The report analyzes enforced disappearances in Coahuila, highlighting their local characteristics within the context of Mexico’s “war on drugs,” which led to a sharp rise in violence. Although this practice dates back to the “Dirty War” of the 1970s and 1980s, a new wave of disappearances began in 2006 with the militarization of public security.

The Observatory on Disappearance and Impunity in Mexico seeks to understand this phenomenon at regional and local levels by documenting its dynamics and the organization, advocacy, and mobilization efforts of victims and collectives. The analysis combines quantitative and qualitative data drawn from information provided by the Diocesan Center for Human Rights Fray Juan de Larios, El Colegio de México, and organizations such as Familias Unidas, Grupo Vida, Alas de Esperanza, CADHAC, and IDHEAS.

The findings help challenge common myths—such as the idea that disappearances are isolated events or solely linked to organized crime—and reveal their multidimensional social nature, involving multiple actors, including state agents. Coahuila was chosen for study both because of its high economic and social development and because it is one of the Mexican states with the highest number of disappeared persons, as well as for its strong base of documentation generated by civil society organizations.