State actors accused of ‘alarming’ involvement in Mexico disappearances

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The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has warned that state actors are involved in disappearances in Mexico at an “alarming” rate. The IACHR’s latest report, seen by the Guardian, found that many disappearances committed by organised crime “occur in deep collusion and coordination with state agents”, with perpetrators recruiting officials “in charge of security tasks, law enforcement, and even political authorities”. Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico’s president, has consistently rejected these claims. But it’s not clear how she can know what is going on at every level of the state and across more than 100,000 cases. In March, authorities presented a report suggesting around 40,000 missing people lacked the information needed to be searched in databases. Another 70,000 dead bodies are allegedly in state custody and yet to be identified. What this shows about the government is that, at best, it knows very little.