A group of independent experts investigating the 2014 disappearance of 43 students in Mexico has announced that it is quitting the case, citing “opacity” on the part of the government.
The experts, who were appointed by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), said that they had been unable to access key information about the case, including the results of forensic tests and the identities of the people who were arrested in connection with the disappearances.
“We have not been able to carry out our work with the necessary independence and impartiality,” said Claudia Paz y Paz, the former attorney general of Guatemala who is leading the investigation. “We have been denied access to essential information, and we have been subjected to political pressure.”
The disappearance of the 43 students from the Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers’ College in Guerrero state is one of the most notorious human rights cases in Mexico’s recent history. The students were abducted by police and then allegedly handed over to a drug cartel, which is believed to have killed them and burned their bodies.
The government has denied any involvement in the disappearances, but the experts have said that there is evidence that the police were involved in the students’ deaths. They have also said that the government has failed to adequately investigate the case.
The experts’ decision to quit the case is a major setback for the families of the disappeared students and for the Mexican government. It also raises serious questions about the government’s commitment to finding justice for the victims.
