Mexico City – August 21, 2024
Today, a joint statement was issued by the Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and Girls, its Causes and Consequences; the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances; the Special Rapporteur on the Sale, Sexual Exploitation, and Sexual Abuse of Children; the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment; and the Working Group on Discrimination Against Women and Girls, all of whom are part of the United Nations. They expressed their concern regarding the information received about the situation of violence against women, girls, and adolescents in the state of Guerrero.
The response of the United Nations Special Procedures was prompted by a communication sent by IDHEAS Strategic Litigation in Human Rights, the Mexican Forensic Anthropology Team (EMAF), and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), who, with the support of Justice Rapid Response (JRR), conducted a documentation mission in February 2023 on the disappearances of women and girls in the state of Guerrero, Mexico. The organizations presented a report titled «Disappearances of Women and Gender-Based Violence in Guerrero: The Overlooked Side of the War on Drugs» during the 2023 session of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. This report details human rights violations and a grave situation of impunity, inefficacy in searching for missing women and girls, structural deficiencies in access to justice, and a deep-seated patriarchal culture that tolerates violence and fosters the impunity of crimes committed against women and girls.
The UN communication, addressed to the Mexican State, states: «[…] we urgently wish to bring to the attention of Your Excellency’s Government the information we have received regarding the situation of violence against women, girls, and adolescents in the state of Guerrero, which points to the existence of a practice of enforced disappearance of women and girls. This practice is believed to have been perpetrated in a significant number of cases by individuals, likely linked to organized crime, and possibly with the support or complicity of state agents. It also highlights the absence of a timely response from authorities in searching for and investigating reports of enforced disappearance of women and girls and the near-total impunity in which these events remain. This grave situation occurs within a broader context of gender-based violence against women and girls in the state of Guerrero and the alarming context of enforced disappearances, particularly of women and girls, in Mexico over the past three decades…» (emphasis added).
The statement further emphasizes that «Without prejudging the veracity of these allegations, we express our deep concern about the high number of missing women, girls, and adolescents in Mexico, the situation of violence against women and girls in the state of Guerrero, the lack of due diligence in searching for missing women and girls and in investigating these events, the revictimization and stigmatization of the families of missing women and girls, and the apparent total impunity in which these disappearances remain in this state of Mexico, which fosters the repetition of this grave human rights violation.»
In this context, they urge the Mexican government to «ensure an effective response to every report of enforced disappearance of women, girls, and adolescents in the state of Guerrero, by conducting an immediate search with due diligence and a gender perspective, as well as an immediate, thorough, transparent, and effective investigation of these reports to clarify what has happened.»
The statement calls on the Mexican State to provide information on the actions to be taken, including measures for receiving reports and conducting immediate searches; conducting a contextual analysis «on gender-based violence against women and girls in cases of missing women and girls» in Guerrero; how a differentiated approach with a gender perspective will be applied in the search for missing women, girls, and adolescents; and the measures to address a patriarchal culture that creates and perpetuates the impunity of enforced disappearances.
The signing organizations express their gratitude to the victims and families who provided their testimonies and to the various organizations and collectives in the state of Guerrero that supported the mission and provided substantive information, including:
- Mujeres Guerrerenses por la Democracia A.C.;
- Aliadas por la Justicia A.C.;
- Colectivo Familiares en Búsqueda María Herrera de Chilpancingo Gro;
- Colectivo Raúl Trujillo por Nuestros Desaparecidos en Guerrero;
- Madres Igualtecas en Busca de sus Desaparecidos;
- Red de Mujeres Empleadas del Hogar, A.C.;
- Familias de Acapulco en Busca de sus Desaparecidos;
- Colectivo Memoria, Verdad y Justicia;
- Centro de Derechos Humanos de la Montaña Tlachinollan;
- Centro Regional de Defensa de Derechos Humanos” José María Morelos y Pavón” A.C.
