By Daniella Burgi-Palomino, May 18, 2016
 Posters calling for the return of the Ayotzinapa students in Mexico City. Photo credit: Emma Buckhout |
Yesterday, LAWG joined 34 international, regional, and Mexican organizations in calling on the Mexican government to work with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) on the implementation of a special follow-up mechanism to respond to the outstanding demands and inconsistencies in the investigation of the 43 disappeared students from the Ayotzinapa rural teachers’ college.
Since the Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts (GIEI) presented their final report on April 24th, providing further evidence to refute the Mexican government’s official version of events and highlighting concerning new discrepancies in the investigation, the Mexican government has remained silent on describing how they would follow-up on these outstanding questions and continue the search for truth and justice for the families of the disappeared students.
With just a week to go before twenty months have passed since the 43 students were disappeared in 2014, LAWG calls on the Mexican government to respond immediately and ensure the participation of the IACHR, the families of the students and the NGOs accompanying the case in the design and implementation of the special follow-up mechanism. The implementation of the special follow-up mechanism and addressing some of the Experts’ longer-term recommendations are crucial steps to improve Mexico’s investigation and prosecution of enforced disappearances and to provide access to justice for victims of human rights abuses.
Click here to read the complete letter addressed to Mexico’s Secretary of Foreign Affairs Claudia Ruiz Massieu (in Spanish).
