The Mexican government has reported but not accounted for thousands of people who were reported "disappeared," according to the U.S. State Department "2013 Country Reports on Human Rights" released today.
"In February the Secretariat of Government (SEGOB) reported that 26,121 individuals had disappeared between 2006 and 2012, although government officials acknowledged the figures were not precise," according to the report.
"According to criminal justice experts, most of these were likely to have been perpetrated by TCOs (organized crime organizations). The SEGOB report identified the groups most vulnerable to forced disappearance as human rights defenders, political and social activists, migrants, men living in areas of conflict, and women and children trafficking victims."
The report mentions the status of Luz Estela "Lucha" Castro Rodriguez, a prominent lawyer and human rights activist in Juarez and Chihuahua City, who was threatened. Castro is well known in the El Paso border region.
Last year, the Inter-American Court for Human Rights granted precautionary measures to Castro, who, according to the court, faced "extreme risk" as a result of her work with a women's rights organization in Chihuahua, the U.S. report said. In August, the court extended the precautionary measures, requirement that the government provide security, through at least Sept. 30.
Although Mexico established a national registry for missing or disappeared persons in 2012, the government did not adopt measures to update the database of such persons, the U.S. report said.
The registry did not distinguish between people who went missing and those who were disappeared or kidnapped by criminal groups, the report said. Additionally, the report said the Mexico's National Commission for Human Rights (CNDH) reported that "there were at least 7,000 unidentified bodies of persons killed between 2006 and 2012 in morgues and common graves."
"Kidnapping remained a serious and under reported problem for persons of all socioeconomic levels," the report said, "and there were credible reports of police involvement in kidnappings for ransom, primarily at the state and local level. The National System for Public Security reported 1,032 reports of kidnapping filed between December 2012 and June 2013, although official estimates placed the number of unreported kidnappings considerably higher."
Mexico's violent drug cartel wars also led to displacements in various regions of the country, the report said. "According to the CNDH, approximately 120,000 individuals were internally displaced as of July, most of whom fled their communities in response to violence related to narcotics trafficking."
Friday 28 February 2014
http://www.elpasotimes.com/latestnews/ci_25242123/report-criticizes-mexico-lack-accountability-disappeared-people
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