Groups searching for missing persons in Mexico said on Friday that more than 1,000 bone fragments have been discovered along the shores of a lake east of the capital, where authorities have been carrying out investigations for more than a week.
The crisis of mass disappearances in Mexico dates back to 2006, when the authorities launched a controversial military campaign against drug cartels, triggering an escalation of organised crime violence alongside abuses by security forces. Since then, more than 130,000 disappearances have been reported.
For the past ten days, authorities have been searching the area around Lake Chalco, east of Mexico City. Five search collectives and families of missing persons said the operation has turned into what they described as a forensic crisis of unexpected scale, accusing authorities of failing to conduct the work properly.
According to an account by a member of one of the groups involved, activists found bone fragments in areas that the local prosecutor’s office had already examined. With what they described as grief and anger, the groups said they had located at least 1,076 remains and bone fragments. They added that the complexity of excavations in difficult terrain should not serve as a justification for delays in the process.
In a report dated 13 April, the prosecutor’s office said it had found 317 bone fragments which, based on preliminary analysis, may belong to at least three individuals.
The search collectives called on Friday for investigations to continue without interruption until the entire area has been excavated.
Earlier this month, a report by the United Nations Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED) raised concerns about the complicity of state officials in disappearances, describing them as acts that may amount to crimes against humanity. Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum accused the committee’s experts of overlooking progress made by her government on the issue.
Sources: CNA, AFP