Sheinbaum is given an ultimatum to comply with the UN resolution in the case of Alexis Marín's disappearance.

MEXICO CITY (apro).- Relatives of Alexis Marín Ramírez, an indigenous man from the Mixteca region of Oaxaca who disappeared seven years ago, demanded that Claudia Sheinbaum's government comply with the resolution of the United Nations Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED) issued on May 7.

Accompanied by members of the Center for Human Rights and Advice to Indigenous Peoples (Cedhapi), the organization that brought the case before the CED, Rosa and Pedro Ramírez Barrios, Alexis Marín's mother and uncle, presented the ruling at a press conference, which has a six-month deadline for authorities to comply with.

This ruling is the second issued by the CED against the Mexican State and the first related to a case in Oaxaca. This is after the 2020 administration of Andrés Manuel López Obrador admitted the jurisdiction of this United Nations body to address individual cases of enforced disappearances in Mexico, the compliance of which is mandatory, warned Cedhapi representative Maurilio Santiago.

Moved by the ruling, Rosa Ramírez called on the authorities of the state of Oaxaca and the federal government to do everything in their power to ensure that "my son returns home, alive or dead," as the CED mandates in its ruling.

“It’s been seven years and eight months since I last heard from my son. I ask the government to do its job, the Attorney General’s Office, the authorities who are responsible for doing this job… It’s anguish, sadness, and pain not to know about my son. They haven’t given me any answers, they haven’t investigated his whereabouts. I just ask that he come home, however God returns him to me, with or without life.”

"It's the cruelest pain they've ever caused me. They've ruined my life. Everything changed in the blink of an eye from the moment they took my son. I hope that now that the ruling has been issued, they'll do their job. I want my son back," Rosa Ramírez cried, her voice breaking.

The mother of the 20-year-old young man, who disappeared in November 2017, called on authorities to extend the obligation imposed by the CED to search for and locate "all the missing persons" who are being sought by their families.

On November 7, 2017, Alexis Marín Ramírez disappeared while driving on the highway that connects the community of San Miguel Hernández with the municipal seat of Tlaxiaco, Oaxaca, near the town of Palo de Letra.

Despite the fact that an investigation into Alexis's disappearance has been opened, there has been no progress so far, not even after the CED notified the Mexican government of its decision in May, warns Pedro Ramírez.

"In the partnership we had with the Mexican government, a proposal was made that results would be delivered within two months. Two months are almost up, and we still have no results. It's clear that the Mexican government isn't doing its job, the authorities aren't performing their duties as they should. Time keeps passing, and we're getting further and further away from the evidence that might lead to my nephew's whereabouts," Ramírez Barrios said.

The CED ruling orders the Mexican State to "conduct a prompt, effective, thorough, impartial, independent, and transparent investigation into the circumstances of Alexis Marín Ramírez's disappearance, with a view to establishing the truth about his enforced disappearance," keeping his family and representatives informed.

The treaty body instructed the State to "prosecute, judge, and punish the perpetrators of the enforced disappearance"; to "adopt all appropriate measures to search for, locate, and release Alexis Marín Ramírez and, in the event of his death, to locate, respect, and restore his rights, taking into account and respecting the specific cultural patterns of the perpetrators as members of Indigenous communities."

Likewise, CED resolution 05/2021 ordered “comprehensive reparation, including prompt, fair and adequate compensation,” as well as guarantees of non-repetition,

As part of the measures to prevent such recurrence, the CED urged Mexico to implement the recommendations made to Mexico after its 2021 visit, such as "establishing a national policy to prevent and eradicate enforced disappearances"; everything related to the "establishment of a global and comprehensive search and investigation strategy and a differentiated approach to search and investigation procedures," as well as "establishing a coordination mechanism among state, local, and Indigenous authorities for the search and investigation of enforced disappearances in the region."

The resolution orders its contents to be published and disseminated "particularly, but not exclusively, among members of the state and general prosecutor's offices investigating disappearances," and requires the Mexican government to submit a compliance report within six months.

According to the statement read by family members and advocates, 1,869 people were registered in Oaxaca as victims of enforced disappearances and disappearances committed by individuals, between 2023 and May 2025, with no records from previous years.

According to Maurilio Santiago in Oaxaca, "There are a large number of missing persons that the government denies exist. The Oaxaca State Attorney General's Office has a policy of not disclosing the actual number of missing persons. Sometimes they've reduced the numbers, but only on paper, because the statistics have actually been increasing."

After noting that it is very important for Alexis Marín's family and for the Cedhapi (National Commission for the Prevention of Repetition) that the guarantees of non-repetition be met, the defender confided that there have already been meetings with the Ministries of the Interior and Foreign Affairs, in which a public apology has been proposed, to be led by the Undersecretary of Human Rights, Arturo Medina.

"We have proposed that the public apology be made on August 30, the International Day of the Disappeared. We want this to be expedited because the enforced disappearance of people cannot be denied in Mexico; it is a reality that exists," Maurilio Santiago stated.