In Mexico, one of the primary suspects in the 2014 disappearance and presumed murder of 43 students from a teachers’ college in Ayotzinapa, Guerrero, has been acquitted. Gildardo López Astudillo, who was believed to have ordered the kidnapping as the head of an organized crime unit, was released after a judge determined he had been tortured to obtain evidence. International experts say the Mexican military and federal police also played a role in the disappearance. Mexico’s undersecretary of human rights, Alejandro Encinas, condemned the court’s decision.

Alejandro Encinas: “As well as setting a precedent so that acquittal sentences can be established for the others involved, it’s strengthening a trend that has already been registered, with the freedom of other detainees in the case of Ayotzinapa.”

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has vowed to challenge the decision to release López Astudillo. López Obrador established a truth and justice commission to investigate the Ayotzinapa case in January, shortly after taking office. The commission has not yet uncovered any further information about what happened to the students.