Mexican federal prosecutors have taken over the investigation into the disappearance of 43 college students from the Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers' College in 2014. The independent panel appointed by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (GIEI) has issued its final report, implicating the country's security forces in the students' disappearance.

The panel stated that authorities from the army, navy, intelligence services, and police agencies knew the location of the abducted students, contradicting their previous denials. The GIEI also accused security forces of withholding key information, obstructing investigative efforts, and using torture to extract false testimonies.

The Mexican government's initial account of the event, which alleged that local police had collaborated with drug groups to kill the students, was refuted by the panel. The case has become emblematic of the widespread issue of disappearances in Mexico, where state forces sometimes collaborate with criminal groups.

Despite President Andrés Manuel López Obrador's establishment of a truth commission and the renewal of GIEI's mandate in 2018, the government has yet to achieve a conviction in the Ayotzinapa case. The GIEI will be departing from the country next week, leaving the victims' families without closure.

López Obrador has expressed his commitment to continuing the investigation, and over 120 individuals have been arrested in connection with the students' disappearance.