CCPR/C/131/D/3259/2018
2 (3). The author also claims to be herself a victim of a violation by the State party of her
rights under articles 7 and 17 of the Covenant, read alone and in conjunction with article 2
(3). The Optional Protocol entered into force for the State party on 15 June 2002. The author
is represented.
The facts as submitted by the author
Factual background
2.1
The author asserts that the facts of the present communication are set against a
background of serious human rights violations perpetrated with the direct or indirect
involvement or acquiescence of agents of the State party. She stresses that perpetrators of
disappearances enjoy total impunity in the State party, as such offences are routinely
committed there and effective search and investigation measures are lacking.1 In 2011 and
2013, a “war” between organized criminal groups – “Los Zetas” and the “Cartel del Golfo”
– took place in the state of Nuevo León. The author adds that there are four documented
practices in which local authorities have been linked to organized criminal groups in relation
to disappearances: acts perpetrated by State agents; acts perpetrated by State agents who are
also working for organized criminal groups; acts perpetrated by organized criminal groups
with the direct support of State agents; and acts perpetrated by organized criminal groups
with the acquiescence of the State.2
2.2
The author also states that, a few days before Mr. Rivera Hidalgo’s disappearance,
two of his friends were disappeared. On 7 January 2011, Mr. S.J., who was with Mr. Rivera
Hidalgo and another friend, was captured by armed men in a black Dodge Nitro van without
a licence plate (the type of vehicle used by the municipal police at the time). Mr. Rivera
Hidalgo and the second friend managed to escape. The author adds that, on that occasion, a
radio frequency device fell out of the vehicle and was handed over to the authorities for
analysis. However, the appointed expert claimed that he had been unable to carry out the
required analysis because he lacked the necessary equipment. 3 There is no record of any
attempt being made to address the technical shortcomings or to carry out any further followup to this investigative lead. On 8 January 2011, Mr. C.H., who was also a friend of Mr.
Rivera Hidalgo, was captured by armed men while he was in his father’s vehicle. Mr. C.H.’s
parents did not file a complaint because they feared reprisals and feared that doing so would
undermine their chances of finding their son alive. At the time of writing, the fate and
whereabouts of Mr. S.J. and Mr. C.H. remain unknown.
2.3
At around 1 a.m. on 11 January 2011, between 12 and 20 armed and hooded
individuals arrived at the author’s home in San Nicolás de los Garza, Nuevo León, where she
lived with her two sons. Approximately 12 men carrying long weapons managed to enter the
house. Three of them were wearing vests bearing the words “Policía de Escobedo”, Nuevo
León, and all but one had their faces covered. The men ordered the author to kneel down,
restrained her sons and started beating them. The men claimed that they belonged to the
criminal organization “Cartel del Golfo” and that they had been sent by the Government.4
1
2
3
4
2
The author cites, inter alia, Committee on Enforced Disappearances, CED/C/MEX/CO/1, para. 10;
Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, A/HRC/30/38/Add.4, para. 7; InterAmerican Commission on Human Rights, Human Rights of Migrants and Other Persons in the
Context of Human Mobility in Mexico (OEA/SER-L/V.II. Doc. 48/13), paras. 8, 12, 30, 63–68, 100–
102, 105, 118, 410, 484–485 and 488; see also paras. 120 and 123–124. In the context of Nuevo
León, the author cites Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (Mexico branch), Human Rights
Program of the University of Minnesota and Latin American Centre of the University of Oxford,
report of the Observatory on Disappearances and Impunity, 2017, p. 11, available at
https://www.flacso.edu.mx/sites/default/files/170616_resumen_informe_nl_vf.pdf.
The author cites, inter alia, Ciudadanos en Apoyo a los Derechos Humanos, A.C., Desapariciones en
Nuevo León, desde la mirada de CADHAC. Informe 2009–2016, Nuevo León, chap. 2, available at
https://cadhac.org/docs/desapariciones-nl-2009-a-2016.pdf.
The author attaches the expert’s report.
The author explains that cartels in Nuevo León have been engaged in a struggle to control the
territory and that, in 2011, “Los Zetas” controlled almost all the territory while the “Cartel del Golfo”
disputed that control. The author states that, as part of these struggles between criminal organizations,
GE.21-06148