Forced disappearances in Mexico exist within the framework of North-South relations and international drug war politics. The narrative regarding what happens in Mexico has been constantly explained from the legal and conceptual framework established by the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (Palermo Convention). Because of this, the focus of public attention has been on what is called "combating organized crime", at the expense of the agenda of truth and justice for the victims.
Roberto Ochoa is a Mexican lawyer and political philosopher who has been working for more than 10 years with victims of the drug war in his country. He is convinced of nonviolence, as taught by Gandhi and Martin Luther King, as a force for social transformation and as a path to justice. Since 1998 he began to collaborate with the poet Javier Sicilia in multiple cultural publications, until in March 2011, after the torture and murder of Sicilia's son, he joined the Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity that toured the country to give voice to the victims of war. Since 2019, he has been living near The Hague, in the Netherlands, from where he seeks to have the International Criminal Court open an investigation into the situation in Mexico.
Interview by Maria Paula Canseco Robles (2023)
The interview was conducted in the spring of 2023 and has been edited for clarity
From your professional experience, what are the main deficiencies in the investigation of crimes of enforced disappearance in Mexico?
Investigations into crimes of enforced disappearances in Mexico are virtually non-existent. Since the promulgation of the General Law on Disappearance of Persons in 2017, public policy has mainly focused on researching disappeared persons, whether dead or alive. However, this does not translate into criminal proceedings leading to the location and punishment of those responsible. The difficulties in accessing justice in Mexico are historical, given that prosecutor offices are usually motivated by political matters, and lack technical capabilities, in fact, impunity surpasses 90% on matters related to serious crimes.
Structurally, there is an evident decoupling between the Attorney General Office (FGR) – the body responsible for investigating crimes of enforced disappearances - and the National Search Commission (CNB), created in 2018. The Attorney General Office was given constitutional autonomy from the Government, to make it more independent. However, the implementation of this policy has been extremely lacking and the situation is only worsening.
Could you tell us a little bit more about your work and its relation to the ICC?
The systematic work of civil society organizations to draw the attention of the ICC to initiate a Preliminary Examination of the situation in Mexico began in 2014. The Mexican organizations most involved in the matter are the Mexican Commission for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights (CMDPDH) and IDHEAS – Strategic Litigation for Human Rights. Both are member organizations of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and it is the latter organization that articulates the efforts. To this date, the FIDH and the other organizations have submitted 5 communications to the ICC on events that occurred in various Mexican states (Coahuila, Nayarit, Baja California and Veracruz). Regarding the crime of forced disappearances as a crime against humanity, the two latest communications should be highlighted. In Nayarit (2021) and Veracruz (2022) the cases show clear patterns of enforced disappearances of civilians by police forces commanded by state governments. The criminal profile of the two latest governors, Roberto Sandoval (Nayarit) and Javier Duarte (Veracruz), is well documented. Both have been arrested and prosecuted for corruption, but not for cases relating to enforced disappearances.
How is victims’ participation ensured in the current stage of opening an investigation at the ICC?
Currently, there is still no formal representation of victims before the ICC. As long as the Office of the Prosecutor does not open a Preliminary Examination on the situation in Mexico, no proceedings are formally open, so there is no representation of victims either. It is precisely for this reason that, in accordance with Article 15 of the Rome Statute, the above-mentioned organizations request the Office of the Prosecutor to initiate the Preliminary Examination as soon as possible.
What is your relationship with groups or associations of relatives of victims of enforced disappearances?
My work with relatives of victims of enforced disappearances in Mexico is enshrined by my participation in the Movement for Peace, with Justice and Dignity (MPJD). After having spent more than two decades working with Javier Sicilia, founder of the movement, my involvement in it was almost natural. After the disappearance and murder of his son Juan Francisco Sicilia Ortega, in 2011, I joined the first public demonstrations of victims of the war on drugs. From 2013 onwards, Sicilia and I worked for the Unit of Attention to Victims of Discrimination created by the Autonomous University of Morelos, where we accompanied relatives of disappeared persons in their search for justice. However, our access to this unit was revoked in 2018. Today, as a member of MPJD, I work together with FIDH, CMPDH and IDHEAS to convince the ICC’s Prosecutor Office of the existence of crimes against humanity and war crimes in Mexico related to enforced disappearances, as well as the victims’ need for truth, justice, and reparation.
In your article, you mention that crimes related to the war on drugs in Mexico (including enforced disappearances) are interpreted according to transnational criminal law, rather than international criminal law. What is the impact of this interpretation on the right of relatives of disappeared victims to obtain justice?
Yes, this is the core of the issue. The general narrative of the current issues in Mexico has substantially been the same in the last 30 years. As a result, public policies regarding forced disappearances haven’t changed and the situation is only worsening. For victims in general, it seems that there is no hope in sight.
Forced disappearances in Mexico exist within the framework of North-South relations and international drug war politics. The narrative regarding what happens in Mexico has been constantly explained from the legal and conceptual framework established by the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (Palermo Convention). Because of this, the focus of public attention has been on what is called "combating organized crime", at the expense of the agenda of truth and justice for the victims. We believe, instead, that the main frame of reference should be the Geneva Conventions of International Humanitarian Law and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which would represent a fundamental change of focus and would force international bodies, which to date have remained oblivious to the reality of the armed conflict in Mexico, to commit themselves to the victims and the situation in the country. The focus of the story told about Mexico should no longer be the groups or organizations that traffic drugs, but rather the victims who disappear, are murdered and tortured on a daily basis without access to any kind of justice.
If we succeed in changing the approach, that will surely lead to greater empathy and solidarity with the victims as the first step on the long road to justice. If we can make people understand that what is happening in Mexico are crimes against humanity and war crimes, history can take a new direction.
Is there anything else you would like to add on the topic?
Perhaps the last thing I would like to point out, before concluding the interview is that we cannot lose sight of the political and humanitarian events that are happening in Mexico now. These threaten to further aggravate the situation in the country, of the victims and ought to increase the disappearance of persons. These events, combined with the ongoing war on drugs, begun almost twenty years ago and show a very bleak scenario for relatives of victims of forced disappearances, but also for the general population.
About the interviewer: Maria Paula Canseco Robles is a recent graduate of PSIA's Master in International Security with a concentration in Global Risks. She is originally from Mexico and is interested in human rights and migration issues, particularly regarding the US-Mexico border.