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Relatives hold up posters of the 43 missing students of the Ayotzinapa Teacher Training College during a protest outside the federal court in Chilpancingo | Photo: Reuters |
A Mexican judge has said that there are no evidence to charge the detainees with the forced disappearance of the 43 missing students.
Vidulfo Rosales, a human rights lawyer representing the families of the 43 Mexican students who went missing after being attacked by police in southern Mexico in September, said Saturday that Mexico’s Attorney General (PGR) will not be placing charges of forced disappearance on the suspects in the case of the missing students.
Detainees, which number some 90 so far, will still face charges of kidnapping and murder, after a judge considered that there is no evidence to place charges of forced disappearance.
DD. note; A "forced disappearance" differs from a "kidnapping" in that it involves state action (involvement of a state official). Kidnapping is generally considered as a person taken and held for ransom. If an agent of the state is involved in a forced disappearance or torture the State as a whole, not just the agent is responsible under international law. It is a crime against humanity, or human rights and the state could be held in violation of several international laws and treaties and subject to sanctions by the UN. IMO that is why PGR and the Judge are going out of their way to avoid charging and convicting the detainees for the crime of "forced disappearance".
Detainees, which number some 90 so far, will still face charges of kidnapping and murder, after a judge considered that there is no evidence to place charges of forced disappearance.
DD. note; A "forced disappearance" differs from a "kidnapping" in that it involves state action (involvement of a state official). Kidnapping is generally considered as a person taken and held for ransom. If an agent of the state is involved in a forced disappearance or torture the State as a whole, not just the agent is responsible under international law. It is a crime against humanity, or human rights and the state could be held in violation of several international laws and treaties and subject to sanctions by the UN. IMO that is why PGR and the Judge are going out of their way to avoid charging and convicting the detainees for the crime of "forced disappearance".
Rosales also expressed concern that the PGR’s investigation has “weaknesses and inconsistencies,” adding that in the absence of compelling evidence that the students are dead, their parents will continue searching for them.
According to the version of events provided by the Mexican government, the students were killed and their remains burned at a landfill, then placed inside plastic bags and thrown into a river. However, only the remains of one of the students, Alexander Mora, havebeenidentified so far.
More than 90 people, most of them local police in south-western Guerrero State, have been detained so far in connection with the case, including the former mayor of Iguala – the city where the students disappeared – who along with his wife who are accused of ordering the attack on the students by local police and the local Guerreros Unidos gang.
Earlier this month, authorities reported the arrest of Felipe Rodriguez – known as "El Cepillo" or "The Brush" – who allegedly ordered Guerreros Unidos gang members to burn the bodies and clothing of the students to hide evidence.
As the four month anniversary of the disappearance of the 43 Ayotzinapa students approaches, families of the disappeared youth have called on a massive demonstration in Mexico City on Jan. 26 to demand their return.
TAKING THE CASE OF "FORCED DISAPPEARANCES" DIRECT TO THE UN
In addition to the demonstration planned for Jan. 26, representatives of the missing students will go to Geneva this next week to present a 22 page report to the UN Committee Against Forced Disappearances. They will participate in the UN Committee meeting on Feb 1-2 that will be examining the issue of "forced disappearances" in the Mexican state.
In an interview, Felipe de la Cruz, spokesperson for the students' parents, said:
"Later still, 11 days after the disappearance of the 43 young people, President Enrique Peña Nieto spoke for the first time on the case."
The document recalls that the Executive received the students' parents 34 days after the events.
Most importantly, they say, four months after the fact,
"the Mexican government has been unable to file charges and initiate legal proceedings for the forced disappearance of the students."
The report points out the lack of action by the PGR for investigating the connection between organized crime and political authorities, it hasn't even begun:
"It is naive to think that the collusion between organized crime and the public sector stops with the mayor of Iguala and his family. The narco-municipal governments can only exist with the acquiescence and complicity that go beyond the municipality. Therefore, it is essential to require that Guerrero's former governor (Ángel Aguirre) and other state officials in the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches be investigated. The same [investigation] should be required of the Army."
Contrary to the refusal by the Secretary of Government Relations, Miguel Ángel Osorio Chong, to investigate the Army in the Ayotzinapa case, the report presents the urgent necessity of opening and developing this line of investigation:
"As the only federal authority territorially in place in Iguala, without a doubt, the Armed Forces relied on intelligence about links between authorities of the Mexican State and drug-trafficking groups. Today it is verified that the Armed Forces knew of previous events, such that they were aware of the breakdown of the municipality [government structure] and that they gave warning of the systematic use of 'disappearance' in this locality."
