On November 22, the Peace Brigades International-Mexico Project tweeted: “PBI accompanies @CdhPasodelNorte [Paso del Norte Human Rights Centre] and @UnidasVerdad [Families United for Truth and Justice] who, together with other organizations and groups of relatives of disappeared persons, held a meeting with the United Nations Committee Against Enforced Disappearance in Chihuahua.”

On November 16, Mexico News Daily reported:

“The United Nations Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED) has begun a 12-day ‘historic visit’ to Mexico during which it will assess the country’s capacity to respond to the missing persons crisis in which more than 94,000 people have disappeared.

Headed by Peruvian lawyer Carmen Rosa Villa Quintana, the committee is made up of a group of experts who monitor the implementation of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, to which Mexico is party.

The CED has been seeking to come to Mexico since 2013 but the previous federal government rejected its requests to visit despite pleas by victims’ family members that it be allowed to enter the country.

‘This is a historic visit, requested since 2013,’ Villa said Monday during an event with federal officials.

Villa said her team has two main objectives: to help Mexico prevent enforced disappearances and to contribute to the fight against impunity.

The CED is scheduled to hold a press conference on the final day of its visit to Mexico – November 26 and will publish a report on its findings next March.”

NBC News has also provided context when it reported: “The majority of disappearances have been reported since 2006.”

That coincides with the Mérida Initiative.

Last week, The Intercept reported: “Last month, top officials from the U.S. and Mexico met to discuss replacing the Mérida Initiative, a $3.5 billion aid package that has been the public face of U.S.-Mexico security cooperation since 2007, with a new bilateral security framework.”

It highlights: “More than 300,000 people have been killed in Mexico since former President Felipe Calderón deployed the military in a stated war on drug trafficking in 2006. More than 100,000 others have disappeared. Security forces at all levels have a well-documented history of systemic human rights abuses.”

The Peace Brigades International-Mexico Project has accompanied the Paso del Norte Human Rights Centre since 2013.

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