Friday, September 4, 2015

Insight – Mexican Probe into Possible Massacre of 43 Students Deeply Flawed



Reuters, 04/09 14:29 CET

By Anahi Rama and Lizbeth Diaz

AYOTZINAPA, Mexico (Reuters) – Mexico’s investigation into the abduction and apparent massacre of 43 students last year is plagued with errors and omissions and key parts may need to be redone, a review of the evidence shows.

The government’s team lost evidence, did not properly investigate some leads and failed to provide scientific proof to back up its account that the students were abducted and incinerated and their remains dumped in a river, lawyers familiar with the case documents say.

The government says its investigation is thorough and proves the students were murdered by a drug cartel in league with corrupt local police who mistook them for members of a rival gang and burnt them to ashes at a rural garbage dump.

But evidence of flaws in government case documents reviewed by Reuters include how municipal and federal police and the army knew of the students’ movements before they were abducted in the southwestern city of Iguala last September.

That undermines the government’s assertion that local police confused the students with members of a criminal group called Los Rojos (The Reds), rivals of the Guerreros Unidos (United Warriors) gang that it says murdered them.

Lawyers who have seen the government’s case file found a host of problems and say authorities cut corners because they were in a hurry the close the case, which drew international criticism.

Click here for the full article.

Source: Euronews

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