Enforced disappearance: Mexico’s search commissions are inefficient

While victims’ families voiced their pain and looked for their loved ones who suddenly went missing, in June 2019 the federal government said the main problem was insecurity and violence, as well as enforced disappearance . Back then, authorities recognized that the national forensic systems and search commission were not efficient. Moreover, official reports indicate that at least 74,000 people have gone missing in Mexico.

The situation did not improve a year later. Developments are scarce and the future is uncertain.

To solve the families’ demands, the General Law in Matters of Disappearance, created in 2017, establishes that state search commissions are key to find missing persons. However, these commissions are not fully operating because they lack the necessary resources, staff, and offices.

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Moreover, some authorities have shown more political will to solve the issue than others. The National Citizen Council under the National Search System revealed the existence of huge gaps between each commission. Out of the 22 institutions created in 2019, the search commission in the State of Mexico has 94 employees; Sinaloa had 20; Chihuahua had 18; Coahuila had 16; Guerrero had 15; Michoacán had seven, and Tamaulipas had one. Nevertheless, authorities have registered between 2,000 and 11,000 enforced disappearance cases in these states. Therefore, search commissions with 20 employees or less will be enough to handle all these cases.

The families of missing persons invested many hours and made an effort to be heard by authorities. As the years went by, victims’ families have publicly voiced their demands. Their main demand is not to be forgotten by the government and for authorities to find their loved ones. The current administration committed to solving these cases; however, developments are minimum, unequal, and amid despairing tardiness to solve a problem that is considered a priority. Mexican authorities cannot attribute the situation to the COVID-19 pandemic because the issues at search commissions exist since 2019.

The state commissions provided mixed results, they are also an indicator of the commitment of each state government. The federal government would have to demand state authorities to provide the proper conditions for each commission. This is about the administration of justice, not a list of well-wishes.

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