Mexican gov't sets up commission to investigate students' disappearance in 2014
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E-mail Xinhua, January 16, 2019
MEXICO CITY, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- The Mexican government set up a commission on Tuesday to help investigate the disappearance of 43 students in the southern state of Guerrero in September 2014.
The Truth and Justice Commission for the Ayotzinapa Case, comprising officials and several parents of the victims, aims to uncover what really happened to the students, who were enrolled at a teachers college in Ayotzinapa, Guerrero.
Interior Minister Olga Sanchez Cordero assured that the fate of the 43 students will be clarified, which has been demanded in some street protests since the students' kidnapping in the city of Iguala, Guerrero.
She said that as the investigation opened by the previous government led to important progress, the search will not begin from zero, but findings that were false or incorrect must be corrected.
"I respectfully ask the members of the commission, the experts who form part of it, their most dedicated effort and commitment to contribute to finding out the truth in the shortest time that is humanly, legally and scientifically possible," she said.
The students were reportedly kidnapped by Iguala police on Sept. 26 while they traveled by bus through the city.
The previous administration concluded the police handed the students over to gunmen belonging to organized crime group Guerreros Unidos, who they were colluding with. It is believed they confused the students with rival gang members and incinerated their bodies in a huge fire at a nearby trash dump.
Many experts have rejected this hypothesis, saying the fire could not have erased all evidence of the 43 bodies.
"We are asking with all our hearts for seriousness and results to get to the truth and find out where our boys are or what happened to them," said Emiliano Navarrete, father of a missing student.
The commission will receive support to hire experts and necessary logistical help for the search, said Alejandro Encinas, deputy minister in charge of human rights affairs at the Interior Ministry.
"Finding the truth is our assignment and we will fulfill it," Encinas said.
According to the previous administration, some 130 police officers, officials and criminals were arrested in connection with the crime, and some have since been released. Enditem
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