| | |  Editorials | Issues | December 2009 
Rights Group Supports Tijuana Cops’ Case
 Sandra Dibble - San Diego Union-Tribune
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December 09, 2009
 |  | The Mexican state has the will and capacity to punish authorities and public servants who could commit any kind of human rights violations in the line of duty.
- Interior Ministry |  | | |
Amnesty International has taken up the cause of 25 former Tijuana police officers who say they were illegally detained and tortured by military authorities.
In a report released yesterday, the London-based human rights group called on the Mexican government to investigate their allegations and bring those responsible to justice. The report also asks the government to look into four other cases, two in Chihuahua, one in Tamaulipas, and a second Baja California case involving four civilian detainees.
The Tijuana police officers were detained between March 21 and 29, and held at the Aguaje de la Tuna base for 41 days without charges under a federal judge’s detention order known as an arraigo, according to the report. The officers are suspected of collaborating and remain behind bars while their trials continue.
The Amnesty report states that while in military custody, they were “bound with tape round their head, hands, knees and feet for days, denied food for three days, beaten repeatedly, asphyxiated with plastic bags over their heads, and given electric shocks to their feet and genitalia.”
In response to the report, Mexico’s Interior Ministry issued a statement saying that it will look into the allegations, and stressed its commitment to human rights. “The Mexican state has the will and capacity to punish authorities and public servants who could commit any kind of human rights violations” in the line of duty, the statement said.
sandra.dibble(at)uniontrib.com |
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