The case of the 43 missing students in Mexico is one of thousands of cases of disappearance

MEXICO CITY – In all countries there are crimes that have an impact. In Mexico, one of the most recent examples is the disappearance of 43 students from a rural teachers’ college in 2014.

Ten years later, it is still unclear where the students from the Rural Normal School in Ayotzinapa are. Authorities believe they were killed, but have only found small bone fragments of three of them.

The families, with the support of the school known for its radical activism, continue to demand justice. They claim that a lack of political will is to blame for the truth not coming to light. If this was a “state crime,” as the current administration claims, the government must know what happened and who is hiding information.

Why is the case still relevant?

In a country where more than 115,000 cases of “disappearances” have been registered, this case continues to attract great public attention because it combines the violence of cartels and the corruption of the authorities and remains stubbornly unsolved.

The case is considered symbolic and another example of the human rights violations that were committed in Mexico’s dirty war decades ago and have never been corrected.

What happened on September 26th?

The students were attacked in Iguala by security forces with links to the local drug gang Guerreros Unidos as they stole buses to get to a protest rally.

During the administration of Enrique Peña Nieto (2012-2018), the students traveled to Iguala, Guerrero, to protest against an event there, according to authorities – the now-imprisoned mayor had links to the local gang Guerreros Unidos. They were allegedly mistaken for members of a rival gang.

Peña Nieto’s government said Guerreros Unidos kidnapped and killed the students, burned their bodies in a massive fire and threw their ashes into a river.

But investigations by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the successor agency to the U.S. Attorney General, and a truth commission established in 2019 found that the landfill fire was a lie based on false testimony extracted under torture and manipulated evidence.

The subsequent investigation revealed that a massive operation was carried out that night, involving members of Guerreros Unidos, as well as local, state and federal police. And the army knew everything, because it had a base in Iguala, soldiers on the streets and spies among the students.

Investigators said army members were involved with the gang in smuggling heroin from the mountains of Guerrero on buses to the United States. Prosecutors said the decision to cover up the truth was made at the highest levels of government.

Has anyone been held accountable?

More than 100 people are in custody and dozens have been charged, but no one has been convicted.

At the end of the previous administration, Mexican courts found that the investigation was riddled with errors and manipulation. There were dozens of cases of torture.

As a result of these abuses and misconduct, many of those involved were released. Some have been rearrested under the current government.

The most senior defendant is former Attorney General Jesús Murillo Karam, who is accused of torture, enforced disappearances and obstruction of justice. Also charged are 16 soldiers, most of whom are awaiting trial under house arrest, infuriating the students’ families.

When did attitudes towards the current government change?

López Obrador had promised to find the students and hold those responsible to account. But in 2022, as mounting evidence pointed to the military’s involvement in the attack and the cover-up, the government changed its tone.

The president had ordered the military to open its archives to investigators. But that did not happen. Instead, López Obrador gave the military more power and responsibility than any other president in recent history.

The prosecutor leading the investigation, Omar García Trejo, was suddenly demoted after requesting arrest warrants for two dozen soldiers and replaced by someone unfamiliar with the case.

Political pressure to produce results has also increased, says Santiago Aguirre, one of the families’ lawyers. The government presented some evidence that did not appear to come from reliable sources, and the government’s searches proved sloppy.

In which direction do the families think the investigation should go?

Their lawyers point out that key figures have still not been arrested, including the man who led the investigation during Peña Nieto’s government, Tomás Zerón, who can be seen on videos interrogating and threatening prisoners. He sought refuge in Israel, which refused to extradite him despite Mexico’s request.

They also say they want to see military intelligence records from that night, which they have not had access to until now. They also want more cooperation from the U.S. government, which has indicted members of Guerreros Unidos in drug trafficking cases that also revealed their ties to the military.

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