A mourner at a vigil (Lupita Mendez/Twitter)

Los Angeles-based human rights activists planned to hold a candlelight vigil on Thursday to mourn the September disappearance of 43 students in Iguala, Guerrero, Mexico.

Activists and community members called on the Mexican government to investigate the disappearances more aggressively. Mexican Attorney General Jesus Murillo Karam said that police turned the students over to a drug cartel to prevent them from disrupting a political event. Witnesses said students were abducted from a private bus.

Three members of the cartel recently admitted to murdering some of the students and disposing of their bodies, Murillo said. He said investigators found burned and blackened bodies wrapped in bags next to a river. Forensic tests have moved slowly because the victims’ bodies are so charred, Murillo said.

A demonstration in Mexico City turned violent Thursday afternoon as 200 protestors launched Molotov cocktails at police, according to the BBC. 

Thursday’s demonstrations coincide with the 104th anniversary of the Mexican Revolution. Rallies and vigils were planned at Mexican consulates around the globe. 

Anger about police corruption in Mexico has grown in recent years. Drug cartels carried out a number of public executions, and many activists have disappeared. 

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto is facing what is perhaps the most politically perilous moment of his brief tenure, and solutions aren’t easy to come by.

“The war against drugs is a complete failure; what they need is a war against impunity,” said Justin Connelly, director of Human Rights Watch, Southern California. “They need judges and prosecutors who can do their job without fear.”

Contact Student Reporter Jonathan Tolliver here and here.