Drug Violence: 2,000 Bodies Found Buried in Hidden Graves Since 2009 Sofia Lotto Persio - Newsweek
go to original June 26, 2017

Mexico: The Missing and The Dead (Latin America - News, Travel & Culture)

More than 1,000 hidden graves and 2,014 bodies have been found across Mexico in less than 10 years, according to a study tallying the human cost of the ongoing drug war.

A group of scholars from the Ibero-American University of Mexico City and Tijuana worked together with several non-governmental organizations including Civil Datum, Human Rights Data Analysis Group (HRDAG), and the Mexican Commission for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights (CMDPDH) on the report, titled “Violence and Terror. Findings on Clandestine Graves in Mexico.”

Human rights commission director José Antonio Guevara described the discovery of hidden graves as a “recurrent phenomenon of alarming growth” while university rector David Fernández Dávalos drew comparisons between Mexico’s hidden graves and those seen in conflict zones.

“These are people who have been violated in their fundamental rights, buried illegally, probably murdered as the culmination of a series of illegal activities and violations of their human rights, which are practices of countries in conflict, countries with completely failed security policies," he said.

The report gathered data from 12 of Mexico’s 32 federal prosecution officers and used media reports to supplement any missing data. It estimated that 1,075 hidden graves have been found in the country since 2009.

Using a similar methodology, Mexico’s Commission on Human Rights counted 855 hidden graves from 2007 to October 2016, in a study published in April. The commission also supplemented data omitted by federal states with media reports, finally estimating a total of 1,143 clandestine graves nationwide.

The report also counted 1,548 bodies and estimated more than 30,000 people disappeared in that period. Both studies indicated the highest concentration of hidden graves were found in Guerrero State, where the tourist resort of Acapulco is located.

Read the rest at Newsweek

Related: Mapping Mexico’s Hidden Graves (American Association for the Advancement of Science)

Related: Mexican Governor Denounces 'Beasts' and 'Cowards' Who Killed State Commander of Federal Police (Associated Press)

Related: Number of Missing People in Mexico Rises Due to Government Omission (Prensa Latina)

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