Mexico City, September 1st 2014 – On August 30, throughout the country CSOs and families of victims of disappearance gathered together to mark the international day of the victims of enforced disappearance.

In the northern state of Chihuahua, Paso del Norte Human Rights Center summoned a joint protest to denounce disappearances in the International Cordoba Bridge in Ciudad Juarez. Meanwhile, in Ciudad Chihuahua, the Center for the Human Rights of Women (CEDEHM) and Justice for our daughters remembered the victims of disappearance with the artistic creation of disappeared persons' silhouettes by the “Cross of Carnations” in front of the State Government. Likewise, CEDEHM led the activities in Cuauhtémoc, where families rendered their testimonies in front of the Municipal Palace where, simultaneously, a number of artistic displays took place.

©Photo: Human Rights Center Paso del Norte

In Torreon, Coahuila, Grupo Vida called a press conference and a vigil by the facilities of local the Attorney General's Office . In Saltillo, Fray Juan de Larios Diocesan Center for Human Rights, United Forces for our Disappeared in Coahuila (FUUNDEC) and Juan Gerardi Human Rights Center presented the documentary “Ausencias” (Absences) and organized the march “Caminata en busca de la Paz” (March in search of peace) which included reading a statement as well as testimonies from the families. On the previous day these organizations had already organized the state forum on the law of declaration of absence by disappearance.

In Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, the group “Ciudadanos en Apoyo a los Derechos Humanos” (CADHAC), remembered the disappeared persons with a mass in the local cathedral, while the group FUNDENL placed the names of the victims of disappearance in one of the squares of the city.

In the former military headquarters of Atoyac, Guerrero, AFADEM-FEDEFAM realized a workshop and issued a statement in which were also present representatives from the UNHCHR delegation in Mexico.

Several activities took place also in Tamaulipas, Michoacán, Veracruz, Baja California, Sinaloa y Sonora and even in El Paso, Texas.

Finally, in the Federal District, several associations convoked a march from the Star of Light to the District Attorney's Office and from there on to the Senate.

This nationwide concerted action made clear that the problem of disappearances and, even more, the impunity attached to it, is unavoidable and an overwhelming response from all levels of government in Mexico is pressing.

With a recent article, PBI recalled the importance of implementing the international recommendations issued to the Mexican government regarding disappearances and urged to guarantee effective coordination among federal institutions and between these and the different states in order for investigations to be effective and, moreover, to ensure proper assistance to family members.