The new Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has launched its first action to combat impunity and human rights violations. On Monday (local time), the head of state signed a decree establishing a truth commission to clarify the disappearance of 43 students in 2014. The case will be prosecuted until those responsible are brought to justice and „all Mexicans know what actually happened,“ said López Obrador at a meeting with relatives of the young men in Mexico City, according to local media. The 65-year-old had taken office on Saturday.
Students from Ayotzinapa Rural Teacher School were abducted by criminals and police in the small town of Iguala in the state of Guerrero on the night of 26-27 September 2014. Since then, every trace of them is missing. The relatives accuse the authorities of having withheld evidence and deliberately prevented investigations.
A panel of experts set up by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights also made serious allegations against the work of Mexican prosecutors. The attack made headlines internationally as it exemplified the collaboration of politicians, police and organized crime groups in Mexico.
After his election in September, López Obrador had met with the relatives of the students to discuss the Enlightenment. „With this decree we fulfill our agreements and ensure that there is justice,“ said the President. The Truth Commission will be led by the Government Human Rights Commissioner Alejandro Encinas. Accordingly, the parents of the disappeared, the government and technical experts will be represented. Every trace is followed, Encinas assured. So far, in particular, the military had resisted that its role is cleared up in the Tatnacht.
