Human Rights Watch Says Delays, Cover-Up Mar Response to Mexico Atrocities Eurasia Review
go to original November 8, 2014

The Mexican government delayed investigations into the enforced disappearances of 43 students in Iguala, Guerrero State, and the killing of 22 people in Tlatlaya, Mexico State, Human Rights Watch said this week. In the Tlatlaya case, state prosecutors sought to cover up military wrongdoing by coercing false testimony from witnesses.

The Mexican government should ensure thorough investigations of both episodes, Human Rights Watch said. Officials who failed to respond promptly to these incidents or sought to cover them up should be held accountable.

“These are the worst atrocities we’ve seen in Mexico in years, but they are hardly isolated incidents,” said José Miguel Vivanco, Americas director at Human Rights Watch. “Instead, these killings and forced disappearances reflect a much broader pattern of abuse and are largely the consequence of the longstanding failure of Mexican authorities to address the problem.”

Human Rights Watch visited Guerrero and Mexico City beginning on November 3, 2014, to meet with parents of the missing students, witnesses to both incidents, and senior government officials in Mexico City, including Mexico’s attorney general, Jesús Murillo Karam.

Murillo Karam and other justice officials expressed their commitment to finding the Guerrero students and ensuring full accountability for abuses. However, the office’s initial response to these cases was marred by significant delays. In the Iguala case, the office waited 10 days after the students disappeared before opening an investigation. In the Tlatlaya case, it took the Attorney General’s Office three months to intervene.

Read the rest at Eurasia Review

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