Mexican drug cartels are forcing indigenous children and teens to join their ranks, torturing or killing those who refuse, the United Nations warned on Friday.
The UN’s special rapporteur on indigenous rights, Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, said she is “particularly worried” about violence against minors after speaking with indigenous communities around Mexico during a 10-day tour.
“In areas affected by organised crime and the production and trafficking of drugs, the only choice left to young people is to join these groups or be tortured, disappeared or killed,” she told a press conference at the end of her visit.
“I have been presented with numerous cases of serious violations.”
She said “many” young indigenous people have disappeared, though she did not have an exact figure.