Disappeared for 31 years – still no justice!

Written by Sheila Royce, Regional Team Coordinator for Central America

Lieutenant Miguel Orlando Muñoz Guzman25 years old, was last seen alive on May 8, 1993. Dedicated to his military career, he had announced that he would leave Ciudad Juárez for Mexico City after being accepted into the Higher War School for advanced leadership training. He was looking forward to his new challenge. When his family didn’t hear from him for a few days, they contacted the Army, only to be told that Lt. Guzman had deserted and traveled to the United States. The army presented a letter to that effect, allegedly signed by the young lieutenant. However, the letter turned out to be a fake and the signature forged.

There are so many questions. Why would the military feel the need to make up a story and forge a letter? What was it hiding? What had Lt. Guzman witness, making him a target? Apparently he had been investigating drug trafficking in the area. Had he come across evidence linking Mexican military officers to drug cartels? Why was his briefcase stolen? Why was key evidence lost? Why, after so long, has there still been no proper investigation into his disappearance?

August 30 is the International Day for the Victims of Enforced Disappearances. The victims include, of course, the families of those who have disappeared. The women who continue to search, despite the abuse and threats they face. Women like María Guadalupe Guzman Romo, the mother of Lt. Guzmanwho with her family the was the first to report corruption and human rights violations and has been searching for truth and justice for over 31 years.

During this time, the family has explored every avenue possible to discover the truth about what happened. They brought the case to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR). In 2006, the Commission recommended that the Mexican state conduct a full, impartial and effective investigation to determine the whereabouts of Lt. Guzmán and, if it were determined that he was the victim of enforced disappearance, punish all those responsible. It also recommended that adequate compensation be offered to his relatives. To date, the Mexican state has failed to comply with any of these recommendations.

In June 2019, the Chihuahua Attorney General’s Office relinquished its jurisdiction to investigate the lieutenant’s disappearance in favor of the Attorney General’s Office of the Republic (FGR), after concluding that it was a case of forced disappearance and that elements of the Mexican military were involved. It concluded that the military was covering up the truth. However, the FGR has never established an investigation protocol for forced disappearances. Its actions were limited to locating the lieutenant. Guzmán, without any investigation into what happened or who was responsible. If there is no investigation, then there will be no evidence of wrongdoing or enforced disappearance. It seems that there is no political will to investigate military personnel.

The family’s efforts are blocked in every possible way. As if that wasn’t bad enough, they are also being persecuted, monitored and threatened by elements of the military to prevent the truth behind the facts from being revealed. In May 2024, on 31^st birthday of Lt. Guzman‘s disappearance, his mother published a heartbreaking letter addressed to outgoing President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. In it, she reminded him of the promises of support he had given her when he was campaigning for the presidency. Support that never materialized, nor did the promised transformation of the country, she says. “I have only seen disappearances continue, human rights violations and impunity and corruption prevail. I see a Mexico bathed in blood…”, says Maria Guadalupe Guzman Romo.

The facts confirm this. As of August 8, 2024, the National Register of Missing and Disappeared Persons reported up to 116,386 missing and disappeared persons. With the numbers still rising, this is not just a historical problem. 88% of all reports of missing persons have been made since 2006. The UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances visited Mexico in late 2021. They were there for only 11 days, but in that time 112 new disappearances were added to the register.

So it is up to the families to fight in their grief for justice for their loved ones, all the while enduring attacks and threats. 31 years is a painfully long time to wait for a proper investigation into your son’s disappearance, but Maria never gives up hope: “I will not stop fighting, and I will never give up, because a mother never gives up and demands justice for the enforced disappearance of a child.”