Guerrero, Mexico 43 Missing Students Massacre: Argentina Forensics Team Says Mexican Government Mishandled Crime Scene, DNA
A report released by Argentine forensics specialists argues that the Mexican government mishandled the investigation into the death of 43 university students.
The Mexican attorney general's office has criticized the forensics team's involvement and findings, arguing they are instigating doubt in an investigation the Mexican government considers nearly solved.
The forensics team, known as Argentine Forensics Anthropology Team, released its report late on Saturday, revealing that the attorney general's office had mishandled the investigation into the remains believed to belong to the 43 missing students, reports The Guardian. The team had access to the forensic evidence as well as the government's report.
"The evidence has to be interpreted in all its possibilities without giving preference to those interpretations which only coincide with the testimonies of the accused," the report said, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The team argues the government attempted to make the evidence fit their narrative.
Forty-three students disappeared in the violence-ridden state of Guerrero last year. Investigations revealed the mayor of Iguala, his wife, many of the town's police officers and a local drug gang were involved in the students' disappearance. The mayor had ordered the police to arrest the student protesters. In custody, the police handed them over to the drug gang that executed them. The gang cremated the remains and dumped them in a river near Coluca.
However, the Argentine investigation is casting doubt on the Mexican government's theory.
The team revealed the government had mishandled various aspects of the investigation, such as failing to secure the crime scene for 20 days, allowing anyone to tamper with the scene. They also reported the government mishandled the collection of 20 DNA profiles from the students' relatives to identify the remains. Only one student, Alexander Mora, has been identified.
The group released the report in response to Attorney General Jesús Murillo Karam's Jan. 27 report claiming the crime had been nearly solved, according to CNN Espanol. He explained the government's investigators oversaw 39 confessions, 487 expert tests, 386 statements, and 153 government inspections and these corroborate their theory.
In a statement released by the attorney general's office, the Murillo Karam attacked the Argentine forensics team; reports the Buenos Aires Herald, claiming the group did not have enough experience to pass judgment.
"The reports (of the attorney general's office) are valid and (the Argentine team's) opinions with respect to other disciplines would appear to be more speculations than certainties," the statement said. The attorney general's office also chastised the team with sowing doubt after the investigation.
Nonetheless, the families of the students remain skeptical and support the forensics team report.
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