- Title: Mexicans demand justice for over 40,000 forced disappearances
- Date: 31st August 2019
- Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) LOCAL IN SEARCH OF MISSING BROTHER, MARIA TERESA VALADEZ, SAYING: "We want it and we demand the law for forced disappearances to be followed through. We demand the identification of more than 37,000 bodies across the country who remain unidentified." VARIOUS OF FAMILY MEMBERS OF MISSING MARCHING ON ZOCALO SQUARE WITH PHOTOS OF THEIR MISSING LOVED ONES AND CARRYING BANNERS, CHANTING MESSAGES FOR RETURN OF THE MISSING (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) LOCAL IN SEARCH OF MISSING BROTHER, SONIA OROPEZA, SAYING: "The only thing we're asking for is justice for all those who were disappeared, and for all those (bodies) who have no identity." VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS GATHERED (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ACTOR, DIEGO LUNA, SAYING: "We will not accept that Mexico is a country for clandestine graves, of injustice and violence."
- Embargoed: 14th September 2019 03:44
- Keywords: forced disappearances family Diego Luna investigations President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador missing justice Mexico protest
- Location: MEXICO CITY + IGUALA, GUERRERO, MEXICO
- City: MEXICO CITY + IGUALA, GUERRERO, MEXICO
- Country: Mexico
- Topics: Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA002AUJSOXZ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Family members of some of the thousands of Mexicans who've disappeared marched on Mexico City's Zocalo square calling for justice and the return of their missing relatives.
The protest marks the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances.
Figures put the number of forced disappearances in Mexico at some 40,000. The country's National Search Commission reports that over 3,000 mass graves have been discovered in Mexico since 2006. Many of the bodies found in those graves remain unidentified.
Mexican actor Diego Luna was at the protest in solidarity with the victims, hoping his profile will push authorities to getting results.
President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has vowed to identify thousands of human remains in morgues and mass graves around the country, which he has called the "worst legacy" of past governments.
More than 200,000 people have been killed since armed forces were deployed to tackle Mexico's drug cartels in 2006.
(Production: Josue Gonzalez, Manuel Carrillo) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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