Mexicans take to streets to protest disappearances of 40,000 people

Hundreds of Mexicans marched on Friday to demandmore action to clarify the fate of over 40,000 people who remainmissing in the country. "We want them alive," protesters chanted in Mexico City, where theyhad gathered to mark the International Day of the Victims of EnforcedDisappearances.In front of the government building, an artistic installationfeatured the number 40,000, white and red flowers, pictures of thosemissing and black figures on which people could write messages.Most of the victims had disappeared since 2006.The under-secretary for human rights, Alejandro Encinas, said thesearch for them is "the priority" of President Andres Manuel LopezObrador's government. Lopez Obrador took office on December 1.Karla Quintana from the National Search Commission said 3,024 massgraves and more than 4,800 bodies have been found since 2006.Many of the bodies have still not been identified.The government announced that it will allow the UN Committee onEnforced Disappearances to investigate the situation in Mexico.The problem of the disappearances had long been downplayed, leavingmany families to search for the victims by themselves, without helpfrom the authorities, Encinas said. The disappearances are attributed mainly to organized crime and tosecurity forces.