Mexico City. Five years ago the General Law on the disappearance of persons came into force as a result of an unprecedented exercise in citizen participation headed by families of disappeared persons. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Mexico recognizes that it is an important instrument that lays the foundations to protect the rights of disappeared persons and their loved ones. On its fifth anniversary, the humanitarian organization urges the elimination of the figure of “unlocated person” from this legislation, since it delays the search processes in many cases.
A person not located, according to the law, is one “whose location is unknown” and “his absence is not related to the commission of a crime.” Currently, there are investigative procedures necessary in the first hours of the disappearance of a person -such as geolocation in real time and the recording of telephone calls- that can only be requested when there is a presumption of a crime, which leaves unlocated persons unprotected. .
“All disappeared persons have the right to be searched for immediately, regardless of the circumstances of their disappearance. Let us remember that the first few hours are essential for the search”, said Adriana Pozos, coordinator of the ICRC’s missing persons program in Mexico.
Based on the ICRC’s experience in providing legislative advice at the state level, The institution considers that a reform to eliminate this figure would make it possible to extend the legal protection of any absent person, since from the outset it would legally recognize as a disappeared person all those whose location and whereabouts are unknown, regardless of whether their absence is related or not. , with the commission of a crime.
“This would enable the search commissions, the corresponding specialized prosecutors and other instances of the National Search System to activate all the immediate search actions that are relevant from the first day of the disappearance and would prevent the location process from being hampered by restrictive interpretations. of the Law and unnecessary formalities”, explained, for her part, María Elizondo, ICRC legal adviser.
The specialists in humanitarian issues also highlighted the need to provide specialized prosecutors’ offices and search commissions with the necessary legal tools and human and financial resources, which allow them to act and adequately train interdisciplinary search groups with a differentiated approach capable of activating the immediate search for migrants, women, people with disabilities, among others, who are missing.
Five years after the Disappearance Law, the ICRC acknowledges the progress made in its implementation, which includes the installation of 32 local search commissions, the approval and entry into force of the Approved Protocol for the Search for Persons and the guidelines of the Support Mechanism for Search and Investigation (MAEBI) in cases of disappearance of migrants.
It also highlights the extraordinary mechanisms created to support the search for disappeared persons with a differentiated approach, such as the Search Table for Disappeared Migrant Persons and the Extraordinary Forensic Identification Mechanism.
Despite these advances, the ICRC emphasizes that a broad review and reflection of this legislation is necessary to take stock of what has been achieved so far and the aspects that need to be strengthened. This exercise must with the participation of families and local authorities.
Likewise, it highlights the need to legally promote a policy of prevention of disappearances to place it as a fundamental axis. This given that disappearance is a persistent and current scourge that to date has hurt almost 110,000 families.
In these five years, as part of its strictly humanitarian work, the ICRC has accompanied the families in their search processes, and has continued to provide technical advice to the authorities responsible for the search, location and identification of disappeared persons in order to strengthen their response to families.
The institution reiterates its commitment to continue promoting spaces for dialogue to achieve the effective implementation of the law and promote changes that guarantee the rights of disappeared persons and their families, and that families receive answers about their loved ones.
The ICRC, founded in 1863, is an independent, neutral and impartial international humanitarian organization that provides protection and assistance to victims of armed conflicts and other situations of violence. It has 20,000 employees working in 100 countries around the world. It is part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, the world’s oldest and largest humanitarian network, and works hand-in-hand with its national Red Cross partners to expand its work.
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For more information: Ana Olivia Langner, public communication officer: 52 5537176427