Help Mothers of the Disappeared Find Justice

During 2020, Covid-19 has shaken the world and has changed the way of life worldwide. Mexico has registered over 70,000 deaths and over 700,000 positive cases of this new disease. In the meantime, uncertainty has ruled over the Mexican society due to the lack of an optimal response by the federal government and even of some local governments. The fact that governments can’t agree on the rules for facing the new coronavirus has put the Mexican society in a very vulnerable position.

In the last months thousands of Mexicans have lost their jobs or their business. In the same period, many of the government agencies have suspended or reduced their activities to stop the spread of the disease. The health emergency has also caused groups of relatives of missing persons to have suspended their search activities. This measure has not only affected the search of their love ones, but also has affected the health of the mothers, sisters, grandmothers, wives and other relatives looking to locate a relative. The situation for these indirect victims becomes more difficult every day.

The past months have been being very difficult for the groups of relatives of missing persons because for them, each day of compulsory isolation is a potential day wasted where a loved one could have returned home. For them, to stay home is extremely difficult and if we add the fact that many government agencies have suspended or reduced their activities to the minimum, puts the families in a very difficult position of uncertainty. The lack of movement and activities has also started to affect the mental and physical health of our beneficiaries.

Due to the above, the IMDHD has organized virtual self-care workshops, in addition to virtual ‘Peace Circles’ workshops for family members of the groups of disappeared people in Puebla, Jalisco, Veracruz, Guerrero and the State of Mexico. During the self-care sessions, we provide women with a peaceful, respectful and open space in which they can talk about their feelings. They can also talk about what worries them, as well as what gives them hope and strength to continue. During these sessions, we also incorporate a yoga session with exercises that can do at home. Additionally, we provide them with health and nutrition tips to maintain a healthy diet during the pandemic and protect themselves. By using this Restorative Justice model of peace circles, we are trying to facilitate healing and transformative communication among people of all backgrounds. Through this model, we are trying to address conflicts holistically and solve problems in order for the groups of groups of family members of disappeared persons to heal and learn through a collective group process. We aim to help them repair harm done between them and assign responsibility by talking through the problem. By using this technique, we are trying to avoid future fragmentation and weakening of the groups. Their mobilization and activism are of great importance for Mexico’s human rights movement. In many states, the groups of family members of the disappeared are the most active and successful groups human rights defenders and with the greates political impact. We recognize that it is the families and their initiatives that have made the difference and for whom, at this moment, there is progress in legal frameworks and public policies on the disappearances.

Recently, authorities have resumed searching activities, but with many restrictions and in small groups. Some members of the groups of family members of disappeared persons are going back to the fields to continue their search. Similarly, many family members are continuing their dialogue with other groups, human rights organizations and authorities. Ultimately, they’re developing technical skills to put pressure on authorities by using digital media to make visible the cases of disappearances in Mexico, which despite of the pandemic, haven’t decreased.