CNDH Issues 860-Page Recommendation Exonerating Army of Institutional Responsibility

The National Human Rights Commission (CNDH), headed by Rosario Piedra Ibarra, issued Recommendation 208VG/2026 — a document of more than 860 pages originating from a June 2021 complaint by families of the 43. The recommendation recognizes 92 victims of grave human rights violations (forced disappearance, torture, extrajudicial execution) tied to the September 26–27, 2014 events, and classifies 40 of the 43 students as disappeared and 3 as victims of extrajudicial execution. However, it concludes there is 'no institutional responsibility nor direct military participation,' limiting Army accountability to individual acts of omission by 20 soldiers already under criminal process, and states there was no 'counter-insurgency' plan targeting the students. Notably, the recommendation — unlike 22 other notified authorities — was not directed to the Defense Ministry (SEDENA), and it directly questions the reports of the GIEI and the Truth Commission (CoVAJ), accusing them of building an 'anti-historical truth' narrative and citing alleged foreign 'interference' in the case.