Politics · Mexico · 1 hr ago
Amnesty International urges Sheinbaum to address Mexico's disappearances crisis
Amnesty International says it will keep criticizing human rights abuses in Mexico, including the crisis of people who have disappeared.
Its Mexico director, Edith Olivares Ferreto, says the group has sought meetings with President Claudia Sheinbaum since her election but has not received a favorable response.
Olivares says between 20 and 40 people disappear each day, while about 72,000 bodies remain unidentified.
She also says at least 43 people searching for missing relatives have been killed or disappeared since 2012.
The group describes three linked problems: disappearances, weak searches and unidentified remains, and says families need to take part in efforts to address them.
It wants the government to explain how 16,000 people listed as disappeared were located, including how many were found alive, and to make its review of the national register transparent.
Amnesty has also asked Mexico’s Interior Ministry to include civil groups, independent experts and families in working groups on disappearances, and says searchers need protection from attacks.
Amnesty International’s Mexico director urged President Claudia Sheinbaum’s government to take concrete action on the country’s disappearances crisis.
Edith Olivares Ferreto said the organisation had requested meetings with Sheinbaum since her election but had not received a favorable response.
She said Mexico faces crises involving disappearances, shortcomings in search efforts and the failure to identify human remains.
Olivares Ferreto cited between 20 and 40 people disappearing daily and around 72,000 unidentified bodies.
She also called for transparency in the review of the national missing-persons registry and for families to take part in tracking its results.
- Who
- Amnesty International’s Mexico director Edith Olivares Ferreto and President Claudia Sheinbaum’s government.
- What
- Amnesty International is urging the government to address disappearances and improve searches, identification and transparency.
- When
- The article was published on October 30, 2026. Olivares Ferreto said the organisation had sought meetings since Sheinbaum’s election.
- Where
- Mexico.
- Why
- Olivares Ferreto says disappearances, shortcomings in search mechanisms and unidentified human remains constitute simultaneous crises.
Amnesty International
Mexican federal government
Criticism
Amnesty International
Amnesty International says it will continue denouncing human rights violations and criticizing the government.
Mexican federal government
The article says the federal government has criticized Amnesty International for its comments on the disappearances crisis.
Participation in work on missing people
Amnesty International
Amnesty International says civil society groups, independent specialists and victims’ families should participate in working groups.
Mexican federal government
Not stated.
At least 43 searchers have been killed or disappeared, according to figures Olivares Ferreto cited.
Amnesty International has requested meetings with the president, but Olivares Ferreto said it had not received a favorable response.
El Universal published its interview with Olivares Ferreto.
- Daily disappearances
- Between 20 and 40 people, according to Olivares Ferreto
- Unidentified bodies
- Around 72,000
- Searchers killed or disappeared
- At least 43 since 2012
- People reported located
- 16,000, a figure announced by Mexican authorities
- Amnesty International in Mexico
- 55 years of work, according to Olivares Ferreto
1 source
What people are saying
We will continue, of course, denouncing; we will continue being critical, of course, but we will also be ready to recognize the work when it is done well.
What we need in Mexico is for people to stop disappearing in this country.
It is important that we know these people, that we can speak with them, that we know how the registry is being reviewed, and that when there is progress in locating people, that progress is clear and not only announced at a morning press conference, and that families participate.
The fact that we do not receive money from political parties, governments, churches or companies is what has allowed the movement, over its 65 years globally, to maintain its independence.