UN says Mexico disappearances crisis causing ‘prolonged suffering’
The United Nations human rights chief, Volker Türk, warned on Wednesday that Mexico’s disappearance crisis must not be minimised, describing it as one of the country’s gravest human rights challenges and a source of “unimaginable and prolonged suffering” for families.
Speaking at the end of a four-day visit to Mexico, Türk said disappearances continue to deeply damage public trust in the state.
At a press conference in Mexico City, Türk said it was painful to hear testimonies from relatives who have spent years searching for loved ones without answers, often putting their own lives at risk. He called for a national commitment centred on truth, transparency, recognition of victims’ pain and firm state action.
Türk’s visit focused heavily on enforced disappearances, a crisis the UN has repeatedly described as one of the most serious in the world. According to UN figures, more than 130,000 people are officially registered as disappeared or missing in Mexico.
The warning comes weeks after the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances asked for Mexico’s case to be urgently referred to the UN General Assembly under Article 34 of the convention, citing the scale and persistence of the crisis. The committee pointed to thousands of clandestine graves, tens of thousands of unidentified remains and a severely strained forensic system.
This story is written and edited by the Global South World team, you can contact us here.