The report exposes the crisis that exists in Mexico regarding this crime:
"The Ayotzinapa case has come to demonstrate the consequences of years of impunity, inaction and indifference in the face of forced disappearance in Mexico. From different perspectives, the event has been designated as a watershed in recent history and as a turning point regarding the crisis of disappearances that the country is going through."
Moreover, according to the report, the Ayotzinapa case demonstrates the lack of "governmental will and conviction" to address, prevent and punish the crime under international law:
"The Ayotzinapa case conclusively confirms that the legal framework is insufficient and that the authorities completely ignore the Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Forced Disappearance. After the forced disappearance of the 43 students, no one faces criminal prosecution for that crime; further, no Mexican authority has used or invoked the Convention in legal decisions related to the prosecution and judgment of this crime."
Considered to be the "most serious case of forced disappearance in the nation's history," they say, the event was not properly dealt with in the first, crucial hours:
"In the case, despite the fact that beginning the night of September 26 there was evidence of forced disappearance of 43 young students, [yet] the initial investigations were not [focused] on the disappearances, but on the homicides; in fact, in the absence of a diligent investigation into the disappearances, the families filed complaints such that the respective files might be opened. The Ayotzinapa case also shows that searches for their safe return were not begun immediately."
The report states that in order to investigate the students' whereabouts, the participation of Specialized Unit for the Search of Disappeared Persons, the Executive Committee for Victims' Care (CEAV) and the General Department of Strategies for Dealing with Human Rights in the Secretariat of Government Relations [SEGOB],
"did not make, nor have they [subsequently] made, any significant intervention in the case; quite to the contrary, their official communications [regarding] the situation of forced disappearance have been fuzzy."
The report shows the "simulation" of the Mexican government in creating institutions that do not really deal with cases of serious human rights violations, and it severely criticizes actions of the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH):
"The Ayotzinapa case also shows that nothing has been served by the reforms that empowered the Commission to conduct special investigations."
In conclusion, the report shows, among other things, the
"inadequacy of the legal framework; lack of clarity about issues of authority and jurisdiction in respect to forced disappearance; absence of mechanisms for immediate search for live persons; limitations of the PGR's Search Unit; absence of systematic CNDH involvement; failures of the National Registry of Missing or Disappeared Persons and the failure of transitional justice."
DD note; As defined by the UN, transitional justice is an approach to systematic or massive violations of human rights that both provides (1) redress to victims and (2) creates or enhances opportunities for the transformation of the political systems, conflicts, and other conditions that may have been at the root of the abuses. ... To achieve these two ends, transitional justice measures often combine elements of criminal, restorative, and social justice.
If the government of Enrique Peña Nieto seeks legally and politically to blur the crime of forced disappearance in the Ayotzinapa case, as they maintain, this report aims to prevent it:
"The disappearance of 43 young students means a deep wound for Mexican society, which heralds worst atrocities (in the future) if it does not succeed in serving as a genuine game changer with respect to the government and social indifference in the face of forced disappearance. In this sense, it is essential that the committee make a strong statement in order to condemn the forced disappearance of 43 students and to demand justice, truth and reparations in this landmark case."
According to the version of events provided by the Mexican government, the students were killed and their remains burned at a landfill, then placed inside plastic bags and thrown into a river. However, only the remains of one of the students, Alexander Mora, havebeenidentified so far.
More than 90 people, most of them local police in south-western Guerrero State, have been detained so far in connection with the case, including the former mayor of Iguala – the city where the students disappeared – who along with his wife who are accused of ordering the attack on the students by local police and the local Guerreros Unidos gang.
Earlier this month, authorities reported the arrest of Felipe Rodriguez – known as "El Cepillo" or "The Brush" – who allegedly ordered Guerreros Unidos gang members to burn the bodies and clothing of the students to hide evidence.
As the four month anniversary of the disappearance of the 43 Ayotzinapa students approaches, families of the disappeared youth have called on a massive demonstration in Mexico City on Jan. 26 to demand their return.
TAKING THE CASE OF "FORCED DISAPPEARANCES" DIRECT TO THE UN
In addition to the demonstration planned for Jan. 26, representatives of the missing students will go to Geneva this next week to present a 22 page report to the UN Committee Against Forced Disappearances. They will participate in the UN Committee meeting on Feb 1-2 that will be examining the issue of "forced disappearances" in the Mexican state.
In an interview, Felipe de la Cruz, spokesperson for the students' parents, said:
"We are going to Geneva to seek justice. We are going to search everywhere in the world that this crime of the State not go unpunished. We will knock on all necessary doors, because we know that the Mexican authorities protect each other and here [in Mexico] there are many interests."The 22-page document contains a damning report of what happened September 26-27, 2014, in Iguala, Guerrero. It demonstrates the inability of the Guerrero state government and the delayed reaction of the federal government and the Attorney General's Office (PGR), which began working on the case eight days after the incident. The document states:
"Later still, 11 days after the disappearance of the 43 young people, President Enrique Peña Nieto spoke for the first time on the case."
