On Friday September 25th relatives of disappeared persons in Tijuana took public action demanding attention and acknowledgement from the government. Following in the tradition of Argentina’s Mothers of Plaza de Mayo, who march every week in front of their government building, relatives plan to protest in front of the Baja California state government building every Friday until government authorities comply and address their needs. The whereabouts of 320 people who were forcibly disappeared or kidnapped remain unknown, and the government has not produced answers for the people about their missing relatives. Fernando Ocegueda Flores of the Tijuana-based Citizens Association against Impunity stated that members have simply been told by state law enforcement to forget about their family members. These families seek answers in the face of more disappearances and discoveries of bodies.
Recent discoveries of mass graves of victims’ remains dissolved in acid and two barrels suspected of holding human remains demonstrate that the issue of forced disappearance and kidnapping has become an everyday reality and fear for the people of Tijuana. According to Ocegueda at least four new cases of disappeared individuals occur each month in Tijuana, which he states are connected with nacro-trafficking and kidnapping for ransoms.
SOURCE:
Frontera. Martinez, Julieta. El Universal. September 25, 2009.September 26, 2009
