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From Search, to Identification, to Closure, to Peace

09/23/2024

By using advanced fingerprint scanners, victims of enforced disappearances in Mexico are identified post mortem. This allows the families of the victims to find closure, while strengthening the capacity of Mexican institutions and the justice system.

There are over 115,000 individuals officially reported missing in Mexico, and more than 52,000 unidentified human remains await to be identified. The Human Identification Program (IDH) aims at strengthening Mexico’s capacity for human identification and at complementing the institutional efforts to increase the number of identifications.

For families like Jose Alvarado’s (fictional name), the project brought closure after years of painful uncertainty. José, who passed away in 2018 in the State of Zacatecas, was once just an unidentified case number #934789, buried in a forensic cemetery. Today, thanks to the technical cooperation of the Mexican National Search Commission (CNB), the Zacatecas Prosecutor’s Office and IDH, José has been identified with matching ante and post mortem fingerprints.

In line with the UN Committee Against Enforced Disappearances (CED) recommendations, UNFPA-IDH employs cutting-edge fingerprint technology to reunite families. Mobile fingerprint scanners and specialized software, developed in collaboration with the University of Hamburg, Mexican forensics, and civil society, are facilitating identification efforts. A donation of 300 mobile scanners to all 32 state prosecutor offices has empowered authorities to accelerate the identification process. Since August 2023, the cooperation has digitized fingerprints of 5986 unknown deceased persons. 2276 identities could be confirmed– thereby bringing closure to families like Jose’s.

Highlights

  • Every fingerprint is different and tells a unique story: this project helps to bring certainty to families of disappeared persons.

  • Every person has the right to an identity, alive or deceased: this program gives the unknown their names back.

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People are walking over a graveyard.
Copyright: German Federal Foreign Office
Members of staff are surrounding graves where victims were recovered for post mortem identification.
Copyright: German Federal Foreign Office
A person holds the finger of a deceased person into the fingerprint scanner.
Copyright: German Federal Foreign Office
The fingerprint scanner and how it works are shown.
Copyright: German Federal Foreign Office
A group picture of the staff members of the project.
Copyright: German Federal Foreign Office

The program is implemented in collaboration with and under the leadership of the National Search Commission (CNB) and the National Center for Human Identification (CNIH). The program is financed by the Federal Government of Germany, with a total funding of 4.2 million Euros.