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involved a man who was disappeared by the Mexican military in 1974, 242 the Court
observed that:
[A]ccording to the report on the psychosocial effects on the next of kin of Mr.
Rosendo Radilla, his disappearance has had a traumatic and differentiated
impact on the family as a whole due to the forced restructuring of roles of
each one of its members with the evident effects on each of their life
projects. Both Mr. Rosendo Radilla Martínez and Mrs. Andrea Radilla
Martínez offered statements in that sense. The latter testified that: “[Her]
life changed completely, from feeling protected, supported, and at peace,
she went on to feeling responsible for [her] mother and her responsibilities,
[s]he fe[lt] interrogated, watched, and that everybody turned their back on
her, anguish went on to be [her] natural state.” 243
Emotional and Psychological Impact
Many relatives of the “disappeared” told Human Rights Watch that they feel an overriding
obligation to set aside the other parts of their lives until they find out what has happened
to their loved ones. They described this feeling as motivated by a range of factors, from
hope of finding the missing person alive, to feelings of guilt about returning to their lives
while their loved ones’ fate remained unknown. They were also driven by the belief that if
they did not take up the search themselves and constantly press authorities to do their job,
no one would look for their loved ones—a belief that was reinforced by the lackluster,
flawed work of prosecutors.
For relatives, not knowing what has happened to a loved one is a source of perpetual
anguish. They describe worrying constantly about whether their relatives are alive and
whether they are suffering, and they feel powerlessness to help. The emotional and
psychological consequences of this suffering are severe. Relatives reported depression,
insomnia, feelings of social isolation, and physical effects like exhaustion. Many also
242 For a more complete summary of the history of the case, see “The ‘Disappearance’ of Rosendo Radilla,” Human Rights
Watch, Uniform Impunity: Mexico's Misuse of Military Justice to Prosecute Abuses in Counternarcotics and Public Security
Operations, April 29, 2009, http://www.hrw.org/reports/2009/04/28/uniform-impunity.
243 Inter-American Court, Radilla Pacheco v. Mexico, Judgment of November 23, 2009, Inter-Am.Ct.H.R., Series C no. 209,
para. 171, http://www.corteidh.or.cr/docs/casos/articulos/seriec_209_esp.pdf (accessed September 12, 2012).
71 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | FEBRUARY 2013