Centro Diocesano para los Derechos Humanos Fray Juan de Larios

Centro Diocesano para los Derechos Humanos Fray Juan de Larios was founded in 2001 to contribute to building a just society characterized by a culture of respect for human rights. The award supports Fray Juan’s work to promote improved investigations of disappearances by monitoring the coordination between Coahuila state’s agencies and the National Prosecutor’s Office. The award also supports implementation of Coahuila State’s Program for Exhumation and Identification of Remains, the first of its kind in Mexico.

Centro Diocesano para los Derechos Humanos Fray Juan de Larios was founded in 2001 to contribute to building a just society characterized by a culture of respect for human rights. The award supports Fray Juan’s work to promote improved investigation guidelines and practices by the Special Unit for Investigating Disappearances of the Coahuila State Prosecutor’s Office. The state-level work provides a broad civil society coalition with useful information for devising a similar unit within the National Prosecutor’s Office that will replace Mexico’s current Attorney General’s Office. The award also supports implementation of Coahuila State’s Program for Identifying Remains, the first of its kind in Mexico.

Centro Diocesano para los Derechos Humanos Fray Juan de Larios is an organization with an established track record in advancing access to justice for victims of human rights abuses in Coahuila as well as documenting and raising visibility of disappearances. The award supports efforts to improve investigations of disappearances through monitoring compliance with a new federal protocol, and advocating effective policies and procedures for searching for victims.