In September 2014, 43 students from the Rural Teachers’ College in Ayotzinapa were forcibly disappeared in Iguala, Guerrero in southern Mexico. In the aftermath of this event, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the Mexican government, and the representatives of the victims’ families created an Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts (GIEI, by its initials in Spanish) to provide technical assistance and follow-up measures to the Mexican government in the investigation. The GIEI presented its final report on April 24, 2016.

Please join the Wilson Center's Mexico Institute and the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) for a conversation with four of the experts of the GIEI to discuss the main findings of their investigation, what their work demonstrated about Mexico’s criminal justice system, and how the investigation into the disappearance of the 43 students can move forward after their departure from Mexico. The Experts will be joined by a legal representative of the students’ families.

Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts
Carlos Martín Beristain (Spain)

Angela Buitrago (Colombia)

Francisco Cox Vial (Chile)

Claudia Paz y Paz (Guatemala)

Representative from Mexican Government
Ambassador Luis Alfonso de Alba
Permanent Representative of Mexico to the Organization of American States

Commentators
Maureen Meyer
Senior Associate for Mexico and Migrant Rights
Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA)

Santiago Aguirre
Deputy Director
Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez Human Rights Center

Moderator
Eric L. Olson
Associate Director, Latin American Program,
Senior Advisor, Mexico Institute, Wilson Center