- Title: Families of Mexico's missing students push for return of foreign investigators
- Date: 21st May 2016
- Summary: MEXICO CITY, MEXICO (MAY 19, 2016) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF FOREIGN MINISTRY VARIOUS OF FAMILY AND SUPPORTERS OF MISSING STUDENTS MARCHING ON FOREIGN MINISTRY AND CHANTING AS THEY CARRY PLACARDS WITH PICTURES OF THEIR LOVED ONES LOCAL HUMAN RIGHTS OFFICIAL, MARIO PATRON, SPEAKING TO MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) LOCAL HUMAN RIGHTS OFFICIAL, MARIO PATRON, SAYING: "We left a meeting where there were coincidences with the Foreign Minister (Claudia Ruiz), this is the ministry that will take our stance to Washington on Saturday (May 21), as far as the need for a mechanism. A mechanism which is dynamic, which concerns periodic visits and for periodic reporting. A mechanism that also gives the the Inter-American Commission the opportunity to come to our country. And a mechanism that would seek to bring to light the two reports from the group of experts. We have a pretext in two days for the truth in the Ayotzinapa case, for justice in the Ayotzinapa case and to strengthen Mexican institutions." WOMAN HOLDING UP BANNER THAT READS "WE'RE MISSING 43. JUSTICE" VARIOUS OF FAMILY MEMBERS AND SUPPORTERS OF MISSING STUDENTS CHANTING AS THEY CARRY BANNERS WITH PHOTOS OF LOVED ONES PARENTS AND SUPPORTERS OF MISSING STUDENTS BEFORE MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) SPOKESPERSON FOR PARENTS OF MISSING STUDENTS, FELIPE DE LA CRUZ, SAYING: "The clear demands still stand which is that Tomas Zeron (Director of Criminal Investigations) by taken from his position so that we have the confidence and certainty in the Attorney General's investigation and so we don't have any doubts." VARIOUS FAMILY MEMBERS AND SUPPORTERS OF MISSING BANGING LIDS OF POTS ON FENCE AT ATTORNEY GENERAL HEADQUARTERS FLAGS OUTSIDE ATTORNEY GENERAL HEADQUARTERS EXTERIOR OF ATTORNEY GENERAL HEADQUARTERS VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS CHANTING OUTSIDE ATTORNEY GENERAL HEADQUARTERS
- Embargoed: 5th June 2016 14:55
- Keywords: Mexico missing 43 students Ayotzinapa investigation Inter-American Human Rights Commission Washington Foreign Ministry
- Location: MEXICO CITY, COCULA, GUERRERO, MEXICO
- City: MEXICO CITY, COCULA, GUERRERO, MEXICO
- Country: Mexico
- Topics: Crime
- Reuters ID: LVA0014IH86KJ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Parents of Mexico's missing 43 students protested outside the country's Foreign Ministry on Thursday (May 19) to call on a return of foreign experts to investigate the case amidst concerns of credibility surrounding the country's top crime investigator.
Representatives for the parents reportedly met with officials from the Foreign Ministry to present the Inter-American Human Rights Commission in Washington with a petition for their return on the case.
"We left a meeting where there were coincidences with the Foreign Minister (Claudia Ruiz), this is the ministry that will take our stance to Washington on Saturday (May 21), as far as the need for a mechanism. A mechanism which is dynamic, which concerns periodic visits and for periodic reporting. A mechanism that also gives the the Inter-American Commission the opportunity to come to our country. And a mechanism that would seek to bring to light the two reports from the group of experts. We have a pretext in two days for the truth in the Ayotzinapa case, for justice in the Ayotzinapa case and to strengthen Mexican institutions," said local human rights official, Mario Patron.
The demand comes as one of Mexico's top crime fighters, Tomas Zeron, is under investigation over a key incident in the probe, the attorney general's office said last month, adding a twist to a case that has shaken the country.
The probe into officials including Tomas Zeron, head of the attorney general's criminal investigation agency, was triggered by a report by a panel of experts questioning the circumstances in which a charred bone fragment was discovered in a river.
The fragment belonged to the only one of the 43 whose remains have been definitively identified, evidence that has sustained the government's version the teachers were murdered by a drug gang, incinerated and dumped into the river.
The attorney general's office said in a statement an internal disciplinary body would "investigate the actions of the public servants of the institution in these events."
Spokesperson for the parents of the missing students, Felipe de la Cruz, told media Zeron must step down from his role.
"The clear demands still stand which is that Tomas Zeron (Director of Criminal Investigations) by taken from his position so that we have the confidence and certainty in the Attorney General's investigation and so we don't have any doubts," he said.
Responding to criticism, Zeron has said his visit was legal and that he had been accompanied by representatives of the U.N. human rights office. He did not explain why the trip was not officially documented.
But adding further to the twist Mexico's U.N. human rights office said it had not accompanied Zeron, saying in a statement it "finds it strange that its presence and role were mentioned in activities of the attorney general's office it never took part in."
"As I have demonstrated, my presence on that date was legal, took place during the day and was backed up by representatives of the United Nations High Commissioner and by dozens of reporters who recorded this as well as other videos which reveal the circumstances of the time and the place. There is nothing better than truth to counter this speculation," said Zeron in his defence.
The panel of experts has picked holes in the government's official account of how the 43 students disappeared in the southwestern city of Iguala in late September 2014.
Although many questions remain unanswered, the government said the panel's participation in the case has finished, and there have been a number of claims and counterclaims between the two sides over the investigation. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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