DISAPPEARANCES IN MEXICO (No. 2)

That this House is very concerned about the phenomenon of disappearances and enforced disappearances in Mexico, with figures from the Mexican government reporting more than 26,000 people missing or disappeared between 2006 and 2012, as highlighted in Amnesty International's report in June 2013; commends the government of Enrique Pena Nieto for taking positive steps to recognise the scale of disappearances during the last administration and to improve the search for victims; notes, however, that federal legislation criminalising enforced disappearance falls short of international law and standards; further notes that despite considerable evidence of the involvement of municipal, state and federal authorities in enforced disappearances, there have only been two successful federal prosecutions for enforced disappearance between 2006 and January 2012; is appalled that relatives of the disappeared are frequently told by police and prosecutors to stop making enquiries, and threatened to discourage them from seeking truth and justice; further notes the case of 25-year-old Lieutenant Miguel Orlando Munoz Guzman, last seen within the premises of the 26th Battalion of Ciuadad Juarez, Chihuahua, on 8 May 1993, and the lack of an effective investigation into his disappearance, with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights finding a pattern of irregularities in this case directly attributable to Lieutenant Munoz Guzman's battalion; and calls on the Government to raise Lieutenant Munoz Guzman's case, as well as the need for an effective legislative framework and an accessible nationwide rapid search mechanism, with the Mexican government, and to offer any relevant assistance.