The Mexican government reiterated its rejection of the allegations made by the Committee against Enforced Disappearances (CED), which for the first time brought the crisis of disappearances in the country before the UN General Assembly. It considers there to be evidence of a “widespread” and/or “systematic” practice of enforced disappearances in the country.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) indicated in a statement that the CED’s assertions “lack foundation and are inadmissible” and attributed the “phenomenon of enforced disappearances in Mexico” to “organized crime.”
The Mexican Foreign Ministry’s statement comes after the CED initiated a procedure under Article 34 of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance to analyze whether disappearances in Mexico are widespread and/or systematic.
While emphasizing its rejection of these accusations, the Foreign Ministry noted that Mexico is “one of the countries most open to international scrutiny, as demonstrated by the ratification of all Human Rights Treaties.”
The Foreign Ministry asserted that “the disappearance of persons is a serious crime that is combated in Mexico through a State policy based on prevention, investigation, and punishment.”
It also listed several government actions in this regard, such as the implementation of the National Strategy for Building Peace and Security and the “strengthening” of the National Registry of Missing and Unlocated Persons (RNPDNO).
It also noted that “the institutions responsible for the search for and identification of persons have been strengthened, new inter-institutional coordination tools have been developed, and ongoing and constructive dialogue is maintained with victims’ families and groups.”
The Foreign Ministry added that the Mexican government has maintained a dialogue with the CED regarding the procedure announced in early April, which was brought before the UN General Assembly a few days ago.
Furthermore, he asked the Committee to analyze “objectively, before issuing new judgments,” the report submitted by the Mexican government on the situation of disappearances in the country.
On Tuesday, Mexican representatives at the UN General Assembly expressed their disagreement with the initiation of the aforementioned procedure.
“Mexico does not share the Committee’s decision to activate the procedure provided for in Article 34 of the Convention in a case such as that of my country,” said Mexico’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Héctor Vasconcelos y Cruz.
Vasconcelos argued that the application of said article should be reserved for “exceptional situations and based on objective criteria so as not to distort its nature.”
In response to this reaction, Amnesty International called on the Mexican government to remain open to international scrutiny, considering that “total impunity” in cases of disappearances is “not normal” and that families are responsible for the search efforts, despite threats, attacks, and murders against them.
Mexico has accumulated more than 133,000 reports of disappearances, with an increase of more than 5,000 cases in the last quarter, according to data from the RNPDNO, which has been tracking disappearances since the 1950s.
Source: lopezdoriga
