Mexico’s Rights Commission Says Most Disappearances Are Linked to Private Actors and Organized Crime

Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission drew a distinction between disappearances committed by criminal groups or private individuals and forced disappearances involving the state, while acknowledging that public officials have supported, concealed or been complicit in some cases.

In a statement issued for the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, the commission said it had issued 20 recommendations related to the rights violation between November 2019 and 2025. Seventeen involved serious violations. By comparison, it recorded nine recommendations during the 29 years from 1990 to 2019.

The commission said five of the 17 serious cases, or 29.4%, involved events that occurred during the previous government. The remaining recommendations concerned incidents from earlier years. It said the current administration reopened complaints that had remained archived, investigated them and issued recommendations after completing the reviews.

The recommendations involved several federal institutions, including the Attorney General’s Office, the Defense Ministry, the Navy, the Security and Citizen Protection Ministry and the National Guard. The National Search Commission, the National Intelligence Center and the Executive Commission for Victim Assistance also received recommendations. The commission noted that one recommendation or case file can involve several institutions at different levels of government.

“The forced disappearance is not currently a violation committed generally by the state, but it has not stopped happening,” the commission said. It added that not every disappearance qualifies as forced disappearance, and that each case requires an assessment of possible intervention, authorization or acquiescence by public officials.

“

The forced disappearance is not currently a violation committed generally by the state, but it has not stopped happening.