Mexico: The torture of having a disappeared family member

On March 5, 2024, the collective “Guerreros buscadores de Jalisco”, in live transmissions on the social network Facebook announced the discovery of clandestine camp in a place known as “Rancho Izaguirre” in the municipality of Teuchitlán, Jalisco. As of March 13, four the discovery of four crematoriums was reported and it is indicated that there could be close to 200 bodies in the area. The collective arrived at this place thanks to an anonymous report.

Searching mothers from the collective reported finding hundreds of shoes, personal belongings, and calcined human remains in the camp, which were intended for the disappearance of human remains. According to information from the collective, state authorities had guarded the site since September 2024, and had identified that the site was used as a recruitment and training center for organized crime, however, the authorities did not find any evidence of the graves, nor did they properly secure the site.

The Movement for Our Disappeared in Mexico has reported that at least 99% of these disappearances have occurred since 2006, when the government of Felipe Calderon initiated “the war on drugs”. In a country where in 2024, at least 37 people were reported to have disappeared every day, Teuchitlán once again highlights this crisis and the context of widespread violence and insecurity that Mexico faces.

This reality is not only about numbers but about hundreds of stories, families and people with dreams and hopes whose life projects have been snatched away by violence and the lack of response from the authorities. The permanent suffering of having a disappeared family member is torture. Families not only have to face the uncertainty of not knowing where their loved one is, with the psycho-social impacts that this implies, but they also face the institutional violence of the State, which re-victimizes and stigmatizes them for their work.

It is essential to highlight that at the moment, more than 300 human rights defenders, whose work centres on the search for disappeared persons, are under protection measures by the Protection Mechanism for Human Rights Defenders. Searching mothers and fathers bear the responsibility of finding their disappeared relatives (in the field and life) in an environment of constant fear, threat and insecurity.

Faced with the evidence in Teuchitlán, the Mexican State authorities have shown a lack of understanding of the phenomenon of enforced disappearances in the country. From the ineffective activation of protocols to safeguard the evidence after the findings, to convening on March 20, 2025 the media, organizations and victims to the “Rancho Izaguirre”, without a clear preparation, which ended in a visit to the facilities that revictimized the families.  

 On the other hand, on March 17, 2025, President Claudia Sheinbaum announced in her morning press conference some actions to address the issue of disappearances in the country. Faced with the President's statements, the families of disappeared persons showed their deep concern for the lack of knowledge that the head of the Federal Executive evidenced about the mechanisms and institutional procedures already in place in terms of search and investigation.

The President proposed strengthening the National Commission for the Search for Persons, which relatives have denounced has been dismantled due to the reduction of budget and capacities since the last administration. She also proposed reforms to the General Law on Enforced Disappearance, such as creating a Single National Forensic Information Base, which already exists in the General Law and has not yet been implemented despite being an obligation since 2017. In addition, the equating of the crime of disappearance to that of kidnapping is a measure rejected by movements and collectives due to the fact that it invisibilizes the particularities of enforced disappearance.

Families' demands regarding the lack of consultation and involvement in the Mexican State's proposals are of great concern. They denounce not being consulted or involved in this series of proposed measures. These actions do not recognize the fundamental work of the collectives, which aggravates the crisis. It is the mothers and family members who, organized collectively, have created actions and mechanisms to search for their relatives.  Teuchitlán reminds us that without the families, this crisis will have no solution, the State must ensure their protection not only in the face of stigmatization and criminalization narratives that seek to discredit the movement, but also because of the high risk involved in the search work itself.

Therefore, we echo the call of the United Nations Human Rights Office and strongly urge the Mexican State authorities to guarantee thorough, independent, impartial, and transparent investigations into the crimes committed at the site and allow the families to meaningfully participate in the search, investigation, and accountability processes.

Signed by:

1. Centro de Justicia para la Paz y el Desarrollo (CEPAD)- México
2. Consorcio para el Diálogo Parlamentario y la Equidad (Consorcio Oaxaca)- México
3. Comité de Familiares de Víctimas de los Sucesos de Febrero y Marzo de 1989 (COFAVIC)- Venezuela
4. Unidad de Protección a Defensoras y Defensores de Derechos Humanos (UDEFEGUA)- Guatemala
5. World Organisation Against Tortura (OMCT)- Worldwide