The Mexican government must urgently address serious flaws in its investigation into the enforced disappearance of 43 students after forensic experts cast major doubts on the Attorney General’s inquiry, said Amnesty International today.
The recent report from the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team (Equipo Argentino de Antropología Forense, EAAF), – network of professional forensic experts, reveals that the announcement by the Attorney General of Mexico, Jesús Murillo Karam, that he was prepared to close the case after human remains were found in Cocula dump were based on assumptions and completely premature. The EEAF stated that there is no scientific evidence to suggest that the human remains found in Cocula are those of the missing students.
“This new evidence has cast serious and very real doubts over the investigation by the Mexican authorities in this case. The Attorney General’s eagerness to close this case based on what has now been revealed to be a biased position that is unsupported by evidence, begins to look worryingly like a whitewash. It is imperative that the Attorney General’s Office now grants the EAAF full access to its files and allows it to continue its much needed overview of the investigation,” said Erika Guevara Rosas, Americas Director Amnesty International.
The Attorney General’s Office also failed to reveal that the rubbish dump site where human remains were allegedly found, has not been guarded for several weeks last November and so evidence found there could have been tampered with.
Amnesty International has met with the families of the disappeared and heard their stories.
Erika Guevara Rosas, Americas Director, is available for interviews in London and Perseo Quiroz, Executive Director Amnesty International Mexico, is available for interviews in Mexico City (both in English and Spanish).
Public statement: Mexico: Recent forensic evidence challenges governmental theory on the 43 disappeared students