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Federal prosecutors are empowered by law to investigate disappearances in which federal
officials are alleged to have participated or been involved. They also have jurisdiction to
investigate all crimes tied to organized crime (delincuencia organizada), but the definition
of such crimes and the process of determining whether the definition has been met are
vague and ambiguous. These and other factors, according to the UN Working Group on
Enforced Disappearances, “dilute the responsibilities of federal and state authorities” to
investigate disappearances. 187
Human Rights Watch found evidence that federal and state prosecutors take advantage of
this dilution of responsibility and the ambiguities regarding jurisdiction to preemptively
decline to investigate cases, transferring them instead to counterparts. Such decisions are
all too often taken without first conducting a preliminary inquiry into the alleged crime,
which is necessary to reach a well-grounded determination of whether they have
jurisdiction. Indeed, the swiftness and regularity with which prosecutors unjustifiably
claim that a case falls outside of their jurisdiction, and often redirect the investigation to
counterparts, suggests that they are more concerned with avoiding adding cases to their
docket than fulfilling their obligation to investigate these serious crimes. The impact of
such decisions is to delay the investigation of disappearances—a crime in which the first
hours, days, and weeks are critical for gathering time-sensitive information.
An example is the case of Gerardo Heath Sánchez, 17. Heath, a high school student from
Piedras Negras, Coahuila, was abducted by armed men on March 18, 2011, along with four
members of the Saldúa family, as they stood on the lawn outside the Saldúa house. 188
Heath’s grandfather filed a report of his grandson’s disappearance on April 9, 2011,
through an online system administered by the executive branch. 189 On April 13, he received
a response from the executive branch saying that the case had been passed to the Ministry
of Public Security (the federal law enforcement agency) to be investigated. 190 Federal
187 UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, Mission to Mexico, Addendum, Report of the Working
Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, A/HRC/19/58/Add.2, December 20, 2011, para. 12,
http://ap.ohchr.org/documents/dpage_e.aspx?m=119 (accessed February 7, 2013).
188 Human Rights Watch interview Claudia Elena Sánchez González and Gerardo Heath Garza, parents of Gerardo Heath
Sánchez, Saltillo, Coahuila, April 25, 2012.
189 Online complaint filed by Reginaldo Sánchez Garza, grandfather of Gerardo Heath Garza, with Office of the President
(Oficina de la Presidencia de la República), Federal Network of Services for the Citizenry (Red Federal de Servicio a la
Ciudadanía), April 9, 2011 (on file with Human Rights Watch).
190 Letter from Juan Manuel Llera Blanco, Federal Network of Services for the Citizenry, Office of the President of Mexico, to
Reginaldo Sánchez Garza, Folio 22232723053, April 13, 2011 (on file with Human Rights Watch).
MEXICO’S DISAPPEARED 58