Quarterly Progress Report: Promoviendo la Rendición de Cuentas por los Derechos Humanos (RED-DH)

This represented a fundamental step towards recognizing the responsibility of the State in the disappearance of persons in Mexico. The Committee's individual complaints mechanism will open up an important platform to communicate with State parties on actions they must take to prevent forced disappearances, search for the disappeared, and to promote their rights as well as those of their families once they have exhausted all domestic channels. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) held its 178th Period of Sessions between December 3 and 15, 2020. During these sessions, the GOM participated in three public hearings: "The Situation of human rights institutions in Mexico, with a gender perspective;" "The Battle against Torture in Mexico;" and "Case 13,425 of Ernestina Ascencio Rosario and Julia Marcela Suárez Cabrera." In the same period of sessions, civil society organizations (CSOs) expressed their concerns about the prevailing levels of impunity in cases of torture; the delays in the publication of the National Program to Prevent Torture; and the overall operational and budgetary weakening of institutions created for the defense of human rights, attention to victims, and the eradication and prevention of discrimination and gender-based violence. The Unified Search Protocol was published in the Official Gazette of the Federation on October 6, 2020, after a participatory process that brought together hundreds of relatives of disappeared persons, CSOs, universities, local search commissions, and international organizations. This key element of the General Law on Forced Disappearances (GLFD) will guide and regulate the search efforts of relevant authorities across Mexico. Mainly, local search commissions, prosecutors' offices, police forces, and consulates. The GOM presented updated figures on missing or disappeared persons and clandestine graves on November 25. From 1964 to November of 2020, 79,506 people were reported as missing or disappeared. Jalisco and Sonora, two of RED-DH's priority states, rank at the top of the national registry of missing or disappeared persons reported from 2018 to date. Jalisco ranks first, accounting for more than 23% of disappearances, while Sonora ranks third. As for clandestine graves that have been located since December 2018, Jalisco, Guanajuato, and Veracruz (another RED-DH's priority state) account for the most. In addition, two of the largest clandestine graves in the country have been found in Jalisco. The Senate began the process of selecting the Citizen Council for the General Prosecutor's Office (FGR) in December 2020. As part of the FGR's Organic Law, the Council will act as a specialized consultative body, of an honorary nature, whose functions include: giving opinions, monitoring, and issuing public recommendations on the content and implementation of the FGR's Criminal Prosecution Plan, and annual programs.