Specialists claim that the number of missing persons will increase due to government inaction
The phenomenon of missing persons has become a crisis in the state of Quintana Roo, evolving from a few isolated cases in tourist areas, predominantly Cancún, to spreading throughout the entire state, including Mayan communities.
Although cases have been recorded throughout the state’s history, there was an explosion in recent years, starting in 2022, the year the first local administration with a female governor began, according to consulted specialists.
In 2020, according to official figures, a total of 76 cases were recorded; in 2021, there were 127; however, in 2022, the report practically tripled, reaching 497 missing persons; then a slight decrease in 2023, with 383; and to date, in 2024, according to official numbers, there are 472. This is considering that, out of four crimes, three are not reported, so the numbers could be higher.
Meanwhile, the authorities are overwhelmed by the situation, a fact they have admitted; but they also do not make modifications to try to stop it; as public policy remains on the sidelines, since out of nine institutions and legal frameworks required to address the phenomenon, the state only has four.
Faced with the secrecy and lack of responses from the authorities, national and international organizations were sought to provide their perspective on what is happening in the tourist hub. In this regard, there was the intervention of Susana Díaz Pineda, representative of the “Digna Ochoa” Human Rights Center; Cristina Lozano, human rights defender and part of the Mexican Institute of Human Rights and Democracy A.C. (IMDHD); and Alejandro Juárez, spokesperson for Amnesty International.
Negligent State
The situation in Quintana Roo regarding the increase in missing persons is due to various factors, but ultimately the responsibility lies with the State, which has not fully fulfilled its functions to guarantee the safety and rights of the inhabitants, according to comments made to Por Esto! by Cristina Lozano, a lawyer from the Universidad Latina, Campus Roma, and who is part of the Mexican Institute of Human Rights and Democracy A.C. (IMDHD).
The institute has been dedicated for 17 years to the promotion of human rights in the country, in addition to providing support in cases of missing persons, femicides, and domestic violence; with the aim of pushing the phenomenon of disappearances into public policy and causing an impact among authorities to understand what is happening.
Since the number of 100,000 missing persons in the country was reached, a regional analysis was conducted to determine how it works and what other crimes are related to forced disappearances.
The monitoring has been carried out through a digital space named Red Lupa, in which the implementation of the General Law on Forced Disappearance and Disappearance Committed by Individuals is monitored.
The site has sought to foster meaningful dialogue among the links available in each state, through the formation of a collaborative network, in order to consolidate citizen monitoring and evaluation of the laws under the shared specific criteria.
According to Cristina Lozano, it all starts with an institutional analysis of the state’s legal framework, specifically regarding the General Law on Disappearance, which must integrate the entire search system, establishing the institutions and legal margins that must exist. According to Red Lupa, Quintana Roo has a medium-high level of severity, thus it is marked in orange.
At the national level, the first assessment was made on May 16, 2022, when the number of 100,000 disappeared persons was reached, and this continued each year on the same date, where each data point is analyzed, as these figures are provided by the National Registry of Missing Persons.
However, when approaching state links to corroborate the numbers, they are always higher, as they enter the analysis of local law with families and collectives, who live a reality very different from what the figures show.
The number of missing persons is increasing while the number of those found is decreasing.
In Quintana Roo, as of May 16, 2022, 591 missing persons were recorded; by May 2023, there were 919; and by 2024, 1,213, showing a considerable increase. From January 1 to May 16 of this year alone, 90 cases were reported.
Alarmingly, of the missing persons in 2022, 272 were under 18 years old; most were girls, accounting for 180 cases, or 66%. This situation repeats in 2024, as out of the total, 180 are girls.
Additionally, there is little collaboration from state authorities towards the requests of search collectives and even the federation to work together and provide information.
According to Cristina Lozano, in an institutional and legal framework analysis, the state is marked in orange, as out of nine institutions and legal frameworks required for missing persons, Quintana Roo only has four.
There is a State Search Commission, a Specialized Prosecutor’s Office for Case Attention, a Victims’ Commission, and a local Victims’ Law.
There is no State Law on Missing Persons, no Special Declaration of Absence Law, no Citizen Council, no Identification Center, and no Forensic Cemetery; thus, the state has failed to fulfill part of its obligations within the State Congress to establish these institutions and adapt the legal framework.
Authorities have downplayed the urgency of directing public policies and budget towards the creation of institutions, as from their perspective, they do not have the figures that states like Tamaulipas, Veracruz, or Jalisco have.
The most alarming is the omission of creating a Citizen Council, which is responsible for overseeing how work on disappearances is carried out, thus denying a right to the victims; furthermore, without an identification center, work cannot progress, as even if bodies are found, they remain unidentified in the forensic services.
