In Mexico, corruption and organised crime fuel crisis in forensic medicine

FOCUS © FRANCE 24

In Mexico, 111,000 people are classified as disappeared and the country’s morgues hold 52,000 unidentified corpses, bones and remains. The country is going through a crisis in forensic medicine fuelled by a lack of personnel, technology and political will – but also by significant corruption. Families of the disappeared have formed themselves into collectives and are trying to locate mass graves. But because their work is rarely followed up by forensic experts, justice remains elusive. Over the last 15 years, the country has been rocked by violence, and last year 28 people disappeared every day on average. Yet Mexico still doesn't have a national genetic database that allows experts to identify bodies efficiently. Our correspondents report.