UN Experts Demand Answers on Disappeared Mexican Rights Defenders, Spotlighting Corporate Accountability and Systemic Failures

“The families have refused to succumb to despair,” the experts said. “Yet the absence of effective institutional responses continues to compound their suffering.”

On the third anniversary of the enforced disappearance of Mexican human rights defenders Ricardo Lagunes and Antonio Díaz, United Nations experts today demanded immediate and credible action to determine their fate and whereabouts—warning that the case exposes deep failures in state accountability, corporate responsibility, and protections for environmental and Indigenous defenders.

Lagunes, a human rights lawyer, and Díaz, an Indigenous community leader, were forcibly disappeared on 15 January 2023 in Colima, Mexico, after attending a community meeting addressing the human rights impacts of mining operations affecting the Indigenous community of San Miguel de Aquila, Michoacán.

Their disappearance occurred amid a long-running dispute over natural resources involving Luxembourg-based mining company Ternium, part of the Argentine-Italian Techint Group.

“Mexican authorities must comply with their international obligations by urgently investigating this enforced disappearance, proactively searching for the victims, and holding those responsible criminally accountable,” the UN experts said.

When Human Rights Defenders Vanish, Systems Have Failed

UN experts stressed that enforced disappearances are not isolated crimes but systemic failures—often enabled by weak investigative capacity, poor inter-agency coordination, and insufficient safeguards around high-risk resource-extraction projects.

Despite three years of advocacy by the families of Lagunes and Díaz, authorities have yet to deliver effective results. The experts noted with concern that the company linked to the dispute has reportedly failed to fully cooperate with investigations and search efforts.

“The families have refused to succumb to despair,” the experts said. “Yet the absence of effective institutional responses continues to compound their suffering.”

The case is registered under the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances’ Urgent Actions procedure and is protected by precautionary measures from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, reflecting the seriousness and irreversibility of the risk.

Corporate Accountability in the Age of ESG and Supply-Chain Transparency

The experts underscored that businesses operating in high-risk environments—particularly in extractive industries—carry heightened responsibilities under the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

In resource-extraction contexts, companies have often been accused of:

• Exacerbating community divisions

• Fueling local conflict over land and resources

• Failing to protect human rights defenders engaging with affected communities

“Businesses must avoid infringing on human rights and must cooperate fully with investigations into serious abuses, including enforced disappearances,” the experts said.

They stressed that companies are expected to preserve, disclose, and share relevant data and evidence, and to participate meaningfully in remediation when harm occurs.

A Chilling Signal for Environmental and Indigenous Defenders

UN experts warned that enforced disappearances have a deterrent and silencing effect, particularly on Indigenous leaders and environmental defenders challenging powerful economic interests.

They urged Mexico to strengthen its protection mechanism for human rights defenders, ensuring defenders can operate safely—both physically and digitally—without fear of reprisal.

“Silencing those who defend land, environment, and community rights undermines democracy, sustainability, and the rule of law,” they said.

A Call to Action for Civic Tech, ESG Platforms, and Responsible Investors

The case highlights an urgent need for early adoption of accountability-by-design systems, including:

• Transparent incident-tracking and evidence-preservation platforms

• ESG and supply-chain tools that flag high-risk human rights contexts

• Corporate grievance and remediation systems that function independently of political pressure

• Digital protections for human rights defenders engaging with companies

For technologists, ESG investors, compliance leaders, and civic-tech builders, the message is clear: rights-respecting systems cannot be optional in extractive industries.

UN experts confirmed they are in ongoing dialogue with the Government of Mexico and the business concerned and reiterated that truth, justice, and reparation remain non-negotiable.