Overview

• Mexico is scheduled to present an oral response on 22 September in Geneva after the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances activated the rare Article 34 procedure.
• The session will be held behind closed doors with committee members, representatives of civil society, and states parties, following the committee’s 2021 finding of exponential growth in disappearances and near-total impunity.
• Families of the missing, including madres buscadoras accompanied by advocacy groups such as Centro Fray Juan de Larios and Consultora Solidaria, are sharing testimony with the committee.
• The committee has issued 773 urgent actions for Mexico, with more than 133,000 people recorded as missing and over 72,000 unidentified bodies, while only 373 sentences were registered from 2017 to January 2025.
• If the committee identifies well‑founded indications of systematic practice, it may refer the matter to the UN General Assembly for urgent consideration, with civil groups urging a special clarification mechanism and possible referrals to the International Criminal Court.