President Enrique Peña Nieto has decided not to renew the charter of the Independent Group of Interdisciplinary Experts (GIEI) to assist with the investigation into the Ayotzinapa case.
Senate President Roberto Gil Zuarth said that he hopes the disagreements between the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (CIDH) and the Mexican government can be resolved through dialogue. He stressed that the GIEI must present its final conclusions to the Attorney General’s Office (PGR), to help discover the whereabouts of the 43 students from the Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers College who disappeared on Sept. 26, 2014 in Iguala, Guerrero.
Gil Zuarth, a member of the conservative National Action Party (PAN), said that the presence of the GIEI should not become a challenge for the Mexican state. He expressed support for the stance of Peña Nieto, who made a statement from Denmark saying that the GIEI’s mandate will end on April 30.
“Their physical presence doesn’t depend on the Mexican state. They can stay as long as they want,” said Gil. “The question is whether or not they can carry out the function that they were originally convened for — to collaborate with the Public Prosecutor’s Office, through a voluntary agreement between the parties. When the terms of such an agreement have ended, one of the parties has the right to decide whether or not it will continue,” he added.
However, Miguel Barbosa Huerta, a senator for the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD), called the decision to end collaboration with the GIEI an error and an insensible act.
“Even if the government has the right to leave the agreement, we think it is the wrong choice,” said Barbosa. “It demonstrates a lack of sensibility, and it’s not going to be able to end the investigation in a real and substantive manner,” he added.
Barbosa clarified that the GIEI’s stay in Mexico does not depend on the federal government but rather on the CIDH.
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