MEXICO CITY –  Mexican human rights groups are asking the U.N. Committee on Enforced Disappearances to establish a special rapporteur for the country.

Denise Gonzalez of the rights group Centro Prodh says the September disappearance of 43 teachers’ college students at the hands of police is not an isolated case.

She says forced disappearances in Mexico amount to a humanitarian crisis, something she accuses the state of refusing to acknowledge.

Juan Manuel Gomez Robledo is deputy secretary for multilateral affairs and human rights at Mexico’s Foreign Relations Department.

Gomez Robledo said Tuesday that the government is open to considering recommendations that the U.N. committee makes as a result of two days of discussions in Geneva this week.