PBI-Mexico accompanies Mother’s Day march in Mexico City as the number of disappeared rises to over 100,000 people

Today, PBI-Mexico tweeted:

“PBI accompanies on this May 10 Mother’s Day search groups and relatives of disappeared persons in the XI National Dignity March, Mothers looking for their sons and daughters, Truth and Justice in #CDMX [Mexico City].”

On Facebook, they also note:

“In its report, the Committee Against Forced Disappearance #CED [the Committee on Enforced Disappearances] “urges the State to adopt and implement a national policy for the prevention and eradication of disappearances that addresses the set of observations and recommendations presented in its report.””

The number of missing has risen to over 100,000 people since 1964. Disappearances of women remain high, with about 1,600 reported missing so far this year.

Today, Al Jazeera also reported:

“Thousands of women in Mexico have spent Mother’s Day marching in the nation’s sprawling capital, chanting and carrying pictures of their missing relatives, to demand accountability amid a worsening surge in violence.

Disappearances began during the Mexican authorities’ so-called dirty war against revolutionary movements of the 1960s to 1980s.

More recently, disappearances and homicides have soared amid a nationwide push to crack down on drug cartels and organized criminal groups in the country. Since 2006, more than 340,000 people have been murdered in a spiral of worsening violence.

The violence and disappearances disproportionately affect women and girls. In Mexico, an average of 10 women a day are killed, and tens of thousands more go missing.

Last month, the United Nations Committee on Enforced Disappearances urged Mexico to tackle “the alarming trend of rising enforced disappearances”, saying the problem is facilitated by “almost absolute impunity”.

The report found that less than 6 percent of disappearances had resulted in prosecutions.

Relatives of Mexico’s disappeared march every year, but this year, they were joined by a caravan of Central American mothers searching for loved ones who went missing while on their journey to the United States.”

For more about the march, please see the Facebook page for Movimiento por Nuestros Desaparecidos en México.