and checkpoints, as well as the customary search of homes, individuals and motor vehicles, oftentimes
without any court warrant issued by an authority having jurisdiction in the regular judiciary system.14
50.
The WGEID also indicated that, because of this deployment of the Armed Forces, the number
of complaints filed with the National Human Rights Commission (Comisión Nacional de Derechos Humanos,
hereinafter the CNDH) in connection with human rights violations perpetrated by the National Defense
Secretariat (Secretaría de Defensa Nacional, hereinafter the SEDENA) has risen from 182 in 2006 to 1,230 in
2008; to 1,791 in 2009; and to 1,415 in 2010. Regarding these complaints, between 2006 and 2010, the CNDH
had issued more than 60 recommendations (22 in 2010 alone), confirming human rights violations
perpetrated by the Army.15
51.
Likewise, the CNDH, in its annual activities reports, indicated that between 2009 and 2012, it
had received 359 complaints about incidents of alleged forced disappearances.16 It was also indicated that,
during the same period of time, on the basis of the investigations that were conducted, said state body issued
10 recommendations, all of which were addressed to the State's security agencies, including the SEDENA. In
these recommendations, the incidents were described as forced disappearances, after finding proof of the
participation of state agents in each case. This situation is also reflected in the 2013 annual report of Human
Rights Watch, which indicated that, at June 2013, 2,443 disappearances were being investigated with
evidence of the possible involvement of state agents.17 According to reports of SEDENA, between December
2006 and September 19, 2012, not one member of the Armed Forces was convicted in a military court of
justice for the crime of forced disappearance.18
52.
Along the same line, WGEID concluded in its report that, in the Mexican State, impunity is a
chronic pattern that is present in cases of forced disappearances and that not enough efforts are being made
to identify the fate or whereabouts of missing persons, punish those responsible, and safeguard the right to
the truth and reparations.19
53.
Also with respect to the flaws in the investigations, the WGEID indicated that it had received
many testimonies about cases where the illegal or arbitrary deprivation of liberty was classified under
different types of offenses, such as kidnapping or abuse of authority, or where the persons were simply
considered to be "missing" or "lost" (especially among groups such as women, children, and migrants)
without adequate investigation to discard the possibility that these cases involved forced disappearances.20
This report points out that, in many cases, information was received on the basis of which the agents of the
Public Ministry refuse to accept complaints about forced disappearances and only agree to issue "records of
circumstances" without ordering the court to conduct an adequate investigation.21
14 United Nations. Report of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances. Mission to Mexico.
A/HRC/19/58/Add.2. December 20, 2011. Para. 23.
15 United Nations. Report of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances. Mission to Mexico. about the
violence against women, as well as about the deployment of the armed forces to safeguard public security, aspects about which
recommendations had already been made in the preceding report. The Committee on Human Rights voiced its concern about the role
played by the Armed Forces to safeguard public order and about the increasingly numerous complaints about human rights violations
that, it seems, are being committed by the military. United Nations Committee on Human Rights (UNHRC). Review of the Reports
submitted by the States Parties in accordance with Article 40 of the Covenant. (CCPR/C/MEX/CO/5). April 7, 2010, para. 4.
16
CNDH. Informes de actividades Anual 2009 (p. 55), 2010 (p. 60), 2011 (p. 57), and 2012 (p. 73).
17
Human Rights Watch. 2014 World Report: Mexico.
18 Human Rights Watch. Report "The Disappeared of Mexico. The persistent cost of a crisis ignored." February 2013. ISBN: 156432-988-7. P. 159.
19 United Nations. Report of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances. Mission to Mexico.
A/HRC/19/58/Add.2. December 20, 2011. Para. 76.
20 United Nations. Report of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances. Mission to Mexico.
A/HRC/19/58/Add.2. December 20, 2011. Para. 18.
21 United Nations. Report of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances. Mission to Mexico.
A/HRC/19/58/Add.2. December 20, 2011. Para. 34.