Missing 43: Mexico Reopens Investigation into Students Disappearance

Mexico is reopening the investigation into last year’s disappearance of 43 students in the state of Guerrero.

An international panel of experts had said the investigation was flawed.

The students’ families have disputed the government’s account of what happened in September 2014.

The Mexican government says that police in the town of Iguala handed the students over to a drugs cartel who killed them and incinerated the bodies.

The panel of experts, working for the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, criticized the government’s version of events.

It concluded that the government’s account that the students were burnt beyond identification at a rubbish dump was physically impossible.

The panel said official reports appeared to downplay the presence of federal police and troops near the areas where the students were seized.

The experts said the army had refused to allow them to interview soldiers.

They came up with a list of 10 recommendations which the Mexican government has agreed to abide by.

Among them, the search for the students will be re-launched following outlines laid down by the experts and carried out in coordination with the victims’ families.

The experts also want the report they published to form part of the government investigation – following up recommendations and evaluating issues that arose from the report.