CDNH: 3,760 Bodies in 1,306 Clandestine Graves Exhumed in 11 Years

Translated by Yaqui for Borderland Beat from: Milenio

Thanks to Neal for the heads up
and Sol Prendido too !
By: Elia Castillo and Isabel Zamudio

In 11 years, at least 3, 760 bodies have been exhumed from 1, 306 clandestine graves discovered in Mexico, reported the National Commission of Human Rights (CNDH). 

To this figure is added the finding of what is shaping up as the second largest clandestine cemetery in Veracruz, where, according to the latest update by Governor Miguel Ángel Yunes, the remains of 174 people have been recovered. 

According to the last hemerographic sampling carried out by the CNDH, between January 1, 2017 and August 30 of this year, at least 163 graves with 530 bodies have been found, of which 476 have yet to be identified; with this, the number of located remains reached 165,431.

The agency noted that a sampling from January 1, 2007 to September 2016, warned a total of  1,143 burials of this type in national territory, from which the exhumation of 3, 230 corpses or skeletal remains follows. 


"The CNDH is concerned that in many regions of the country the findings of clandestine graves and, consequently, the number of corpses and / or human remains of them exhumed," he said in a statement. 

The entity with the highest number of clandestine cemeteries between 2017 and 2018 was Veracruz, with 37; while Jalisco heads the list of states with more bodies exhumed, with 126.

The results of this exercise, the commission confirmed, confirm that the existence of clandestine graves is a consequence, among other aspects, of the lack of prompt and expeditious justice that "far from producing effective and sustainable investigations ... in the majority of the cases leave the aggrieved and their families in a state of abandonment ". 

The CNDH maintained that these findings challenge and question the capabilities and resources of the Mexican State to respond to a situation that has become an obstacle to build a culture based on the observance of human rights and respect for the dignity of people. 

The Count:

After the State Prosecutor's Office (FGE) reported Thursday that after 30 days of proceedings, recovered the remains of 166 people in 32 clandestine graves located in an area of ​​300 meters in the center of Veracruz, this Friday were exhumed others eight skulls. 

"The latest information I have is 174 skulls exhumed," Governor Yunes confirmed in the evening, in an interview with Alma Paola Wong for MILENIO Television. 

The state leader said that since yesterday afternoon it began to show relatives and groups of missing the credentials and clothing found in the place, and that the process will continue in the coming days.

On the doubts that these groups have expressed by the secrecy with which they carried out these works, he assured that there is no controversy, because the prosecution acted according to the law. 

Although the public prosecutor Jorge Winckler reserved the location of this cemetery, some versions indicated that it is located in the town of Arbolillo, in Alvarado, where the prosecutor's office extracted 50 skulls in March of 2017. 

Red and black bags with personal items, open pits bounded with stakes and yellow plastic strips, as well as vehicles with logos of the FGE, are daily scenes for four weeks for seafood traders, restaurateurs and fishermen who live near that land located in front of the municipal pantheon.

Federal Highway 180, known as Costera del Golfo, separates this property, which has recovered 200 garments, 144 identifications and personal items of adult men and women and even minors, Alvarado cemetery.

Rosalía Castro Toss, of the Solecito Veracruz Collective, regretted that they have not called a third party who will certify the authorities' statements and deeds and confirmed that next week they will review the photographs of clothing and articles found in that grave. 

Castro Toss said that the fact that they have found 170 more skulls in an area where they had already worked in  half a year ago speaks of a poor job of recovering human remains.

With the graves of Colinas de Santa Fe, in the port of Veracruz, and those of Arbolillo, in Alvarado, areas that are less than 50 minutes away, the figure of exhumed skulls amounts to 520; and not 20 of them have been identified and handed over to their families.

Tiny pants for a baby no older than 6 months and shiny pink sandals for a toddler are among the personal items that have turned up at mass graves in the Gulf state of Veracruz, driving home the brutality of rising violence in Mexico.

Mexican authorities have found remains of children along with adults in the clandestine burial pits, a person with knowledge of the investigation confirmed Sunday. Each item of clothing was either found near a body or cut free from remains. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss the details publicly.

The National Commission of Missing Persons posted online hundreds of pictures of clothing Friday to give family members a tool to possibly identify missing loved ones. The images include polo shirts with logos still intact, socks, shoes, colorful boxer briefs and ladies' panties. One T-shirt says "Live Free" above a picture of a young woman and flowers.

Photos also show multiple children's items, such as little sweaters or T-shirts with images of Tinkerbell, Tweety Bird and Pokemon.

Authorities announced the discovery of the mass graves in early September after having counted 166 skulls. The Interior Ministry said Friday that the body count had since risen to 174. Digging continues at the sites and the picture catalog will be updated as additional garments are found.

It's unusual for Mexican authorities to share forensic evidence from an investigation that is underway. But thousands of Mexicans are clamoring for information about relatives who have disappeared since the government declared war on drug cartels more than a decade ago.

Criminal groups have reportedly detained entire busloads of passengers in Veracruz in recent years, sometimes robbing passengers and other times taking people away.

Security experts described the clothing images as helpful, but low-tech.

"It seems there's animus to clarify what has happened. But the fact that photos have to be put up on the internet shows that there are no other possible ways," said Carlos Vilalta, a criminologist with Mexico's Center for Research in Geography and Geomatics.

Vilalta said Mexico is overdue for a nationwide DNA database that family members could supply with samples to help identify the missing.

The revelation of children's clothing and bodies in the mass graves is also unusual. In the past, criminal gangs have let many women and children free.

"We have reached a point where violence impacts any person who gets in the way," said Luis Leal, a security analyst based in central Mexico.

The mass graves in Veracruz have been accompanied this month by a bloody attack in a Mexico City tourist spot by assailants dressed as mariachi musicians and outrage over a wandering truck with 273 bodies from an overflowing morgue in Guadalajara.

"We are falling into surrealism, where violence doesn't impress us. And this is worrisome and outrageous," said Leal.