Overview
- The Supreme Court on June 18, 2026 ruled that the criminal action for crimes related to the 2009 Guardería ABC fire is imprescriptible because the facts amount to serious violations of children’s human rights.
- The Fiscalía General de la República has confirmed it will continue the criminal process against two former IMSS officials who were linked to the case and charged with negligent homicide and negligent injury by omission.
- The decision does not determine guilt; it removes the procedural bar of prescription so investigations and trials can proceed under principles the Court highlighted, including the right to truth and the fight against impunity.
- Victims’ families and President Claudia Sheinbaum welcomed the ruling as a major step toward justice, and the lawyers for victim groups say more than 18 people have been implicated historically with nine people already convicted in related proceedings.
- The fire on June 5, 2009 killed 49 children and injured about 104–106 after safety and regulatory failures at the daycare, and the Court’s ruling could reshape how other long-stalled cases of grave human-rights violations are handled in Mexico.