Mexico Withdraws Arrest Warrants for Ayotzinapa Case; Independent Experts Slam Decision

The government of Mexico has withdrawn arrest warrants regarding the missing 43 students in the Ayotzinapa case.

The decision of the Mexican government has earned criticisms from an independent panel, the Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts. The group noted that there was sufficient evidence to press charges.

The Guardian reported that the group did not know why 21 of 83 arrest orders were dropped just as investigators were moving forward with arrests.

GIEI member Claudia Paz y Paz told a news conference that it is "incomprehensible" why the arrest warrants were withdrawn.

Another panelist Francisco Cox described some of the areas of the government's investigation as "clumsy" and "rushed."

In August, a government truth commission report described the disappearances as a "state crime."

The GIEI said that the government blurred the investigation by presenting "questionable screen captures" of message exchanges as evidence.

Arrests In Ayotzinapa Case

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador took office in 2018 promising to uncover the truth about the suspected abduction and massacre of the 43 students in Ayotzinapa.

Lopez Obrador made the commitment following his predecessor's investigation that was full of errors and abuses.

The Mexican president also named a special prosecutor and created a truth commission.

GIEI said that the messages presented by the truth commission were not part of the documentation used to request the 83 orders to arrest military police, local officials, and others.

The independent panel noted that the prosecutors did not base their probe on the truth commission's report.

Mexico's top human rights official, Alejandro Encinas, has yet to comment on the matter. Encinas was the one leading the commission.

Encinas noted last week that the WhatsApp messages are part of a larger analysis.

GIEI members noted that they would continue requesting many military documents, adding that the government so far has not handed them over.

In September, an Army general, Gen. Jose Rodriguez Perez, was accused of participating in or covering up the abduction, as reported by The Washington Post. He is the highest-ranking military officer arrested in the case.

Mexico's former attorney general, Jesus Murillo Karam, was also arrested for his alleged role in a coverup.

Ayotzinapa Case

The case caught national and international attention on the human rights situation in Mexico.

The missing students' case led to an international investigation and technical assistance from GIEI.

Former President Enrique Pena Nieto's administration has sought to conclude the case by releasing a false version of the events, which was called as "historic truth."

In May 2018, a federal court ruling noted that the criminal investigation had not been "prompt, effective, independent, or impartial."

The August report confirmed that authorities from different government agencies participated in the students' disappearance, which made the Ayotzinapa case a "crime of the state."

The report also noted that an Army colonel allegedly ordered the killing of six of the 43 students.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: "A Crime of the State": Mexico's Attorney General Arrested in Case of 43 Missing Ayotzinapa Students - from Democracy Now!