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| Missing Mexican students endured ‘night of terror’ before disappearance | Missing Mexican students endured ‘night of terror’ before disappearance |
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| The 43 Mexican students who vanished in 2014 were subjected to a night of “confusion, terror and helplessness" in the events leading up to their disappearance, a panel of independent investigators said in a damning report of the Mexican government’s handling of the case. | The 43 Mexican students who vanished in 2014 were subjected to a night of “confusion, terror and helplessness" in the events leading up to their disappearance, a panel of independent investigators said in a damning report of the Mexican government’s handling of the case. |
| The students, who were training to become teachers at a college in Ayotzinapa, disappeared on 26 September after attempting to travel to the south-western city of Iguala to attend a protest. | |
| But, according to the New York Times, which has seen a copy of the report, the panel said the events leading up to their disappearance saw them suffer a night of terror. | |
| The students had stolen five busses to use later as transport to the protests, but all vehicles were blocked by police, according to the New York Times, which has seen the . Three busses had been travelling north and two south. They were intercepted by police who, during the confrontation, opened fire, leaving some students dead and many injured. One bus-full of students that had been travelling north were taken away in several police cars, while another bus-full of the southbound students were pulled from their vehicle and removed by police. They have not been seen since. | |
| The panel of international experts, appointed by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, accused the Mexican government of undermining their probe into the fate of the students, claiming they were repeatedly blocked in their efforts to obtain evidence from authorities. | The panel of international experts, appointed by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, accused the Mexican government of undermining their probe into the fate of the students, claiming they were repeatedly blocked in their efforts to obtain evidence from authorities. |
| Mexico's government says that corrupt police in late 2014 handed the student teachers in Iguala over to drug-gang henchmen, who believed the trainees had been infiltrated by a rival gang. They say students were then killed and burned at a garbage dump in the south-western Mexican state of Guerrero. | Mexico's government says that corrupt police in late 2014 handed the student teachers in Iguala over to drug-gang henchmen, who believed the trainees had been infiltrated by a rival gang. They say students were then killed and burned at a garbage dump in the south-western Mexican state of Guerrero. |
| But the remains of just one of the 43 students has been identified from a charred bone fragment, which was found in the Rio San Juan, a river by the town of Cocula, near Iguala where the students disappeared. | But the remains of just one of the 43 students has been identified from a charred bone fragment, which was found in the Rio San Juan, a river by the town of Cocula, near Iguala where the students disappeared. |
| The experts also said in their report there is strong evidence that Mexican police tortured some of the key suspects arrested over the students’ disappearance. Seventeen of the 123 suspects arrested showed signs of beatings, the report said, while some appeared to have sustained dozens of bruises, cuts and scrapes. One suspect alleged he was nearly asphyxiated with a plastic bag, and medical studies showed another had been slapped on the ears so hard his eardrums broke and his ears bled. | The experts also said in their report there is strong evidence that Mexican police tortured some of the key suspects arrested over the students’ disappearance. Seventeen of the 123 suspects arrested showed signs of beatings, the report said, while some appeared to have sustained dozens of bruises, cuts and scrapes. One suspect alleged he was nearly asphyxiated with a plastic bag, and medical studies showed another had been slapped on the ears so hard his eardrums broke and his ears bled. |
| The allegations could damage the chance of convicting any of the suspects as Mexican judges are instructed to throw out confessions based on torture. Mexico's deputy attorney general for human rights, Eber Betanzos, said the government's case was not solely based on confessions, but that authorities were investigating complaints filed by 31 people who said they had been tortured; he said six criminal cases had been opened, three involving employees of the attorney general's office. | The allegations could damage the chance of convicting any of the suspects as Mexican judges are instructed to throw out confessions based on torture. Mexico's deputy attorney general for human rights, Eber Betanzos, said the government's case was not solely based on confessions, but that authorities were investigating complaints filed by 31 people who said they had been tortured; he said six criminal cases had been opened, three involving employees of the attorney general's office. |