Mexican army officers arrested over involvement in Ayotzinapa disappearances : Peoples Dispatch

Mother and father and family members of the 43 disappeared college students of the Ayotzinapa Rural Academics’ Faculty held a peaceable march in Mexico Metropolis on August 26, demanding justice for his or her family members. (Photograph: Desinformemonos)

On September 14, twelve days earlier than the eighth anniversary of the compelled disappearance of 43 college students of the Rural Academics’ Faculty within the city of Ayotzinapa, Mexico, the federal authorities arrested a retired normal and two different army officers for his or her involvement within the case.

Undersecretary of Safety, Ricardo Mejía, introduced the information on September 15. In a press convention, Mejía reported that the federal government had issued warrants in opposition to 4 members of the Mexican Armed Forces, including that three of them had already been arrested, together with the commander of the military base within the metropolis of Iguala, the place the scholars had been ambushed and kidnapped in September 2014.

“In the meanwhile, three of the warrants have been carried out, and there are three detainees, together with the commander of the twenty seventh infantry battalion when the occasions in Iguala occurred,” mentioned Mejía.

José Rodríguez Pérez, who retired with the rank of normal, was the colonel of the aforementioned battalion on the time. His arrest got here a month after info concerning his involvement within the case surfaced.

On August 18, the Fee for Fact and Entry to Justice for the Ayotzinapa case, created by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) in 2018, revealed a report, through which it confirmed the army’s involvement within the crime, and mentioned the scholars’ disappearance was a “state-sponsored crime.” In accordance with the report, Rodríguez Pérez allegedly ordered the execution of six of the 43 disappeared college students, who had been alive for a number of days after the occasions.

“Allegedly, the six college students had been alive for as many as 4 days after the occasions and had been killed and disappeared on orders of the colonel, allegedly the then-Colonel José Rodríguez Pérez,” mentioned Undersecretary of Human Rights, Alejandro Encinas Rodríguez, who led the fee, in August throughout a press convention.

Following the publication of the report, former legal professional normal, Jesús Murillo Karam, was additionally arrested for obstruction in administration of justice within the case.

Juez dicta prisión preventiva a Jesús Murillo Karam, extitular de la PGR, ya que la FGR pidió dicha medida argumentando que existe un alto riesgo de que se fugue. El próximo miércoles será la segunda audiencia para definir su situación authorized. pic.twitter.com/G54Gj69Q6t

— Brenda Peña (@Bren_PenaBello) August 21, 2022

The 43 college students from the Ayotzinapa Rural Academics’ Faculty disappeared on the night time of September 26, 2014. In accordance with info gathered from the survivors, witnesses and unbiased human rights investigations, the scholars had commandeered native buses to journey to Mexico Metropolis for the commemoration of the 1968 Tlatelolco Scholar Bloodbath. On their means, within the metropolis of Iguala, they had been attacked by legislation enforcement officers, who shot on the buses, killing 6 folks (3 of them had been college students) and detaining 43 college students who had been by no means seen once more.

The federal government of then-President Enrique Peña Nieto claimed that the corrupt native police personnel had handed over the 43 college students to a bunch of drug-trafficking gangs, who supposedly killed them, incinerated the our bodies and disposed of the stays in a close-by river.

Nevertheless, relations of the victims, fellow college students and human rights organizations rejected this narrative and alleged that the federal authorities and the military had been straight concerned of their disappearance, and the scholars had been selectively focused for opposing a neoliberal schooling invoice proposed by Nieto’s authorities in 2013. The Nieto authorities obtained widespread nationwide and worldwide criticism for overlaying up the crime.

Following his inauguration, as promised throughout his election marketing campaign, President AMLO reopened the probe into the disappearances. Since then, the authorities have made some necessary developments, similar to the invention of the stays of no less than three disappeared college students in locations completely different from those indicated within the former authorities’s model.

The authorities have additionally arrested a number of former officers up to now 4 years. However, the defenders of the previous regime, who nonetheless maintain energy, have nonetheless been supporting the previous officers. For example, Choose Samuel Ventura Ramos, in command of investigating the case, has to this point ordered the discharge of 98 cops and authorities officers concerned within the disappearances. Final week, on September 15, Ramos acquitted the previous mayor of Iguala, José Luis Abarca, together with 19 different folks.

Concerning these releases, Undersecretary Mejía mentioned that the reality fee would file a grievance with the Judicial Council in opposition to Choose Ramos.

“Authorized challenges proceed, however there might be no impunity. It’s also necessary to level out that authorized proceedings might be taken earlier than the Judiciary Council in opposition to this prison trial choose,” he mentioned.

Amid developments and setbacks within the investigation, the households of the 43 victims proceed to seek for the reality behind the cover-up and justice for his or her family members. The dad and mom, family members, and mates of the disappeared college students have known as for per week lengthy peaceable protests within the capital Mexico Metropolis, beginning September 20.