Last week marked 18 months since the disappearance of 43 college students at the hands of Mexican police, arguably the most important human rights event in the Americas in decades. We regard all violations of human rights—especially those that deprive a person of their basic right to life and physical integrity—as grave. But the unique importance of the disappearance of the Ayotzinapa students stems from what it can teach us about the nature and status of human rights; the power of movements relative to the power of states; and the ways in which the international community, woven together by dense treaty networks proclaiming liberal values, works in practice.
Since September 26, 2014, we have put together a timeline, in English and Spanish, highlighting the key events of the Ayotzinapa disappearances, including local, state and international state and non-state reactions, key protests, and advances in the investigation.
In addition, we systematically analyzed 334 different utterances made by those closest to the case. We also pored over judicial data and reporting to try to understand how the calls for justice translated—or didn’t—into actual changes.
