The UN’s human rights chief, Volker Türk, concluded an official visit to Mexico on April 23, 2026, with a stark warning: the country’s crisis of disappearances, femicides and attacks on journalists demands urgent and systemic action. Organised crime, fuelled by arms trafficking from the north and drug revenues from global markets, continues to undermine public security across large swathes of the country, he said, while impunity has become so entrenched as to be effectively structural.

Among the most striking features of the crisis, Türk noted, is the role of families, many of them led by women, who search for missing relatives at significant personal risk, in the absence of reliable state mechanisms to do so. The scale of enforced disappearances in Mexico is one of the most severe in the world, and the burden of finding the missing has fallen disproportionately on those who have already suffered most.

Türk did find cause for measured praise. Mexico’s Protection Mechanism for Human Rights Defenders and Journalists, established in 2012, has become a recognised model for the region. But he was clear that its prevention and investigative functions need strengthening if it is to match the scale of the threat. During the visit, Türk also met President Claudia Sheinbaum and members of the Supreme Court, signalling the breadth of institutional engagement his mission sought.

Source: UN / Volker Türk. April 23, 2026.