By Lyndsey Kelly
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America 

WASHINGTON D.C., United States of America – Recent reports have surfaced regarding the 43 Mexican students who disappeared from Iguala in September, alleging that police abducted them after receiving an order from a local mayor. The report claims that the students were later turned over to members of the Guerreros Unidos, a local gang, who killed the students and then burned their bodies for 12 hours, before throwing their remains in a river. Human Rights Watch reported that the Mexican government delayed investigations of the disappearances and state prosecutors later sought to cover up the fact by coercing false testimony from witnesses.

The victims who were mostly males in their 20s were studying to become teachers at a college in Ayotzinapa. On 26 September, they disappeared from a protest in Iguala, and have not been seen or heard from since. However, recently three men arrested in connection with the disappearance of the students confessed to having killed a large number of people believed to be the students.

Officials have said that after learning of the students plan to protest, the mayor ordered the Iguala police chief, Felipe Flores Velasquez, to stop the demonstration. The police then confronted the students and forcibly took them to the police station before they were handed over to members of a local gang. The gang then transported the students to a dump where those still alive were questioned and then executed. Members of the Guerreros Unidos told authorities that they burned the victims’ corpses in a landfill and then placed the remained in garbage bags and dumped in the river.

The disappearance of the students sparked protests all across Mexico, which has spread to the capital, criticizing the governor of Guerrero to be criticized for his inaction, forcing him to take a leave of absence. The parents of the students are not satisfied with the recent findings, demanding that the government provide definitive answers. Some parents have even gone as far as to suggest that President Enrique Pena Nieto resign if he is unable to deliver answers to the egregious incidents.

 

For more information, please see the following: 

BLOOMBERG-Mexico finds Evidence 43 Students Murdered by Drug Gangs – 8 Nov. 2014.

CNN – Remains Could be Those of 43 Missing Mexican Students – 8 Nov. 2014.

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH – Mexico: Delays, Cover-Up Mar Atrocities Response – 8 Nov. 2014.

NEW YORK TIMES – Drug Gang Killed Students, Mexican Law Official Says – 7 Nov. 2014.