Amnesty International has expressed its “profound concern” over the “alleged irregular burial” of at least 60 people, including 10 babies, in a mass grave in the central Mexican state of Morelos.
People searching for their missing loved ones said on Sunday that at least 60 bodies had been uncovered in a common grave in a cemetery in the community of Pedro Amaro, located in the municipality of Jojutla, Morelos.
However, the Morelos Attorney General’s Office (FGE) said on Monday that media reports on the discovery of bodies in the grave were inaccurate.
Members of the search collectives accuse the FGE of essentially dumping unidentified bodies in the mass grave in the cemetery in Jojutla, located around 50 kilometers south of Cuernavaca. The deceased persons buried in the grave were presumably victims of murder in most cases.
Amnesty International’s view
In a statement posted to social media on Tuesday, Amnesty International Mexico expressed its “profound concern about the alleged irregular burial of at least 60 people and 10 babies in a common grave in Pedro Amaro, Jojutla, Morelos.”
“This could represent a serious violation of the right to the truth, justice and reparation for the victims and their families,” Amnesty International said.
The non-governmental organization made five demands of the Morelos Attorney General’s Office:
- Continue excavations with specialized personnel.
- Guarantee the participation of search collectives.
- Carry out investigations and identify the exhumed bodies.
- Don’t stigmatize or re-victimize those who observe and document (the process).
- Publish the results of the genetic profiles of all people found.
“Common graves cannot continue being a synonym of impunity,” Amnesty International said.
“The victims and their families deserve truth and justice.”
🔴 Amnistía Internacional expresa su profunda preocupación por la presunta inhumación irregular de al menos 60 personas y 10 bebés en una fosa común en Pedro Amaro, #Jojutla, Morelos.
Este hecho podría representar una grave violación al derecho a la verdad, la justicia y la… pic.twitter.com/5zyrNR6kJ4— Amnistía Int. México (@amnistiamexico) June 24, 2025
Searching mother: ‘We hadn’t seen a situation like this before’
Patricia García Navaro, a mother whose son disappeared in Cuautla, Morelos, in 2022, told the newspaper La Jornada that the mass grave “belongs to the Attorney General’s Office.”
She accused the FGE of burying the bodies of unidentified people in the grave, and asserted that the bodies hadn’t been subjected to autopsies.
The “fight” now is to determine the identity of the people whose bodies are in the grave, García Navaro said.
“We’ve been here for four weeks and we’re very tired because it’s only us,” she said, referring to herself and other mothers of missing persons.
Romana García Miranda, another madre buscadora (searching mother), told La Jornada that “things are coming out that we never imagined.”
“… We hadn’t seen a situation like this before. We’re not just looking for our children,” said García Miranda, whose son disappeared in 2021.
“We’re looking for everyone who is missing. That’s why we’re fighting so much for the identification [of bodies],” she said.
García Miranda said that the attorney general of Morelos, Edgar Maldonado, had shown only limited interest in their search for their missing loved ones.
“Hopefully he and the entire country hear our clamor [for justice] and join us with a little bit of empathy,” she said.
Amalia Alejandra Hernández, a member of a search collective called Desaparecidos Tetelcingo y Jojutla, told reporters that more than 60 bodies have been exhumed from the mass grave at the cemetery in Pedro Amaro. She said that 10 to 12 of the bodies were of babies and 10 to 12 were of women.
Hernández also said that separate bone remains have been found in the grave.
The common grave has been searched on three previous occasions by search collectives — in 2017, in 2022 and in 2024 — and scores of bodies were previously exhumed. A fourth phase of excavation of the grave began in late May and continued until June 19 when adverse weather conditions created a safety risk at the site.
The news agency EFE reported that “between 2015 and 2017, [search] collectives and relatives of missing people demonstrated that the Morelos Attorney General’s Office irregularly buried dozens of bodies in common graves, many with signs of violence and without a prior investigation [being carried out], ignoring the relevant protocols.”
Violence in Morelos was particularly prevalent in the second half of the last decade.
The FGE casts doubt on media reports
The Morelos Attorney General’s Office published a statement on Monday to respond to media reports about the discovery of at least 60 bodies in the grave.
The FGE said that reports referring to the “supposed recovery” of more than 60 bodies and “a dozen skeletal remains” lacked “veracity.”
It asserted that the reports included “unconfirmed information that creates social alarm and disinformation.”
The FGE didn’t, however, provide an alternative figure on the number of bodies found in the grave in recent weeks.
“The technical expert report is currently being prepared and will be presented in accordance with the criteria of responsibility, transparency and strict compliance with the law,” the Attorney General’s Office said.
It said that the report will be presented publicly this week after it has been disclosed to members of search collectives.
The FGE also said that it “maintains its commitment to the victims and the right to truth.”
“For that reason, a new meeting with the representatives of the collectives will be held,” it said.
Attorney General Maldonado met with search collective representatives and members on Tuesday.
The objective of the meeting, the FGE said in a statement, was to “review progress, share information and strengthen permanent dialogue about the exhumation work being carried out at the common grave in the cemetery” in Pedro Amaro.
“During the meeting, the attorney general expressed the institutional will to accompany the processes of truth and justice that the families have demanded for years,” the FGE said.
“… One of the main agreements was to develop genetic profiles of the remains found during the fourth phase of judicial intervention at the ‘Pedro Amaro’ cemetery,” the Attorney General’s Office said.
“… The attorney general reported that the exhumation work, which was temporarily suspended last Friday due to the risk of collapse of a wall adjacent to the excavation area, will resume as soon as the structural safety of the area is guaranteed,” the FGE said.
“In response to requests made, the Attorney General’s Office opened the door to the inclusion of independent experts [in the excavation and exhumation process] and will consider bringing in specialists in archaeology and physical anthropology, with the aim of ensuring a more robust and respectful technical intervention,” it said.
The burial of unidentified bodies in common graves is a common practice in Mexico
More than 48,000 unidentified bodies lie in common graves in cemeteries across Mexico, a collective of journalists called “A dónde van los desaparecidos” (Where do the disappeared go) said last September.
Thousands of unidentified bodies — many of which correspond to people who were victims of abduction and murder — are typically buried in common graves every year in Mexico, a country where well over 100,000 people are officially classified as missing.
In Morelos, among the other places where the FGE is said to have buried unidentified bodies in common graves is Tetelcingo, located in the municipality of Cuautla. Dozens of bodies were found in a common grave in the town more than a decade ago.
“The Morelos Attorney General’s Office buried bodies of unclaimed persons there [and] unidentified remains,” the newspaper El País reported on Tuesday.
“Afterwards, during search work, relatives [of missing people] continued their investigations to Jojutla, where they found a similar situation,” El País said.
Javier Sicilia, a poet and activist whose son was murdered in Morelos in 2011, has said that “the graves of Tetelcingo and Jojutla are proof of how the state is criminal.”
“… In Tetelcingo and Jojutla it is confirmed that the state also disappears people,” he said.
