GENEVA - The UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED) has decided to request the UN Secretary-General to urgently refer the situation of enforced disappearances in Mexico to the UN General Assembly for consideration of measures to support the State Party in preventing, investigating, punishing and eradicating this crime.
In its decision published today under article 34 of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, the Committee concluded that the information it has received appears to contain well founded indications that enforced disappearances in Mexico have been and continue to be committed as crimes against humanity, on the basis of its assessment that multiple widespread or systematic attacks against the civilian population have taken place at different moments and in different parts of the country.
The procedure is preventive in nature and aims to mobilise international attention and support, rather than to establish individual criminal responsibility. Under article 34 of the Convention, the Committee does not act as a commission of inquiry and is not required to reach a factual conclusion. It is, however, required to determine, on a prima facie basis, whether it has received detailed and precise information from a reliable source indicating that the events in question fall within the Committee's mandate. Its decision is based on information submitted by civil society, the State Party's response in September 2025 to its request for information on the situation, and information gathered by the Committee since 2012, including through periodic reviews, its 2021 country visit, and urgent action requests submitted by victims. The Committee has also taken note of information submitted by the State and civil society after the adoption of its decision.
In view of the above, while noting that Mexico's nationwide "war on drugs" has contributed to the conditions in which such attacks have occurred at the local level, the Committee stressed that it did not find evidence of a federal level policy to commit enforced disappearances-whether through deliberate action or deliberate omission-within the meaning of the Rome Statute. The Committee also underscored that neither the Convention nor the Rome Statute requires such attacks to occur throughout a country's entire territory, or to originate from the highest levels of government to qualify as crimes against humanity.
In that connection, the Committee noted Mexico's position that many disappearances in the country are committed by criminal groups rather than by State agents and therefore should not be classified as enforced disappearances under article 2 of the Convention. However, the Committee highlighted that, in some of the reported cases, it had received substantiated information pointing to the direct participation of public officials, or their authorisation, support, or acquiescence. It further underscored that, in the light of article 5 of the Convention and article 7 of the Rome Statute, to which Mexico is also a State Party, enforced disappearances as a crime against humanity may also be committed by an 'organisation', including certain organised non-State actors, when they 'form part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against the civilian population'.
"International law does not require crimes against humanity to occur nationwide or be orchestrated at the highest levels of government. What matters is the scale, the pattern of the attacks, and the targeting of civilians," said Juan Albán-Alencastro, Chair of the Committee.
Regarding the scale of the crisis across Mexico, the Committee noted that, while the National Register of Missing and Disappeared Persons contain cases of 'disappeared persons', it still does not provide a clear picture of the number of registered cases may correspond to enforced disappearance. Yet, the magnitude of the registered cases underscores the gravity of the situation. The Committee also cited the continued discovery of clandestine graves across the country, estimating that more than 4,500 such graves have been found, containing over 6,200 bodies and 4,600 human remains, alongside around 72,000 unidentified human remains. Overall, the Committee warned that despite steps taken since its 2021 country visit, the situation has not shown substantial improvement, according to available official and public data. Authorities remain overwhelmed by the scale of the crisis, and structural reforms remain urgently needed to prevent disappearances and ensure accountability.
Based on all information available, the Committee therefore took the exceptional step, under article 34, of bringing the situation in Mexico to the attention of the General Assembly, requesting it to consider action to provide the technical cooperation, financial support and specialist assistance that the country requires in the areas of search operations, forensic analysis and thorough investigation of allegations of enforced disappearances and links between public officials and organised crime. It also called for an effective mechanism to uncover the truth and to provide assistance and protection to families, organisations and defenders searching for the disappeared.
"The Committee reaffirms its commitment to continue cooperating with Mexico through its different procedures. The procedure of article 34 is intended to facilitate timely cooperation and support so that the State Party can strengthen its response, protect victims and families, and prevent the situation from deteriorating further," said Albán-Alencastro.
All documents regarding article 34 are available on the Committee's 30th session page here.
