Mexico demands extradition of ‘torturer’ evading justice in Israel

Israel has reportedly 'dragged its feet' in processing the extradition of Tomas Zeron, who was involved in the 2014 disappearance of 43 students from the Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers' College

By News Desk- June 21 2023

https://thecradle.co/article-view/26235/mexico-demands-extradition-of-torturer-evading--justice-in-israel

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on 20 June called on Israel to extradite the former head of Mexico’s criminal investigation agency, Tomas Zeron, who is wanted in connection to the disappearance of 43 students in southwestern Mexico in 2014.

Zeron is also accused of embezzling over $50 million and torturing suspects.

“It can’t be that Israel protects a torturer under any circumstance. Nobody in the world must protect torturers, much less those who suffered from repression, torture, extermination,” Lopez Obrador told reporters on Tuesday.

“I am sure that the Jewish community in Mexico will help us,” he stressed before questioning whether Tel Aviv is protecting Zeron because of his role in negotiating Mexico’s purchase of Israeli spyware.

“Imagine! For a business, for a sale, for money, to protect human rights violators,” Lopez Obrador added.

This is the second time the Mexican president has called on Israel to extradite Zeron. Tel Aviv has mostly remained silent over Mexico’s demands.

According to a New York Times (NYT) report released in February, Israeli authorities are “unlikely” to extradite Zeron, alleging that “delays and missteps” in Mexico’s requests have left the petition “all but dead.”

Nonetheless, one Israeli official that spoke with the NYT confirmed that Tel Aviv “dragged its feet” on the extradition request as payback for Lopez Obrador’s support of the Palestinian cause and Mexico’s approval of UN inquiries into Israeli war crimes against Palestinians.

Two weeks ago, Mexico fully recognized Palestinian statehood, upgrading Palestine’s special delegation to a full embassy.

Despite being wanted by Interpol, Zeron has been living in an upscale apartment building in Tel Aviv since late 2019 due to his ties to the Israeli tech sector, including embattled firm NSO Group — makers of the Pegasus spyware.

“Thanks to the solid ties that he forged with Israeli security technology vendors during the six-year term of [former president] Enrique Peña Nieto, Tomás Zerón was able to travel to Israel,” Mexican magazine Proceso revealed in 2020.

Zeron stepped down from his position in 2016 after a video was revealed showing him handling evidence that was never officially recorded. Three years later, he fled to Canada before making his way to Israel.

The disappearance of the 43 students in Iguala, Mexico, has rocked the North American country for the past nine years. Last August, a truth commission tasked with investigating the case concluded that all levels of the Mexican government were involved.

“Their actions, omissions or participation allowed the disappearance and execution of the students, as well as the murder of six other people,” Mexico’s top human rights official, Alejandro Encinas, said last year, referring to former government and military officials — including Zeron.

For the past several decades, Israel has become a haven for wanted criminals thanks to lax extradition laws and the so-called ‘law of return,’ which grants Israeli citizenship to Jews across the world based on ancestral claims that are two millennia old.

Those enjoying a haven in Israel include many Jewish-American pedophiles, as well as countless fraudsters, money launderers, and war criminals.