La Jornada

Ángeles Cruz, Fernando Camacho and Sergio Ocampo

Wednesday,September 4, 2019, p. 13

Outrageous, the liberation of El Gil, involved in the case of 43: Encinas

Torture against the accused and the lack of scientific evidence undermined the case, point out CNDH and Centro Pro

The undersecretary of Human Rights of the Ministry of the Interior, Alejandro Encinas, considers “outrageous” the release of Gildardo López Astudillo, El Gil, allegedly involved in the disappearance of the 43 Ayotzinapa students five years ago in Iguala, Guerrero while also calling for public acknowledgment that the badly named “historical truth" version of the government’s investigation was constructed via human torture.

Similarly, the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) and the Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez Human Rights Center (Prodh) lamented the acquittal and release of Lopez Astudillo; They warned that the use of torture against the accused and the lack of scientific evidence ended up destroying the foundations of the case, which could result in impunity and freedom for more of the accused.

For his part, Felipe de la Cruz, spokesman for the fathers and mothers of the 43 students, joined in the condemnation of the release of El Gil, because instead of having satisfactory results in the investigation of the case, "we see that they are liberating the supposed criminals. "

In an interview, after the inauguration of the Early Childhood Forum: building politics from the territory, Encinas insisted that torture is a recurring practice in the country, hence the first judge of the federal criminal proceedings district, based in Tamaulipas , has ordered the release of López Astudillo. The justice minister granted the protection to the accused, alleged member of the Guerreros Unidos criminal group, because he alleged that he suffered torture to force him to plead guilty.

Santiago Aguirre, director of the Prodh Center, said that the liberation of El Gil is a very hard blow for the families of the 43 normalistas, because they warn that with this exoneration valuable data about the whereabouts of their children may be lost.

"Several people (accused by the Ayotzinapa case) had regained their freedom by orders of protection or other remedies, but this is the first acquittal on the merits of the accusation. This is confirmation that the investigation generated by the Attorney General's Office in the previous administration did not pass proper judicial examination and failed in presenting a valid case thesis", he said.

The president of the CNDH, Luis Raúl González Pérez, lamented that the "institutional weakness" of the law enforcement agencies has caused the release of López Astudillo, which obstructs the victims' right to justice, truth and reparation of the damage.