Deputies receive reform to combat disappearances with biometric CURP

This Saturday, the Chamber of Deputies received the draft decree approved by the Senate of the Republic , which profoundly reforms the General Law on Forced Disappearance of Persons , the Law on Disappearances Committed by Individuals , and the General Population Law .

This is a historic reform that seeks to respond to one of the most painful crises facing Mexico: the disappearance of persons. A tragedy that has marked entire generations, uprooted families, and sown fear, and which could now have more effective tools to address it.

One of the key points of this reform is the instruction for the Ministry of the Interior to create, within a maximum period of three months , the Single Identity Platform . This platform will interconnect public and private databases , linked to a biometric CURP (Currency Registry Number), allowing for more agile and precise searches for missing persons.

This biometric CURP will integrate fingerprints, facial recognition, and other biological data , facilitating automated cross-referencing of information between official registries, hospitals, forensic services, and private databases.

The new legislation not only proposes technological tools, it also toughens penalties . Individuals or entities that fail to cooperate or refuse to provide information relevant to locating individuals will be subject to fines ranging from 1 to 2 million pesos .

With this, the Mexican State seeks to reduce the cloak of silence and impunity that has so often shrouded cases of disappearance, especially when companies, institutions, or individuals refuse to cooperate.

Another key point of the reform is the creation of the National Search Alert , a tool that will be activated immediately upon any report of a missing person.

This alert will function as a mass federal notification , coordinated with the new National Investigation File Database , which will be fed in real time by all prosecutors' offices, both local and federal.

The aim is to eliminate the bureaucratic delay that has been one of the main obstacles in the first hours of the search, considered crucial for locating a person alive .

Another key focus of the reform is the requirement that all forensic and expert services, both state and federal, perform genetic and fingerprint testing before sending unidentified bodies to mass graves.

Furthermore, these results must be integrated into the National Forensic Data Bank , which will be strengthened by interconnecting databases from prosecutors' offices, medical services, hospitals, and courts .

This responds to the demands of thousands of families who, faced with the lack of official identification of human remains, have had to search through clandestine cemeteries, overcrowded morgues, and incomplete records , in an emotional and bureaucratic odyssey that has lasted years.

The reform also establishes that each state and the Federation must have specialized prosecutors' offices for forced disappearances, as well as trained and certified personnel to investigate these types of crimes.

This professionalization aims to avoid the systematic errors that have historically hindered or re-victimized families and have contributed to structural impunity in this crime.

The 40-page document is already in the hands of legislators in San Lázaro. According to statements by the president of the Political Coordination Board, Ricardo Monreal , this initiative will be one of the three priorities for the sessions on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday.

If approved, Mexico would take an unprecedented legislative turn in the way it searches for its missing persons: with technology, with more humane protocols, with real punishments, and with a clearer legal will .