Mexico has published guidelines for the implementation and operation of a national forensic database meant to help find and identify the more than 100,000 people registered as missingin the country.
Mexico’s federal prosecutor this week published the rules that will govern a long-awaited national forensic database and other national registries whose creation was established as part of a 20-17 law regarding disappearances.
The database — which is more than five years behind schedule — should streamline state and federal forensic data and integrate that information with records of missing people, mass and clandestine graves and unidentified bodies — though some of that data still needs to be compiled.
Nearly 112,000 people are registered as missing in Mexico, and a forensic backlog has left an estimated 52,000 bodies unidentified across the country.
Many point to a lack of resources and coordination for Mexico’s failure to address the ongoing crisis. In March, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights urged Mexico to address those issues and develop a comprehensive approach to addressing the crisis.
