Petition calls for Bishop not to meet Mexico's president over missing student crisis

November 11, 2014
Issue 
Students hold a banner for missing students, which reads 'Iguala Guerrero, assassins cradle'.

Protests continue to grip Mexico over the fate of 43 students from Ayotzinapawho were abducted -- in police vehvilces according to eyewitnesses -- Guerrerro state on September 26.

Mexico's Attorney-General Jesus Murillo Karam says three detained “drug traffickers” had confessed to killing the students -- including burnig them alive. Dozens of police were arrested over allegations they had had students over to a drug cartel. Iguala mayor Jose Luis Abarca, accused of ordering the attacks, resigned on October 24.

A Mexican human rights defender slammed the government's management of the case of the 43 missing Ayotzinapa students on November 11, saying revelations in the case were being timed for political gain.

Alejandro Solalinde, a Catholic priest and long-time defender of migrant rights in Mexico, said: “The government knew beforehand of the fate of the 43, but didn’t release the information with elections in sight,”

He called on students and his fellow Catholics to join protest movements to take action in the country “that’s about to catch fire.”

“These protests are nothing but a sign of the times, a sign that change is needed,” the priest said.

Despite thee crisis gripping his country, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto left the country for meetings in China and then Australia.

In response, a petition is calling for Australian foreign minsiter Julie Biship to refuse to meet with Pena Nieto.

The petition says: "43 students were killed by our government, every day we face deaths, disappearances and violence. We urge you NOT to receive the Mexican president until our country is a safe place."

You can add your name here.

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