WHEREAS, On September 26, 2014, forty-three college students from the Ayotzinapa Normal School in Guerrero, Mexico, disappeared in Iguala, Mexico; and
WHEREAS, Mexico’s Attorney General, Jésus Murillo Karam, announced in a televised press conference on November 7, 2014, that the evidence indicates the forty-three missing students had been executed and incinerated in the municipal dump of Cocula, Mexico, by the Guerreros Unidos cartel; and
WHEREAS, It has been estimated that 25,000 to 26,000 people have disappeared in Mexico since 2006; and
WHEREAS, The disappeared often include the very vulnerable, such as poor migrants, indigenous people, and women and children; and
WHEREAS, According to a report by Human Rights Watch, the state and federal army units in Iguala failed to intervene to protect the students; and
WHEREAS, The director of the American division of Human Rights Watch, José Miguel Vivanco, described the murders in Iguala, Mexico, and an earlier massacre in Tlatlaya, Mexico, as “the worst atrocities we’ve seen in Mexico in years, but they are hardly isolated incidents”; and
WHEREAS, There has been an international outcry regarding the deaths of the missing students in Mexico from, among others, the United Nations, the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the European Parliament, and the international human rights community; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, That the Senate adds its voice to those in the international community condemning the disappearance and deaths of the missing college students from Mexico as a violation of human rights; and be it further
Resolved, That the Senate offers its support to all those in Mexico standing up for human rights and justice against corruption and violence; and be it further
Resolved, That the Senate urges the government of Mexico to support further dialogue between the international community, including the United States, and human rights organizations on human rights reforms; and be it further
Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.
Senate Resolution No. 7 read and adopted by the Senate February 2, 2015.
Attest: _______________________________________
Secretary of the Senate
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