Date of Submission
Fall 2020
Academic Program
Human Rights
Project Advisor 1
Thomas Keenan
Abstract/Artist's Statement
This paper examines responses to the 2014 forced disappearance of 43 university students from Ayotzinapa, Guerrero by Mexican authorities and criminals working together, for reasons that remain unknown. Rather than accept the losses as yet another consequence of official corruption and impunity, Mexican civil society rebelled. The people sustained protests, enlisted the support of international organizations, and exposed the government’s crimes and attempted cover-up. This study concludes that, despite the failure in the following years to locate the missing and bring the perpetrators to justice, the victims’ families and their allies demonstrated their power to hold the government to account and insist on attention to such violations. Ayotzinapa marks a watershed event in the history of the defense of human rights in Mexico.
Open Access Agreement
Open Access
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Mozdzierz, Olivia, "Hasta Que Haya Justicia: Responses to the 2014 Forced Disappearance of the Students of Ayotzinapa, Mexico" (2020). Senior Projects Fall 2020. 32.
https://digitalcommons.bard.edu/senproj_f2020/32
This work is protected by a Creative Commons license. Any use not permitted under that license is prohibited.