Alfonso Hernandez Barron, the president of the Jalisco Human Rights Commission (CEDHJ), has called for an independent investigation into the disappearance and probable murder of three film students in March.
Last week, an investigation by the Fiscalia General del Estado (State Attorney General’s Office or FGE) revealed that the students had been mistaken for members of a rival cartel by members of the powerful Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion. They were taken to a residence in Tonala, where they were tortured and murdered. Their corpses were then transported to another house, where they were dissolved in acid.
The Fiscalia’s version of events, however, is far from being taken as gospel, not by the murdered students’ peers, not by their teachers, and certainly not by Barron.
“We think an independent investigation is essential,” the human rights chief said. “There needs to be a review by other parties in order to give closure to the families [of the students] and the community.”
Barron, who will participate in a march Friday, May 4 organized by mothers of the 3,000-plus disappeared persons in Jalisco, has the authority to initiate an independent investigation. However, he awaits the go-ahead from the students’ families.