REPORT CITES ABUSES BY MEXICAN MILITARY

Rights Panel Describes Torture, Killings in Anti-Drug Effort

MEXICO CITY -- The National Human Rights Commission on Friday accused
the Mexican military of wrongfully killing eight civilians at
roadblocks, torturing witnesses and allowing soldiers accused of
rights violations to escape prosecution during its continuing
campaign against drug cartels.

In a lengthy report, commission investigators documented a case of
soldiers jamming splinters beneath the fingernails and toenails of a
witness and forcibly injecting alcohol down his throat. The man had
been mistaken for a drug dealer operating in the hills near the
border south of Phoenix, the report said.

In another case, soldiers stormed a house in the western village of
Uruapan and allegedly tortured two suspects by stabbing their
genitals with electric cattle prods. Other suspects were held at
military facilities, forced to undress and barred from communicating
with lawyers or family.

Most of the abuses have gone unpunished, the report said. For
instance, no action has been taken against soldiers suspected of
shooting dead four civilians at a roadblock in the central state of
Sinaloa, the report said.

The commission's report held the military's top brass to be as
responsible for the violations as the low- and mid-ranking soldiers
accused of committing the actual offenses. In some instances,
civilian law enforcement authorities have been impeded because the
military delayed the release of information, the report said.

"We need armed forces that do not tolerate some of their members
violating fundamental rights without consequences," Jose Luis
Soberanes, president of the commission, said Friday.

The military, which has generally defended its rights record, did not
immediately respond to the report.

Since taking office in December 2006, President Felipe Calderon has
dispatched more than 30,000 solders and federal police officers to
fight drug cartels. The military-style operations are credited, in
large part, for the arrests of more than 26,000 drug suspects and the
seizure of 1.6 million rounds of ammunition from cartels, according
to the government.

But Mexican and international human rights groups have repeatedly
called for the withdrawal of the military, which they say is poorly
prepared for policing. More than 980 rights complaints -- 75 percent
of which are connected to the anti-narcotics operations -- have been
filed against the military since Calderon took office.

Soberanes, who once called for the military "to return to its
barracks," now says that the temporary use of soldiers is necessary
to contain the growing power of drug cartels, which are blamed for
more than 2,000 killings this year. On Friday, Soberanes reiterated
his view that soldiers have a place in the fight but called on
Calderon to set a date for their withdrawal.

Many Mexican governors have applauded the president for dispatching
the military and have urged him to send more troops. But the troops
have not stemmed the violence. On Friday, officials in Culiacan,
capital of Sinaloa, said this year's death toll of police and other
public officials had reached 62, after two police officers were
killed Thursday in a daylight shootout that left 10 other people dead.