Instead of expanding programs and policies, the existence of forced disappearances is denied, which includes other related crimes such as femicide violence, torture, human trafficking, and drug trafficking.
The problem descends to the Southeast.
Red Lupa separates the regions into Center, North, Bajío, and Southeast, where meetings were held to exchange experiences, opinions, and perspectives on the alarming situation.
What was noteworthy is that when families from the North began to hear about the increase in cases in Quintana Roo, they stated, “yes, that’s how it started in 2007,” which reveals that “the problem is descending throughout the Mexican Republic,” as it was previously very centralized in the North, Tamaulipas, Ciudad Juárez, and Veracruz, but now in Quintana Roo, the numbers are alarming.
Similarly, families from the North added, “anything we can help with, based on our experience… whatever you need”; affirming that this is becoming “more and more real” in the country; talking about something that did not happen in the Southeast 10 years ago.
The representative of IMDHD mentioned that “for these types of problems to increase, the participation of both state and municipal agents is necessary, in addition to organized crime, which has taken over the territories,” a situation that the State knows and has allowed.
What’s happening in Quintana Roo?
The “Digna Ochoa” Human Rights Center was founded 20 years ago in the state of Morelos, with the aim of documenting and putting the issue of disappearances on the official agenda.
According to figures recognized by the Quintana Roo FGE itself, there are currently 863 cases of missing persons; while search collectives maintain that the real figures exceed 1,200.
In this regard, Susana Díaz Pineda reported that it should not be forgotten that the state is a strategic point for mass migrations from Central and South America.
“Quintana Roo becomes like a tourist destination, we cannot close our eyes to human trafficking for sexual commerce, and that is one of the big problems that these types of places have and that the authorities have not wanted to responsibly address this issue, because it even generates dividends and the life and safety of people are prioritized over economic income.”
Similarly, she emphasized that, as in other tourist destinations, the arrival of organized crime and cartels ends up triggering crime figures, as they even leave drug trafficking aside and focus on human trafficking, which has become more lucrative.
In the state, age ranges are also an important indicator, as in the case of men, they disappear at ages 15 to 32; while women are in a range from 12 to 23; which could end up exposing trafficking as one of the main reasons.
The situation has extended to the Maya Zone, where communities that did not register any crime now experience forced deprivations of liberty by armed groups that enter homes to take young people.
Regarding this, the expert pointed out that violence is becoming widespread, while the State has become negligent by not guaranteeing the safety and life of people, as it must assume that it is a participatory agent and has the responsibility to provide a response, as well as “the missing person has the right to be searched for, promptly and alive.”
Currently, the state is going through a forensic crisis recognized by the same authorities, which has caused more than 800 bodies to accumulate in the facilities of the Forensic Medical Services (Semefo) due to lack of technology and personnel.
Díaz Pineda affirmed that this happens throughout the country, where bodies end up becoming “hostages of the state,” as the ideal procedures for recognition are not followed, since when a searcher goes to Semefo, a genetic sample must be taken at that moment, which is incorporated into a bank; a situation that must be repeated when a body arrives as unknown, to facilitate identification.
However, the excuse of the “crisis” can no longer be used, as there are no preventive measures in place for what is happening. The authorities are overwhelmed and have even been exposed by the groups of searching mothers, who are the ones who truly know how to do the work, while government commissions limit themselves to providing accompaniment.
Therefore, it is urgent that, first, the State accepts responsibility in order to end the existing impunity; a situation that worsens in indigenous communities, which have been ignored by the authorities, leaving them at the mercy of organized crime, exacerbating the problem that, if not addressed, will become uncontrollable.
The Role of the Searching Mothers
In Mexico, as in Latin America, it is mostly women who have led the search for their relatives and loved ones, despite the dangers they face; they have carried out their work amidst armed conflicts, in areas with organized crime presence, and in contexts of human mobility, facing risks, attacks, and threats due to their work and identities. This is according to Alejandro Juárez, spokesperson for Amnesty International, as reported by Por Esto!
According to the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (ICPPED), enforced disappearance consists of “the arrest, detention, abduction, or any other form of deprivation of liberty by agents of the State or by persons or groups of persons acting with the authorization, support, or acquiescence of the State, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty or by concealment of the fate or whereabouts of the disappeared person, which places such a person outside the protection of the law.”
However, according to Amnesty International, not only is the disappeared person a victim of enforced disappearance, but “any individual who has suffered direct harm as a consequence” is also a victim. This fact has been ignored by the authorities in Quintana Roo by not providing attention and response to the families, loved ones, and communities.
Therefore, the state’s obligations in this regard are reaffirmed. First, it is obliged to search for the forcibly disappeared persons; and second, it must guarantee protection against risks, threats, and attacks on families, loved ones, and communities conducting the searches.
Source: Por Esto
