“In Mexico, unfortunately, a state of impotence continues.” With this phrase Julissa Mantilla FalconPresident of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), open the conversation around ayotzinpa case and the phenomenon of enforced disappearances in the country, which began long before the events of September 26 and 27, 2014.
it’s been more than eight years since the disappearance of 43 Generalists of AyotzinpaMantila assured that the administration Enrique Peña Nieto (2012–2018) “could have acted more efficiently at that time, but did not”, whereas andres manuel lopez obrador (2018–2024), although it has made progress, it continues to face obstacles to elucidate the matter.
“One obstacle is to continue to see (cases like Ayotzinpa) as isolated incidents, when in fact consistent with a typical situation of enforced disappearance And it’s important to understand it this way: this is a normal situation of enforced disappearance, this is not an isolated situation”, he says in an interview.
The meeting is given a day before the presentation Third Report of the Special Follow-up Mechanism The IACHR, which, after extensive monitoring, concluded that the case was another case of enforced disappearance: serious human rights violations This remains in place until the remains of the missing are found or it is not known what happened to them.
On May 17, The number of missing in Mexico has exceeded one millionAccording to data from the National Registry of Missing and Unlocated Persons, which implies that more than 100,000 families in the country are searching for their loved ones. Added to this is the fact that in Mexico Only 36 sentences have been issued A reflection of the phenomenon of impunity reported by Mantilla, for the crime of enforced disappearance.
“For this reason, our balance is that we must strengthen the prosecutor’s investigative strategies, we must maintain victim-centeredness, we must have great clarity in the exchange of messages we seek in the Ayotzinpah case, and It seems to me the most important, in the wider context of enforced disappearances in Mexico”, he stressed.
The United Nations itself defines enforced disappearance as the arrest, detention, abduction or deprivation of liberty carried out by agents of the State or by persons acting with the authority of the State, followed by recognition of deprivation of liberty. Giving is refused. or concealing the whereabouts of a missing person.
Mantilla emphasizes that the responsibility of the state Despite the passage of time these crimes have to be clarified,
Regarding the Ayotzinpah case, he says, “In this whole street and this whole place, and I want to highlight this, there are parents of 43 missing students who are looking for justice.” his index finger to emphasize each word.
Kovaj’s failure could harm judicial inquiry
Another obstacle to clarifying the case, according to the IACHR Synergy for Women’s Rights, Memory, Truth and Justice, has to do with the results of the Truth Commission report (eggs), which it produced as definite evidence which was afterwards questioned by its own master, Under Secretary Alejandro Encinas,
“La Covaz, as we know, submits its report on August 18 with some claims that later IGIE (Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts), following the expert report, it can be seen that some of these statements were not entirely accurate,” explains Mantilla.
there are four soldiers in this case Those detained for the Ayotzinpa case filed a criminal complaint on November 8. Those responsible for fabricating evidence against him that he alleges were produced against him and have already been rejected.
“So, if we have a report that came out with some claims in the Kovaj case, which later turned out to be not so true, that is being made, the information that we have as a product of this is not only that Not exactly accurate in a way, but it could ultimately harm forensics, even though they are different mechanisms,” Mantilla says.
The President and other members of the IACHR delivered a new report on the Ayotzinpa case from Guerrero this Tuesday.
He said that the report, apart from giving conclusions, presents recommendations of a structural type, which is meant to be a public discovery policy which is meant to develop a concept “right to search”Which means “recognizing that the armed forces cannot, say, in the course of control, violate human rights.”
“But the greatest difficulty, and it is very sad, is that There is not necessarily a political will to choose the truthFor justice and compensation. The institutionalization that is created just by appearing in the photo, but when it moves forward it touches the most sensitive points, such as military structures, and that is where the tremors begin, that is the biggest challenge (…) in fact have a firm belief that structural change must occur in order to end a structural phenomenon”.
complex, reached the end of the investigation in this six-year period
On December 1, 2018, newly elected President López Obrador went to the capital’s Zocalo to deliver a message. At that location, in front of more than 160,000 people, he affirmed the fulfillment of 100 commitments from his government before the end of his term.
As its commitment No. 89, it established: “The disappearance of young people from Ayotzinpah will be thoroughly investigated, the truth revealed and those responsible punished.” He has made the same promise on umpteen occasions during press conferences, which has not yet been fulfilled.
—Is it possible to close the investigation during this six-year term? —the president of the IACHR is asked.
I believe this statement by the President may have been a statement, I would like to call it, of good faith or goodwill or good intention, but really this type of investigation, with the seriousness that it is time to pass. With comings and goings there, It’s hard for me to say that it will end at a certain time,
Added to this is the fact that earlier the Special Prosecutor in this case, Omar Gomez Trejosubmitted his resignation in September following the decision of the Office of the Attorney General of the Republic (FGR) 21 Cancel arrest warrant Directed against former officers is probably connected with the disappearance of generalists.
Read: Omar Gomez Trejo, the prosecutor of the Ayotzinpa case, presented his resignation
“So, you have an investigation that was led, that had contributions, progress, consolidation of strategic lines, analysis of evidence, references, a group of prosecutors who were trained and investigating. But this person comes out and They have to start all over again. it certainly not only delaysI think it also affects the subject matter of the content of the investigation”, cautions Mantilla.
In addition, there is the issue of the third mechanism of the IACHR, GIEI, which has a mandate until December and which lost half of its members before reaching that date because they considered “the conditions not present with the job.”
Confronting Panorama, Mantilla says: “We will continue to monitor this situation, and I want to make that very clear, because our role is to monitor all human rights violations, and in that sense it is a GAT (technical Monitoring). Group for Ayotzinapa Affair), MESA (Special Follow-up Mechanism for Ayotzinapa Affair) and now support for the clarification of GIEI. we will continue,
#YoSoyAnimal
