FUNDENL

FUNDENL, whose name expands to Fuerzas Unidas por Nuestros Desaparecidos en Nuevo León, is a Mexican non-governmental organization formed in the state of Nuevo León in 2012. It was created by relatives of people who had disappeared, together with solidarity activists and other supporters, after families found that institutional channels were not providing an adequate search for their missing loved ones. The organization’s work is rooted in the principle that people who were taken alive should be searched for alive, expressed in its principal slogan: “Because they were taken alive, and we want them alive.” FUNDENL is not a commercial brand in the conventional sense. It is a civil-society organization and a collective of families, activists, and allied specialists. Its activities combine direct search work, documentation, public advocacy, human-rights campaigning, forensic accompaniment, and collective memory. The group maintains or contributes to records concerning missing persons in Nuevo León and elsewhere in Mexico, publicizes disappearance cases, participates in national meetings, and produces materials intended to make the scale and human consequences of forced disappearance visible in Mexico and internationally. A central feature of FUNDENL’s approach is the involvement of families in searching and documenting cases. The organization has undertaken field searches and independent exhumation-related work, while also seeking better application of official search and forensic protocols. It has worked with forensic anthropologists, archaeologists, and other specialists, and has promoted training concerning the recording of human remains, archaeological methods, drones, and photogrammetry. An independent forensic group associated with the organization was formalized in 2019 after years of cooperation with professionals who had accompanied the collective’s field activities. FUNDENL has also developed public-information and technology initiatives. Its “Huellas de Vida” platform was created as a citizen-oriented, humanitarian tool for documenting missing people, unidentified located persons, and objects found at clandestine burial sites in Nuevo León. The project was developed with the American Jewish World Service and the Centro de Investigación en Ciencias de Información Geoespacial. Its purpose is to make information consultable and comparable so that possible relationships, patterns, or coincidences can assist searches. The initiative reflects the organization’s concern that clothing and personal objects delivered to authorities may otherwise be archived without being effectively connected to missing-person investigations. Public memory and anti-stigma work are also important parts of FUNDENL’s identity. The organization has participated in “Bordados por la Paz” (Embroidery for Peace) in Nuevo León and other artistic practices. In Monterrey, relatives appropriated and redesigned a public space formerly known as the Plaza de la Transparencia. A metal-and-glass monument there was used to display the names of disappeared relatives, with the idea that families would remove the names if their loved ones returned. The space subsequently became known as the Plaza de los Desaparecidos, or Plaza of the Disappeared, and evolved into a site of remembrance. FUNDENL’s advocacy has included efforts to challenge the stigmatization and criminalization of disappeared people and to draw public attention to the frequency of disappearances. One internationally significant case involved Irma Leticia Hidalgo, a founder and member whose son Roy Rivera Hidalgo disappeared on January 11, 2011. The case was brought before the United Nations Human Rights Committee, which found that Mexico had not demonstrated that the investigation had been conducted with due diligence and considered that the allegations concerning state responsibility had not been properly rebutted. Through such actions, FUNDENL links individual family searches with broader demands for truth, accountability, effective investigations, and respect for human rights.

FUNDENL emerged from the experience of families in Nuevo León who were searching for relatives subjected to disappearance. The organization’s origins are associated with two mothers who had exhausted available institutional avenues while seeking their sons. They joined with activists and other families, eventually creating a collective that could search directly, document cases, accompany relatives, and demand that authorities meet their legal and human-rights obligations. The organization was formally established in 2012. From the outset, FUNDENL treated disappearance as both an individual family emergency and a wider public crisis. Its members searched for missing people, compiled information about cases, participated in national gatherings, and denounced disappearances in public spaces. The group also sought to counter social narratives that stigmatize or criminalize disappeared people. Its central message emphasizes that those taken alive should be searched for alive, rather than treating disappearance solely as a matter of unidentified remains or closed administrative files. The organization’s work expanded into field searches and forensic collaboration. Beginning in 2014, FUNDENL worked with forensic specialists and undertook independent searches and exhumation-related activities. In 2014, collaboration with the Peruvian Forensic Anthropology Team led to the full identification of Brenda Damaris González Solís, who had disappeared in 2011. Subsequent searches in García, Nuevo León, in 2017 resulted in the discovery of thousands of human remains. These experiences reinforced FUNDENL’s demand for professional, transparent, and rights-respecting forensic processes. FUNDENL also developed relationships with specialists in social and forensic anthropology. Training addressed the registration of human remains and the legal tools families can use to request proper application of search protocols. In 2018, the forensic group working through FUNDENL trained the Attorney General’s Office in archaeological techniques for fieldwork, as well as drone use and photogrammetry. The group was formally constituted as an Independent Forensic Group on August 30, 2019, although its members had accompanied FUNDENL since earlier field activities. Technology and documentation became another part of the organization’s work. FUNDENL created the Huellas de Vida platform with the American Jewish World Service and the Centro de Investigación en Ciencias de Información Geoespacial. The platform records information about missing people, unidentified located persons, and objects recovered from clandestine burial sites in Nuevo León. Its humanitarian and citizen-oriented purpose is to allow information to be consulted and analyzed for possible links. The project responded in part to families’ concern that clothing and objects handed to authorities could be stored without being connected to an active search. Alongside search and forensic work, FUNDENL has used artistic and commemorative practices to keep cases visible. It participated in Embroidery for Peace in Nuevo León and helped transform public space in Monterrey. The area first known as the Plaza de la Transparencia contained a metal-and-glass monument where families placed the names of disappeared relatives. The intended symbolism was that relatives would remove the names when their loved ones returned. The site became known as the Plaza de los Desaparecidos and developed into a place of collective memory. The group has pursued advocacy beyond Mexico’s domestic institutions. Irma Leticia Hidalgo, one of the organization’s founders and a mother whose son Roy Rivera Hidalgo disappeared on January 11, 2011, brought the case to the United Nations Human Rights Committee. The Committee determined that the Mexican State had not shown that the investigation had been conducted with due diligence. It also considered that the allegations concerning state responsibility had been sufficiently substantiated and had not been adequately refuted by the State Prosecutor’s Office. This international action illustrates FUNDENL’s broader strategy: combine family-led searches and public mobilization with legal and international pressure for effective investigations, truth, accountability, and respect for the rights of victims and relatives.

