The Chair of the Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED) presented its annual report to the Third Committee of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, which is responsible for humanitarian and human rights issues. In presenting the report, the CED reaffirmed its call for the situation in Mexico to be discussed as a matter of urgency by the plenary of the multilateral organisation.
New York, 20 October 2026. In the report presented on Tuesday, the CED reiterated its decision, in accordance with Article 34 of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, that the situation in Mexico should be addressed by the General Assembly, given the existence of well-founded indications that enforced disappearances have been and continue to be perpetrated in the country as crimes against humanity. It also emphasized the importance of this procedure in mobilising international support for the adoption of preventive measures that will enable Mexico to tackle the crisis effectively.
The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), IDHEAS Idheas Litigio Estratégico en Derechos Humanos, its member organisation in Mexico, and the undersigned collectives of relatives of disappeared persons would like to express our gratitude for the work carried out by the CED. We fully support its decision, as it acknowledges the existence of international crimes that are emblematic of what victims are experiencing in the country and seeks to contribute to the adoption of measures aimed at preventing, investigating, punishing and eradicating such conducts.
The situation of Mexico is already on the agenda of the UN General Assembly. All that remains now is to identify the most appropriate time and the best way to discuss it. We, the undersigned organisations, call on the Member States of the Assembly to devise a mechanism that allows for the broad participation of victims from Mexico and the region in the examination of the country’s grave situation. Furthermore, we urge the Mexican State to approach the implementation of this procedure in a constructive manner.
International technical assistance can provide a key opportunity to strengthen the investigation and prosecution of enforced disappearances, particularly in addressing patterns of collusion between public officials and organized crime. The effective investigation of the various forms of collusion, participation, acquiescence or omission on the part of public authorities in the commission of these crimes remains an unresolved issue, which has not only reinforced their structural impunity but has also contributed to their recurrence.
With regard to the announcement made by the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office (Fiscalía General de la República - FGR) concerning its comprehensive reform and internal strengthening, it is essential that this process takes into account the requests that the relatives of disappeared persons have repeatedly made regarding the administration of justice. Firstly, it is imperative that the FGR makes progress in shedding light on enforced disappearances; to this end, it must recognize their systematic nature by identifying the patterns within which they occurred.
Secondly, a national debate must be launched on transitional justice mechanisms or those that recognize effective cooperation in criminal proceedings. This would provide the public prosecutor’s offices with the tools to grant conditional criminal leniency in exchange for the provision of truthful and detailed information, thereby enabling progress to be made in identifying those responsible and the structures of corruption that underpin and facilitate enforced disappearances.
Violence perpetrated by organized crime is an international scourge, in the face of which we must move forward in building a global alliance in favor of life and against policies of terror, death and war. For this reason, it is urgent that the Mexican State recognize that international cooperation based on respect for human rights standards will strengthen its efforts to prevent and eradicate enforced disappearances, whilst respecting national sovereignty and human security.
Furthermore, the State must engage in dialogue with the families of disappeared persons and the organizations supporting them, so as, on the one hand, to address the victims’ demands for truth and justice arising from the security policies implemented in the country. On the other hand, it must complement the National Search Strategy with measures specifically targeted at those areas where cases remain unpunished and the authorities continue to fail to carry out an effective search for disappeared persons.
Background: implementation of the procedure under Article 34 and the Mexican State’s response
In April 2026, following a request by the FIDH to initiate the procedure under Article 34, the CED concluded that the information submitted by civil society organizations and the State gave it sufficient cause for concern to refer the matter to the General Assembly for consideration. In its decision, the CED noted that, since 2006, enforced disappearances had increased exponentially in the country. According to official records, as of February 2026, the number of disappeared and untraced persons stood at over 130,000. In these cases, impunity was almost absolute.
The information analyzed by the CED indicated that, since 2006, disappearances had been and continued to be committed as crimes against humanity, as they were directed against the civilian population and occurred on a widespread and systematic basis at different times and in different parts of Mexican territory. This nature was reflected not only in the sheer scale and geographical spread of the cases, but also in the fact that they followed similar criminal patterns, within the framework of planned operations, demonstrating that their recurrence was not accidental.
According to the CED, the perpetration of enforced disappearances was in some cases directly attributable to public authorities and in others to criminal organizations, such as drug cartels, which acted both autonomously and in collusion with state officials. It stated that, in many cases, the available information showed that organized crime perpetrated the enforced disappearances “with the complicity and, at a minimum, the acquiescence of public officials at the federal, state and municipal levels”.
Following the referral of the situation in Mexico to the UN General Assembly, the CED alerted the plenary to the need to provide technical cooperation, financial support and specialized assistance required by the authorities for the search for disappeared persons and the thorough investigation of these cases. Despite this call for cooperation, the Mexican State reacted negatively to the CED’s invocation of the Article 34 procedure. In an official statement, the Government rejected the decision, describing it as biased, lacking in legal accuracy and based on premises that did not correspond to reality. Moreover, it attacked the members of the international mechanism, pointing to alleged conflicts of interest that compromised the impartiality of their work.
Signed by:
Organizations
International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)
IDHEAS Litigio Estratégico en Derechos Humanos
Centro para los Derechos Humanos Fray Juan de Larios
Tejiendo Redes Infancia
Centro de Investigación de Crímenes Atroces (CICA)
Collectives of relatives of disappeared persons
Colectivo Familias Unidas por Nayarit
Colectivo Madres Igualtecas En Busca de sus Desaparecidos A.C
Colectivo En Búsqueda en Verdad y Justicia, Nayarit.
Colectivo Familias Desaparecidos Orizaba - Córdoba . A.C
Colectivo Buscando Vidas y Justicia por México. A.C
Colectivo “Buscame”, Buscando Desaparecidos - México. A.C
Familias Unidas en la Búsqueda y Localización de Personas Desaparecidas, A. C. “FAMUN”
Fuerzas Unidas por Nuestros Desaparecidos en Coahuila y en México (FUUNDEC-M)
Juntos en Acción por Nuestros Desaparecidos Región Centro.