The document recalls that the Executive received the students' parents 34 days after the events.
Most importantly, they say, four months after the fact,
"the Mexican government has been unable to file charges and initiate legal proceedings for the forced disappearance of the students."
The report points out the lack of action by the PGR for investigating the connection between organized crime and political authorities, it hasn't even begun:
"It is naive to think that the collusion between organized crime and the public sector stops with the mayor of Iguala and his family. The narco-municipal governments can only exist with the acquiescence and complicity that go beyond the municipality. Therefore, it is essential to require that Guerrero's former governor (Ángel Aguirre) and other state officials in the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches be investigated. The same [investigation] should be required of the Army."
Contrary to the refusal by the Secretary of Government Relations, Miguel Ángel Osorio Chong, to investigate the Army in the Ayotzinapa case, the report presents the urgent necessity of opening and developing this line of investigation:
"As the only federal authority territorially in place in Iguala, without a doubt, the Armed Forces relied on intelligence about links between authorities of the Mexican State and drug-trafficking groups. Today it is verified that the Armed Forces knew of previous events, such that they were aware of the breakdown of the municipality [government structure] and that they gave warning of the systematic use of 'disappearance' in this locality."
The report exposes the crisis that exists in Mexico regarding this crime:
"The Ayotzinapa case has come to demonstrate the consequences of years of impunity, inaction and indifference in the face of forced disappearance in Mexico. From different perspectives, the event has been designated as a watershed in recent history and as a turning point regarding the crisis of disappearances that the country is going through."
Moreover, according to the report, the Ayotzinapa case demonstrates the lack of "governmental will and conviction" to address, prevent and punish the crime under international law:
"The Ayotzinapa case conclusively confirms that the legal framework is insufficient and that the authorities completely ignore the Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Forced Disappearance. After the forced disappearance of the 43 students, no one faces criminal prosecution for that crime; further, no Mexican authority has used or invoked the Convention in legal decisions related to the prosecution and judgment of this crime."
Considered to be the "most serious case of forced disappearance in the nation's history," they say, the event was not properly dealt with in the first, crucial hours:
"In the case, despite the fact that beginning the night of September 26 there was evidence of forced disappearance of 43 young students, [yet] the initial investigations were not [focused] on the disappearances, but on the homicides; in fact, in the absence of a diligent investigation into the disappearances, the families filed complaints such that the respective files might be opened. The Ayotzinapa case also shows that searches for their safe return were not begun immediately."
The report states that in order to investigate the students' whereabouts, the participation of Specialized Unit for the Search of Disappeared Persons, the Executive Committee for Victims' Care (CEAV) and the General Department of Strategies for Dealing with Human Rights in the Secretariat of Government Relations [SEGOB],
"did not make, nor have they [subsequently] made, any significant intervention in the case; quite to the contrary, their official communications [regarding] the situation of forced disappearance have been fuzzy."
The report shows the "simulation" of the Mexican government in creating institutions that do not really deal with cases of serious human rights violations, and it severely criticizes actions of the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH):
"The Ayotzinapa case also shows that nothing has been served by the reforms that empowered the Commission to conduct special investigations."
In conclusion, the report shows, among other things, the
"inadequacy of the legal framework; lack of clarity about issues of authority and jurisdiction in respect to forced disappearance; absence of mechanisms for immediate search for live persons; limitations of the PGR's Search Unit; absence of systematic CNDH involvement; failures of the National Registry of Missing or Disappeared Persons and the failure of transitional justice."
DD note; As defined by the UN, transitional justice is an approach to systematic or massive violations of human rights that both provides (1) redress to victims and (2) creates or enhances opportunities for the transformation of the political systems, conflicts, and other conditions that may have been at the root of the abuses. ... To achieve these two ends, transitional justice measures often combine elements of criminal, restorative, and social justice.
If the government of Enrique Peña Nieto seeks legally and politically to blur the crime of forced disappearance in the Ayotzinapa case, as they maintain, this report aims to prevent it:
"The disappearance of 43 young students means a deep wound for Mexican society, which heralds worst atrocities (in the future) if it does not succeed in serving as a genuine game changer with respect to the government and social indifference in the face of forced disappearance. In this sense, it is essential that the committee make a strong statement in order to condemn the forced disappearance of 43 students and to demand justice, truth and reparations in this landmark case."