Calling upon the international community to conduct an independent investigation into the disappearance, and alleged killing, of forty-three students in Iguala, Guerrero, Mexico and to use such an investigation to hold those responsible, in accordance with international standards of justice, for their crimes.

WHEREAS, On September 26, 2014 in the city of Iguala, Guerrero, Mexico, forty-three students from Ayotzinapa Rural Education Academy were abducted by force and are still missing; and

WHEREAS, The Attorney General of Mexico, Jésus Murillo Karam, declared on November 7, 2014 that evidence indicated the missing students had been executed and incinerated by the Guerreros Unidos cartel with the cooperation of police and local officials; and

WHEREAS, State and federal authorities in Mexico failed to intervene to protect students and were not forthcoming in their efforts to search for the missing students, protect survivors and investigate the disappearance of the students; and

WHEREAS, The recent incident in Iguala exposed serious systemic problems, including collusion between the police, government officials, and organized crime, which must be investigated and corrected; and

WHEREAS, Estimates of people who have disappeared in Mexico since 2006 range between 25,000 and 26,000 people, often including the most vulnerable in society such as the poor, indigenous people, and women and children; and

WHEREAS, The director of the American division of Human Rights Watch, José Miguel Vivanco, explained the alleged killing of students in Iguala is one of the worst atrocities in recent years in Mexico, but that it is certainly not an isolated event; and

WHEREAS, City Council recognizes that Philadelphia is home to many with ties to Mexico, as well as others who are refugees from state-connected violence; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, THAT THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, Formally expresses its support for the missing students and their relatives and emphatically calls upon the international community to conduct an independent investigation into the disappearance, and alleged killing, of forty-three students in Iguala, Guerrero, Mexico and to use this investigation to hold those responsible, in accordance with international standards of justice, for their crimes.

FURTHER RESOLVED, That an Engrossed copy of this resolution be presented to the Secretary General of the United Nations, the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

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