"Human Rights Watch faults Mexico over disappearances"

As reported by the Human Rights Watch, Mexico is said to have the most severe crisis of enforced disappearances in Latin America in decades. Nearly 150 people and possibly hundreds more have disappeared at the hands of Mexico’s police and military during the drug war with little or no investigations of these cases.  When these individuals are taken into to custody by authorities, often times when family of friends ask for them they would be told that their loved ones were not there or had not been taken. In some more extreme cases, the group documented more than 20 cases of abductions without explanation by Navy personnel in June and July 2011, some recorded on video by enraged family members. The Navy later acknowledged it had come into contact with several of the men but denied they were being held; all of which still remain missing. The Human Rights Watch group urges the government to place more focus on these cases because this has become a rising issue. Trying to tackle these cases however becomes very difficult due to the fact that, police agencies, especially at the state level, are often weak or corrupt and thorough investigations most times never occur.  

            As individuals living within these societies, it becomes very scary knowing that the groups of people that are suppose to “inform, serve and protect” are the same ones that are harming your loved ones. I think that the government should enforce a more documented process for authorities taking individuals into custody. This will help keep government officials be accountable for the individuals that they do take into custody. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/21/world/americas/human-rights-watch-faults-mexico-over-disappearances.html?_r=0.

2:24pm, 2/22/2013, Sandrene Nelson