The All-Party Parliamentary Human Rights Group (PHRG), together with the Mexico APPG, organised a roundtable discussion with the Mexican Embassy in the UK, which focused on the recent case of the 43 students who disappeared after clashing with the police in Iguala on 26 September.
The PHRG would like to thank Jeremy Corbyn MP for chairing the event.
The event’s key speakers were:
• Juan Manuel Gomez Robledo, Undersecretary for Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights, Mexico. (“JMGR”)
• Alejandro Estivill, Deputy Ambassador. (“AE”)
• Diego Gomez Pickering, Deputy Ambassador. (“DGP”)
• Mariano Machain, Amnesty International. (“MM”)
• Kirsty Brimelow, Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales. (“KB”)
• Elizabeth Green, Foreign and Commonwealth Office. (“EG”)
The main points/issues raised during the discussion were as follows:
• The Mexican Government has now taken steps in response to the Iguala case, charging over 70 people, continuing the search for victims and sending evidence to Austria for specialist forensic testing. (JMGR)
• The Government has also announced 10 new reform measures, which include replacing all municipal police forces with state level units and amending the constitution to allow extra powers to shut down local Governments considered to be ‘infiltrated’ by drug cartels. (JMGR)
• Accountability remains extremely weak in Mexico. More focus should be placed on improving the implementation of existing law on matters such as torture, and tackling impunity and corruption, rather than on restructuring. (MM)
• Any change of the law needs to incorporate an accountability mechanism for the federal police and army. (JC)
• The Mexican Government has agreed the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights can create an interdisciplinary group of independent experts who will assess the state’s response and investigation into this case. (JMGR)
• The Government is keen to continue dialogue with the UK Government and the EU, and has invited the European Parliament Subcommittee on Human Rights to visit the country. (JMGR)
The PHRG will continue to monitor developments in the Iguala case, as well as human rights in Mexico more generally. The PHRG plans to hold a further meeting in February 2015 to continue the dialogue with the Mexican Government officials on this issue.