Members of Amnesty International Truro and Falmouth held a demonstration to draw attention to 43 Mexican students who have been missing for two years.

The group formed a figure 43 on The Moor using shoes to demonstrate the missing group, who were travelling on a bus when they were forced off the vehicle in the south western state of Guerrero. The young people were all studying at Ayotzinapa teacher training college. Six of their fellow students were killed in the incident and 20 wounded but their assailants remain unknown.

Police and soldiers, who were stationed nearby, have been accused of doing nothing to help the students as they were under attack. What exactly happened that night is not clear. Witness accounts say police encircled one of the buses, detonated tear gas, punctured the tyres and forced the college students off the bus. The students were put into police vehicles and taken away.

Amnesty International Truro and Falmouth chairman, Wailim Wong, said: "Our action in Falmouth shows we have not forgotten the 43 missing students. Our group members have also sent letters to the Mexican authorities urging them to establish the truth of what happened to give the students’ families peace of mind.”

A government investigation initially claimed the students had been killed by a criminal gang and burnt in a rubbish dump, but forensic investigations found no evidence for this. While security forces were digging up sites where the students might be buried, they discovered 60 mass graves scattered around Guerrero containing at least 129 bodies.

The Ayotzinapa case highlighted around 27,000 missing people in Mexico since 2006. Many, like the students, were last seen in the custody of government agents, while others were kidnapped by gangs. There have been many complaints of military involvement in enforced disappearances.

Anyone wishing to take part in Cornwall’s campaigns against torture, violence or in support of refugees can contact Amnesty International Truro and Falmouth Group secretary, Margaret George, at mmargaretg@gmail.com or visit amnesty.org.uk/groups/truro-and-falmouth/about-0.