FL-2021-00496 10 28 2021 FL-2021-00016 From To 8-00001940935 UNCLASSIFIED 10 28 2021 Page 16 SMART Archive SMART Core Subject SBU MEXICO Ayotzinapa Investigation Makes Incremental Progress No Major Breakthroughs Date Mon 23 Nov 2020 18 52 36 GMT UNCLASSIFIED SBU MRN Date DTG From Action E O TAGS Captions Reference Subject 20 MEXICO 2880 Nov 23 2020 231850Z NOV 20 AMEMBASSY MEXICO WASHDC SECSTATE ROUTINE 13526 PHUM PGOV SOCI MX SENSITIVE A 20 Mexico 368 B 19 Mexico 3806 SBU MEXICO Ayotzinapa Investigation Makes Incremental Progress No Major Breakthroughs 1 SBU Summary Six years following the disappearance and suspected murder of 43 Ayotzinapa students 40 students remain missing and suspects arrested are yet to face trials or convictions With renewed focus and resources for the investigation authorities have made incremental progress including labeling the Ayotzinapa disappearances a state crime making new arrests and issuing additional arrest warrants In November authorities arrested the first Army SEDENA officer linked to the case a significant step since SEDENA previously refused to cooperate in the investigation A recent wave of arrest warrants against Guerrero state officials and the detention of the former head of the Federal Ministerial Police present openings to reinvigorate the investigation End summary SBU Mexican President Labels Ayotzinapa a State Crime 2 SBU President Lopez Obrador pledged to solve the Ayotzinapa case promised unlimited resources for the investigation and has met regularly with the victims' families In 2018 he established the Presidential Commission of Truth and Justice for Ayotzinapa just three days after taking office and later established FL-2021-00496 10 28 2021 FL-2021-00016 B-00001940935 UNCLASSIFIED 10 28 2021 Page 17 a Special Prosecutor's office for the case Ref A On the sixth anniversary of the disappearance Lopez Obrador broke with the denials from the previous administration and publicly apologized to the victims' families on behalf of Mexico for what he affirmed was a crime committed with the active or passive participation by the state The prosecutor general accused the previous government of a cover up and the special prosecutor announced it had issued the first arrest warrants for federal government officials - 25 soldiers and police SBU Investigations Make Gradual Progress 3 SBU Authorities made moderate progress over the past year in advancing the investigation by identifying key suspects and issuing arrest warrants but none have reached trial In March a federal judge issued an arrest warrant against Tomas Zeron the former head of Mexico's Criminal Investigation Agency on charges of planting evidence and torturing witnesses to elicit false confessions Zeron then fled the country In June authorities arrested Angel Casarrubia Salgado El Mochomo a Guerreros Unidos cartel leader they suspect played a key role in the students' forced disappearance At the same time they issued arrest warrants for 46 Guerrero government officials for their alleged involvement in the disappearances In September former head of the Federal Ministerial Police Carlos Gomez Arrieta turned himself in after the release of a video showing him torturing a witness to obtain a confession None of the suspects to date has faced trial 4 SBU On November 12 Mexican authorities arrested SEDENA Captain Jose Martinez Crespo one of the officers in charge of the SEDENA battalion in Iguala the night of the disappearances The Prosecutor General's Office FGR charged him with forced disappearance and colluding with the Guerreros Unidos cartel Crespo's lawyer says FGR is relying on testimony from someone who claims he heard the cartel paid Crespo for his cooperation Analysts say it will be difficult to prove SEDENA collusion with organized crime without a first-hand witness or phone and financial records linking Crespo to the cartel 5 SBU Still Crespo's arrest - the first of a soldier in the case - and SEDENA's cooperation in providing access to personnel phone records and location data are both notable differences in support of fact-finding efforts The Interamerican Commission on Human Rights IACHR report on Ayotzinapa faulted the initial Mexican investigation for failing to question SEDENA personnel and not subpoenaing data collected by SEDENA the night of the attacks Then-Defense Secretary Cienfuegos denied Army involvement in the case and refused to cooperate but Lopez Obrador instructed the military to cooperate in the investigation 6 SBU This year investigators also found new forensic evidence that FL-2021-00496 10 28 2021 FL-2021-00016 8-00001940935 UNCLASSIFIED 10 28 2021 Page 18 conclusively disproved the Pena Nieto administration's approach to the case In March the investigators found human remains in a ravine approximately half a mile from the trash dump the Pena Nieto administration identified as the crime scene Forensic analysis by the University of Innsbruck in Austria determined the remains matched the DNA of Christian Alfonso Rodriguez one of the 43 missing students and only the third experts have identified conclusively This finding underlined the value of investigating other possible locations and faulted the Pena Nieto administration for refusing to search other locations SBU Procedural Irregularities Set Back Investigation 7 SBU Despite forward momentum the investigation has also experienced a series of setbacks due to procedural irregularities Authorities released in 2019 El Gil the Guerreros Unidos leader accused of ordering the attack and 77 out of 146 others detained with suspected links to the crime due to allegations the police or investigators tortured them to extract confessions Ref B This led the administration to affirm they would have to start the investigations from scratch The government arrested several organized crime figures who families and analysts believe were involved in the disappearances including El Carrete leader of the Los Rojos cartel but for charges unrelated to the disappearances A judge sentenced El Carrete to 20 years in prison for organized crime in September but none of the evidence presented in the case tied back to the disappearances 8 SBU In light of these issues legal analysts now question whether authorities will successfully prosecute any of the organized crime figures involved in the disappearances Human rights violations and procedural irregularities tainted much of the original evidence authorities collected six years ago prompting courts to dismiss it As finding new evidence after so many years will be difficult FGR has focused on prosecuting former officials for irregularities in the initial investigation cases that are more likely succeed or for failing to do their jobs the night of the attacks --------------- SB Comment b 5 b 5 e erence Reference b_ _6 _ _ _ _ _ ___ Drafter Mexico City - 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