Enforced disappearances in Mexico under UN scrutiny as a possible crime against humanity

A United Nations committee warned of systematic patterns in the country and called for international support to strengthen search and investigation efforts nationwide. 

Last week, the United Nations Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED) stated that there are indications that enforced disappearances have been committed in Mexico that could be recognized as crimes against humanity, since, according to the Committee, there have been widespread or systematic attacks against the civilian population in different parts of the country.

The Committee maintains that the situation is serious, and it also mentioned the discovery of clandestine mass graves in the country, with an estimated more than 4,500 graves containing more than 6,200 bodies and 4,600 human remains, in addition to some 72,000 unidentified remains.

The body also stressed that the Mexican authorities remain overwhelmed by the magnitude of the crisis. At the same time, it stated that structural reforms to prevent disappearances and guarantee accountability remain urgent. 

Along the same lines, the Committee stated that it found no evidence of a federal policy to commit disappearances, and at the same time acknowledged the Mexican government’s position that many disappearances are committed by groups linked to organized crime rather than by state agents. 

However, its report highlights that some of the reported cases involve the direct participation or authorization of public officials. The Committee also clarified that international law does not require crimes against humanity to be national in scale or perpetrated by government authorities. 

In this regard, the Chair of the Committee, Juan Albán-Alencastro, explained that what matters is the magnitude and pattern of the attacks and that they are directed against the civilian population. He added that, despite the measures adopted in recent years, the situation shows no substantial improvement, as indicated by the available official data.

The Mexican government’s response 

On April 2, the Mexican government described the report produced by the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances as showing a “lack of legal rigor.” The current administration of Claudia Sheinbaum called the document “biased” and said it omitted the institutional efforts of the government led by the National Regeneration Movement (Morena). 

In a joint statement, the Ministries of Foreign Affairs (SRE) and the Interior (Segob) rejected the report and stated that the government of Mexico does not tolerate, permit or order enforced disappearances. 

They also highlighted that the current administration has undertaken a legislative and institutional reform, together with family groups, to address this problem.

The Mexican authorities’ criticism of the CED report is that it focuses on events that took place between 2009 and 2017, years in which Felipe Calderón (2006–2012) and Enrique Peña Nieto (2012–2018) governed, respectively, and who belong to a political party other than the current one. They added that the Committee fails to take into account the measures taken by the Sheinbaum administration.

In line with government authorities, Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) rejected the CED report and added that asking the UN to urgently refer the Mexican case is part of a biased, contradictory reading lacking historical or international perspective. 

The CNDH maintained that the Committee based its requests on the positions of NGOs or family groups over the financial, budgetary and institutional efforts deployed by the State over the past seven years. 

The UN Committee’s report identifies Mexico as the country with more urgent actions for enforced disappearance than any other nation in the world, while warning that it recorded a significant upturn in recent months. 

The CED details that the North American country accumulated 819 urgent actions between 2012 and February 2026, 38% of the global total, and that between September 2025 and February 2026 alone it added 40 new requests, more than a third of the worldwide total for the period. 

Those who backed the observations of the United Nations Committee were the groups of relatives of the disappeared, who also warned of persistent impunity and the limitations in the investigations of the crimes, focusing on the need for a swift state response to this structural crisis.

For its part, the Committee called for the establishment of a mechanism to clarify the truth and provide assistance and protection not only to the families but also to the organizations and defenders searching for the disappeared. 

Meanwhile, the Mexican authorities stress their “absolute commitment” to eradicating the problem of enforced disappearances and say they are open to international cooperation, “but not on the basis of premises that do not reflect its current reality.”

Guillermo Whpei

President of Fundación para la Democracia