A senior law enforcement official in Veracruz has been fired after the recently-located remains of a 30-year-old man were delivered to his family in black plastic bags on Saturday.

The Veracruz Attorney General’s Office (FGE) announced Monday that Alberto Torres Rivera, head of its sub-unit in the municipality of Las Choapas, had been dismissed for delivering the remains of Eladio Aguirre Chable, who disappeared in April 2020, to his family in the bags, which weren’t even sealed.

His dismissal came after members of a Coatzacoalcos-based collective made of up mothers of missing persons denounced the way in which the man’s remains were handed over to his family.

The Colectivo Madres en Búsqueda Coatzacoalcos called for criminal sanctions to be imposed and for Torres and Las Choapas prosecutor Lenin Juárez to be sacked.

The Las Choapas sub-unit of the FGE delivered the body in “deplorable” conditions without complying with its obligations in accordance with the legal framework that applies to missing persons and without abiding by “necessary forensic standards,” it said.

The collective said the insensitive way in which the man’s body was delivered to his family only served to revictimize him.

“We demand the immediate dismissal of prosecutor Lenin Juárez and Alberto Torres; the rights of victims must be guaranteed,” it said.

In addition to announcing Torres’ dismissal, Veracruz Attorney General Verónica Hernández Giadáns said Monday that an investigation had been opened to identify all of the public servants responsible for violating the General Victims Law as well as state and federal protocols that apply to the treatment of bodies of missing persons.

She issued an apology to Aguirre’s family and said she was committed to eradicating practices that violate victims’ rights.

The attorney general added that “exemplary punishments” will be imposed on those found to be responsible for the delivery of the man’s body to avoid any repeat of “such regrettable actions.”

She didn’t say whether Juárez, the Las Choapas prosecutor, would remain in his job but issued a stern demand to all FGE employees.

“I reiterate my demand to the public servants of this institution to adhere strictly to the law and to apply it with sensitivity and respect to human rights. I will not tolerate a single act that is removed from the principles that govern the institution that I represent,” Hernández said.

There are more than 70,000 missing persons in Mexico, including a large number of people who disappeared in recent years in Veracruz, where many hidden graves have been discovered.

Source: Reforma (sp)