BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SR 7| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- THIRD READING Bill No: SR 7 Author: Lara (D) Amended: As introduced Vote: Majority SUBJECT : Human Rights SOURCE : Author DIGEST : This resolution adds the voice of the Senate to those in the international community condemning the disappearance and deaths of the missing college students from Mexico as a violation of human rights; offers support to all those in Mexico standing up for human rights and justice against corruption and violence; and 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. ANALYSIS : This resolution makes the following legislative findings: 1.On September 26, 2014, 43 college students from the Ayotzinapa Normal School in Guerrero, Mexico, disappeared in Iguala, Mexico. Mexico's Attorney General, Jsus Murillo Karam, announced in a televised press conference on November 7, 2014, that the evidence indicates the 43 missing students had been executed and incinerated in the municipal dump of Cocula, Mexico, by the Guerreros Unidos cartel. 2.It has been estimated that 25,000 to 26,000 people have CONTINUED SR 7 Page 2 disappeared in Mexico since 2006. 3.The disappeared often include the very vulnerable, such as poor migrants, indigenous people, and women and children. 4.The director of the American division of Human Rights Watch, José Manuel 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." 5.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. This resolution: 1.Adds the voice of the Senate to those in the international community condemning the disappearance and deaths of the missing college students from Mexico as a violation of human rights. 2.Offers support to all those in Mexico standing up for human rights and justice against corruption and violence. 3.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. Background According to the author, on September 26, 2014, 43 college students from the Ayotzinapa Normal School traveled to Iguala, Mexico to advocate for increased funding for their rural college. The local mayor, José Luis Abarca, ordered police to detain the students to stop demonstrations near his events. On September 27, with orders from the mayor, the Iguala police abducted the students early in the morning. The 43 students were missing for 11 days. On Friday, November 7, Mexico's Attorney General, Jesús Murillo Karam, announced that the students were executed and burned by CONTINUED SR 7 Page 3 Guerreros Unidos, a local drug cartel. This development came after three of the gang's members were arrested and revealed that Iguala's law enforcement contracted them to administer the students' executions. Their testimonies also revealed that the victim's bodies were incinerated in a nearby municipal dump. According to a report by the Human Rights Watch, state and federal army units failed to intervene and provide protection to the students. José Manuel Vivanco, a director from the organization, described the murders in Iguala, Mexico, as "[one of] the worst atrocities we've seen in Mexico in years, but they are hardly isolated incidents." Since 2006, an estimated 25,000 to 26,000 people have disappeared in Mexico. The student's deaths have galvanized Mexican citizens to speak out against the continuing violence and disappearance of people. After the 43 students went missing the public came out in the tens of thousands. Protests spread to the capital and people began marching, while crying out, "Ya me canse!" "I've had enough!." To this day, investigations have stalled and the police chief is still a fugitive. FISCAL EFFECT : Fiscal Com.: No JA:k 1/13/15 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: NONE RECEIVED **** END **** CONTINUED