Mexico's Disappearance Crisis: Crimes Against Humanity and the Politics of Denial

This lecture revisits Mexico's disappearance crisis in light of the 2026 decision of the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances, which found well-founded indications that enforced disappearances have been and continue to be committed as crimes against humanity, in the context of multiple widespread or systematic attacks against civilian populations involving public authorities as well as criminal organizations acting with state complicity or acquiescence. It examines how patterns of disappearance have evolved from the "Dirty War" to the militarized "war on drugs," through changing configurations of state violence, organized crime, collusion, territorial control, and impunity, and considers the significance of the Committee's decision to refer Mexico's situation urgently to the UN General Assembly. Finally, the lecture explores the politics of denial surrounding the crisis, including the Sheinbaum government's efforts to minimize state responsibility, challenge international findings, and reject the characterization of enforced disappearances as crimes against humanity. José Antonio Guevara Bermúdez is a Mexican lawyer, human rights expert, and academic with more than 25 years of experience in international human rights law, international criminal law, transitional justice, and international humanitarian law. He is currently Academic Director of the Memory and Tolerance Museum in Mexico City and Associate Professor at the Autonomous University of Tlaxcala. From 2014 to 2020, he served as a member and Chair-Rapporteur of the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, and as a member of the Coordination Committee of the UN Human Rights Council's Special Procedures. He previously served as Executive Director of the Mexican Commission for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights and held senior human rights positions in the Mexican government and diplomatic service, including at Mexico's Permanent Mission to the United Nations in Geneva. He has taught at universities in Mexico and abroad and was Tinker Visiting Professor at the University of Chicago in 2025. He has authored and co-authored numerous publications on human rights and international justice. He holds a Law Degree from Universidad Iberoamericana and a Ph.D. in Fundamental Rights from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. This event is organized by the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CLACS) with support from the Katz Center for Mexican Studies.   Lunch will be provided.