Amnesty International expresses deep concern over the discovery of mass graves and cremation ovens in Teuchitlán (Jalisco) and Reynosa (Tamaulipas) on March 5 and 11, respectively. This discovery, made by search collectives from these states, warrants the immediate opening of an independent and comprehensive investigation by the Mexican state so that the remains found can be identified and returned to the families searching for their disappeared loved ones in a respectful and caring way.
The Mexican state has a duty to provide the searchers who found the two sites with all the necessary protection measures, given the potential risk to their physical integrity. These measures must be maintained over time so that the searchers are kept safe and can continue their work.
Amnesty International calls for the prevention of the spread of rumors that stigmatize disappeared persons, who deserve respect and dignity above all.
“In the face of this tragedy, we urge the Mexican state to establish the facts by providing the necessary resources to do so, and to give appropriate and dignified treatment to those who, after seeing images of the mass graves that have been discovered, have recognized items of clothing worn by disappeared family members,” said Edith Olivares Ferreto, Executive Director at Amnesty International Mexico.
In the face of this tragedy, we urge the Mexican state to establish the facts by providing the necessary resources to do so, and to give appropriate and dignified treatment to those who, after seeing images of the mass graves that have been discovered, have recognized items of clothing worn by disappeared family members
“The Mexican state has been the great absentee in the problem of forced disappearances in Mexico. This has given rise to groups of searchers, the vast majority of whom are women, who have helped locate hundreds of bodies of disappeared persons. Their work has generated trust and has led people with disappeared relatives to turn to them for help instead of approaching the authorities. The state cannot ignore its obligation to recognize the searchers as human rights defenders who carry out their work with great dignity, and it must provide them with the guarantees they need to continue their work,” he added. Edith Olivares Ferreto.
“In the context of this terrible tragedy, Amnesty International urges the Mexican state to engage in dialogue with the searchers, to listen to their needs and to recognize the experience they have gained through many years of work in the field, in addition to adopting the international standards that guarantee their right to search without fear,” Edith Olivares Ferreto concluded.
Amnesty International urges the Mexican state to engage in dialogue with the searchers, to listen to their needs and to recognize the experience they have gained through many years of work in the field, in addition to adopting the international standards that guarantee their right to search without fear
The events described take place in an environment of almost total impunity, which creates an idea of permissibility and at the same time revictimizes the victims. It is essential that events of this nature be effectively investigated, including through the hypothesis of enforced disappearances, as it is unlikely that the two mass graves could have operated without the support or acquiescence of the authorities.
Disappearances in Mexico, an ongoing scourge
The horrific discovery of the mass graves and crematoriums is further evidence of an ongoing scourge that spares no state in the country.
Mexico continues to face a crisis of disappearances linked to the context of violence and insecurity that has increased in the country in recent decades, as evidenced by the fact that, according to government data, 30 people disappear every day in Mexico.
Information from the National Registry of Disappeared and Missing Persons shows that between January 1, 1950, and March 10, 2025, the number of disappeared or missing persons reached 122,821. Jalisco is listed as having 15,013 missing persons, followed by the state of Mexico with 13,625 missing persons and Tamaulipas with 13,307.
The United Nations Committee on Enforced Disappearances stated in its 2021 report that the number of disappearances in Mexico increased exponentially between 2006 and 2021. It was precisely in 2006 that the administration of President Felipe Calderón took the decision to deploy the armed forces to enforce public security, a process that was institutionalized in September 2024, the last month of the latest six-year presidential term.
Amnesty International has denounced that the decision to militarize and institutionalize public security in Mexico is in breach of judgments issued by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.
Amnesty International has pointed out that the problem of enforced disappearances in Mexico affects men, women, children, Indigenous peoples, migrants, journalists, human rights defenders and the LGBTI community. Disappearances are linked to sexual violence, femicide, recruitment by criminal groups, kidnappings and human trafficking, among other crimes.
Amnesty International has documented that searchers women in the Americas, and in Mexico in particular, face a high level of risk when searching. From 2011 to date, 24 family members of missing persons (14 of them women) have been killed.
Source: Amnesty International
