News / Mexico

Police clash with protesters in Mexico

Friday, 27 February 2015 9:29 AM [ Last Update: Friday, 27 February 2015 9:29 AM ]

A wounded student is arrested by police in Mexico City on February 26, 2015 (AFP photo).

Scuffles have broken out in the Mexican capital between security forces and a group of protesters rallying to demand justice over the case of 43 missing students.

Police detained an unknown number of people in the streets of Mexico City on Thursday, as thousands of demonstrators rallied to mark five months since the disappearance of 43 teaching students in the country.

The protesters carried banners and called on the government to determine the fate of the missing youth.

On September 26 last year, 43 trainee teachers protesting against hiring practices went missing in the Mexican town of Iguala following an attack by police forces.

Unresolved case of students' disappearance

Mexico's Attorney General Jesus Murillo Karam confirmed on January 27 that the students were murdered after corrupt police handed them over to the Guerreros Unidos drug gang, whose members mistook the students for a rival gang.

Three detained drug traffickers also admitted to killing the students by setting fire to them, some of whom were still alive, in a rubbish dump near the southern city of Iguala in the state of Guerrero.

Authorities had sent 17 badly burned remains found in a landfill and a nearby river to an Austrian medical university in November.

However, only one body has been identified, and the location and identity of the other remains are under investigation.

The parents of the victims refused to accept that they were killed, saying that without proof, they would continue to have hope that their children were still alive. The families said they would also continue to hold more demonstrations.

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto has promised the families of the students that justice will be served in the case.

Meanwhile, the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances has called on the Mexican government to investigate the suspected complicity of state officials in "disappearances" across the country, including those of the 43 missing students.

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