• 2019

  Independent Forensic Group formalized

  [1]FUNDENLen.wikipedia.org

  Anthropologists and archaeologists supporting FUNDENL are formally organized as an Independent Forensic Group.

• 2018

  Forensic-methods training

  [1]FUNDENLen.wikipedia.org

  FUNDENL’s forensic group provides training to the Attorney General’s Office in archaeological field techniques, drone use, and photogrammetry.

• 2017

  Searches in García, Nuevo León

  [1]FUNDENLen.wikipedia.org

  Field searches in García lead to the discovery of thousands of human remains.

• 2014

  Expansion into field searches and forensic collaboration

  [1]FUNDENLen.wikipedia.org

  FUNDENL begins field-search and independent exhumation-related work with forensic specialists and helps identify Brenda Damaris González Solís in collaboration with the Peruvian Forensic Anthropology Team.

• 2012

  Formal establishment of FUNDENL

  [1]FUNDENLen.wikipedia.org

  Families of disappeared people, solidarity activists, and supporters formally establish the organization in Nuevo León.

A family-led Mexican human-rights collective combining direct searches, forensic support, documentation, public advocacy, and collective memory to address forced disappearance.

• Citizen search and documentation platform

  Huellas de Vida: Búsqueda de Personas Desaparecidas en Nuevo León

  A humanitarian, citizen-oriented information platform developed by FUNDENL with the American Jewish World Service and the Centro de Investigación en Ciencias de Información Geoespacial. It documents missing persons, unidentified located persons, and personal objects found at clandestine burial sites in Nuevo León. By making the information available for consultation and analysis, the project seeks to reveal possible connections and patterns that may assist the search for disappeared people.

• Because they were taken alive, and we want them alive

  Mexico

  FUNDENL’s central advocacy message frames disappearance as an ongoing search for living people and rejects approaches that reduce cases to administrative records or unidentified remains.

  Source
• Embroidery for Peace in Nuevo León

  Nuevo León

  A collective-memory and artistic practice in which disappearance and victims’ names are made visible through embroidery and related public activities.

  Source
• Public awareness campaigns on disappearance

  Mexico

  FUNDENL uses social media and public advocacy to challenge the idea that disappearance is rare and to oppose the stigmatization or criminalization of disappeared people.

  Source

• 2014

  Build independent forensic capacityStrategy

  Background

  Families required search and identification processes that were technically rigorous and responsive to relatives’ needs.

  Action taken

  FUNDENL began field searches and independent exhumation-related work with forensic specialists, later supporting training and formalizing an Independent Forensic Group.

  Aftermath

  The organization developed a continuing forensic and field-search capability and participated in identification, training, and documentation work.

  Source

• Develop a citizen-managed missing-person information platformStrategy

  Background

  FUNDENL identified a gap between the handling of objects found at clandestine burial sites and their possible usefulness in missing-person searches.

  Action taken

  It created Huellas de Vida with partner organizations to document missing persons, unidentified people, and recovered objects in a searchable and analyzable format.

  Aftermath

  The platform broadened FUNDENL’s work from family-led searches and advocacy into structured public documentation and information analysis.

  Source

1. 1FUNDENLen.wikipedia.org