Mexico Legislators Propose to Reclassify Enforced Disappearances, Create Special Prosecutor Montserrat Galvan - The News
go to original April 17, 2015

The major political parties have presented proposals to punish enforced disappearances in Mexico. These measures include the creation of a specialized prosecutor, jail terms of 20 to 40 years and the loss of the right to run for any public office.

The parliamentary groups of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate drew up their versions to fight this crime after the case of the 43 Ayotzinapa teacher’s college students on September 26 and 27 last year. There has been significant international pressure on the federal government due to its lack of action regarding this topic.

According to statistics from the Attorney General’s Office (PGR), 23,271 people are currently reported as missing, unlocated or lost.

There are 23 states that have enforced disappearances specified in their penal codes. Only Chiapas, Guerrero and Querétaro have specific laws related to this crime and six states have no penal classification punishing this crime.

Several national and international human rights groups stressed the need to create a General Enforced Disappearances Law and reforms to the penal code to punish this crime with more severe penalties.

Read the rest at The News

We invite you to add your charity or supporting organizations' news stories and coming events to PVAngels so we can share them with the world. Do it now!