Mexico Between Acquiescence and the Politics of Denial

After more than a decade of observations, monitoring, individual communications, reports and an official visit to Mexico, the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances has now concluded that there are well-founded indications that enforced disappearances have been and continue to be committed in Mexico as crimes against humanity. The decision marks the first time the CED has brought the situation of a State Party to the attention of the General Assembly. It also introduces an important distinction: enforced disappearances cannot be reduced to a single federal policy but may instead engage multi-level state responsibility.