Photo @SIPAZ
On 25 February, Christoph Strässer, the German commissioner on human rights, and Viktor Elbling, the German ambassador to Mexico, visited the Rural Normal School of Ayotzinapa, Guerrero, where they held interviews with the parents of the 43 disappeared youth. In a press-conference, the two figures announced that their country would commit itself to neither sell nor provide arms or security materiel to the Mexican State any longer. Germany will continue to support Mexico in terms of human rights and the state of law. The commissioner offered his apologies to the relatives of the students due to the evidence which suggests that German arms were used in the atrocity that led to the disappearance of the 43. Strässer specified that there is a clear mechanism for arms sales, but in the case of Mexico, there is a convention “which was not respected and for that reason there is a court case in Germany. While the outcome of that case is not decided, there will be no arms sales [to Mexico].” The German representatives committed themselves to working with the families at the international level toward the clarification of what exactly took place on 26 and 27 September 2014.
For more information (in Spanish):
Armas usadas en Iguala serían alemanas (El Financiero, 25 de febrero de 2015)
Gobierno de Alemania se compromete a no suministrar armas a México (Desinformémonos, 25 de febrero de 2015)
Ofrece Alemania revisar exportaciones de armas a México (DW, 25 de febrero de 2015)
Heckler & Koch: ecos del conflicto mexicano en Alemania (DW, 18 de diciembre de 2014)
Ofrece disculpas funcionario alemán por armas que usaron policías en iguala contra los normalistas (Sur Acapulco, 26 de febrero de 2015)
For more information from SIPAZ (in English):
National/International: German activists reject security agreement with Mexico (10 February 2015)
Guerrero: update in the Ayotzinapa case (17 December 2014)
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