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On March 22nd, nine Guerrero police officers were arrested for their alleged participation in the forced disappearance of 43 students from the Ayotzinapa Normal Rural School in September 2014. Seven of the nine were agents of the state Public Security Secretariat at the time of the events while the last two were working as members of the Huitzuco municipal police, near Iguala (place of the attack).
The accusation against them is based mainly on statements by witnesses protected by the Special Investigation and Litigation Unit for the Ayotzinapa Case (UEILCA) of the Attorney General’s Office (FGR).
One day after the arrest, relatives of the police officers demonstrated in front of the FGR delegation in Chilpancingo, denouncing that they have no relation to the case and that they want to turn them into “scapegoats.”
It is worth remembering that since August 28th, 2022, the Undersecretary for Human Rights of the Ministry of the Interior, Alejandro Encinas, announced that there were around 80 arrest warrants against 20 soldiers, and state police officers from Guerrero and municipalities of Iguala. Months passed and some arrests were carried out. On March 15th, 2023, mothers and fathers of the 43 met with social organizations, students, student teachers, and community authorities from La Montaña. At the end of the meeting, they concluded that the “new narrative” of the government of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador intends to close the case “without obtaining truth or justice.” For them, the investigations stalled when the Mexican army was blamed, not only for their negligence, but for their direct participation in the events, the Tlachinollan Human Rights Center said in a statement. “The president of Mexico continues to defend the army tooth and nail, even when there is evidence that they participated in the disappearance of the 43 young people. Far from protecting or getting to the truth, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador himself disqualifies the human rights defenders who accompany the families”, it lamented.
For more information in Spanish:
Familiares de policías detenidos por Ayotzinapa exigen liberación (Aristegui Noticias, 23 de marzo de 2023)
Detenidos nueve policías en Guerrero por el ‘Caso Ayotzinapa’ (El País, 23 de marzo de 2023)
9 funcionarios públicos relacionados a los 43 estudiantes de Ayotzinapa son detenidos (CNN, 23 de marzo de 2023)
Detienen a nueve policías de Guerrero por caso Ayotzinapa (Pie de Página, 22 de marzo de 2023)
Caso Ayotzinapa: Detienen a otros 9 policías ligados a la desaparición de normalistas (Sin Embargo, 22 de marzo de 2023)
La encrucijada de las familias ante la nueva verdad en el caso Ayotzinapa(Centro de Derechos Humanos de la Montaña Tlachinollan, 15 de marzo de 2023)
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