2019, stepped down not long after that statement was made. “Their objective is quite evident and it is unfortunate: to decrease the amount of missing individuals, particularly during this administration,” Quintana stated soon after.
Teresa Guadalupe Reyes Sahagún took over Quintana’s position. Previously, Sahagún served as the general director of the National Institute for the Education of Adults.
The appointment of Reyes was criticized by the UN’s human rights office in Mexico for not involving adequate consultation, transparency, and scrutiny.
Pérez Ricart stated that the National Search Commission received significant government backing in its early years, but now there is a perception that the commission is solely serving the president.
Not much was disclosed about the procedures used by the commission to update the registry.
Several groups representing families of missing individuals have publicly denounced the recent update, citing concerns about lack of transparency and the disappearance of those who are already missing.
Pérez Ricart commented that the data is disorganized and that is the truth. He acknowledged that the registry was a significant undertaking and praised Karla Quintana for her dedication. However, he also recognized that the project ultimately failed and now lacks credibility.
However, the underlying occurrence of vanishings is still not well comprehended.
“Various important [questions] remain in the air,” wrote Jacobo Dayán, an investigator and columnist. “Who are these people? Where are they? Who is responsible for their disappearance? Why did they disappear? Why is it not being investigated?”
The ongoing violence and insecurity in Mexico show no signs of stopping.
Tyler Mattiace, a Mexico researcher at Human Rights Watch, urged the president to prioritize addressing the root causes of the ongoing disappearance crisis rather than using it for political gain. He also called for the president to listen to the voices of thousands of families demanding justice.
Source: theguardian.com
