Chihuahua, Chih. March 18, 2022. Today, family members of disappeared individuals in the state of Chihuahua met in the city of Hidalgo del Parral to start a march that will end in the city of Chihuahua, capital of the state.

The State’s Attorney General, Roberto Fierro, has been asked repeatedly to hold a meeting with the families, and almost six months into the new administration, we haven’t received a specific answer. We have submitted this request to the Secretary General of the State, César Jauregui, and have not received a response either. Therefore, we will walk in order to demand that both officials meet with the families and listen to them.

For the families, it is a priority to be able to say out loud and first-hand issues related to disappearances in our state, as well as to demand specific actions to solve them.

We demand a comprehensive, adequate, sufficient and timely approach to these cases in Chihuahua. The main demand by the families is properly coordinated and linked search actions by the various levels of government, with a sense of urgency and focused on people being found alive. We demand that the necessary measures be taken to involve families in search actions, that protocols and actions be defined along with said measures.

According to the National Registry of Disappeared Individuals (RNPDNO) in Mexico there are almost 100,000 disappeared individuals and 3,462 are from the state of Chihuahua. The five municipalities with the highest rates are Ciudad Juárez (911), Cuauhtémoc (531), Chihuahua (495), Nuevo Casas Grandes (198) and Hidalgo del Parral (170). We know and understand that in addition to the official figures, the number of disappearances is much higher, but an accurate number cannot be known because many cases are not reported due to mistrust in the authorities and the risk that the search itself poses for families.

The problem of disappearances in our state is serious; the authorities must respond to the needs of those who are looking for the disappeared. We demand memory, reparation, truth and justice.

Because the loss of the disappeared has left a void in all of us!

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