[JURIST] Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto [official website, in Spanish] on Thursday announced [video, in Spanish] a nationwide anti-crime campaign following the September 26 disappearance of 43 students who were en route to Iguala to protest lack of funds for their school. The plan will allow Congress to dissolve local governments and give state authorities control over municipal police, relaxing the divisions between state, local and federal police. The plan comes in response to the missing students, who were allegedly killed by a drug gang working with local police, and will focus on the most troubled four states—Guerrero, Michoacan, Jalisco and Tamaulipas. Chief of Staff Aurelio Nuno said that those states will be under state police control within a year-and-a-half, replacing the municipal police forces.

Earlier this month Jose Luis Abarca, the former mayor of the Mexican city of Iguala, was charged [JURIST report] with six counts of aggravated homicide and one count of attempted homicide by prosecutors in the state of Guerrero in connection with the student disappearances. The charges against Abarca came after the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances [official website] implored [JURIST report] the Mexican government to investigate the disappearances and noted that the steps taken would show the country’s willingness to respond to allegations of human rights violations. Accusations of human rights violations have plagued Mexico for years. One such allegation surfaced in late October when the Mexican military was accused [JURIST report] of covering up civilian murders perpetrated by their own soldiers.