RIGHTS ACTIVIST CITES MEXICAN ARMY ABUSES

EL PASO - As an additional 5,000 Mexican soldiers deploy to quell the
violence in Juarez, a Mexican civil-rights official told a UTEP forum
Thursday evening that the military is involved in unlawful
detentions, torture and other abuses while failing to stop the killings.

"For me, the de facto suspension of individual rights is a situation
much more grave than the war among cartels," said Gustavo de la Rosa
Hickerson of the Chihuahua State Human Rights Commission.

The army has detained 3,000 people in Juarez, holding some from 12
hours to 15 days without arrest orders, and has tortured detainees
with beatings and electric shocks and by placing them in freezers, de
la Rosa Hickerson said.

De la Rosa Hickerson, a labor lawyer and a former candidate of the
Revolutionary Democratic Party, or PRD, was a speaker at the
"Violence on the Border" event organized by history students at the
University of Texas at El Paso.

Mexican military officials have repeatedly denied abuse allegations
and have said criminals have been known to wear phony uniforms.

Juarez government officials on Thursday lauded the announcement that
more soldiers would be sent to the city, raising the total to 7,500.
Reinforcements will create a highly visible presence, including 400
troops patrolling 24 hours a day, officials said.

De la Rosa Hickerson countered that Mexican President Felipe
Calderon's crackdown on the drug cartels and military operations was
a "terrible failure," pointing out that killings in Juarez increased
since the first deployment of soldiers a year ago.

"I thought it was (former U.S. Vice President) Dick Cheney disguised
as Felipe Calderon. He invented a war like Dick Cheney invented a war
with Iraq," de la Rosa Hickerson said. "A public-safety problem has
turned into a war."

De la Rosa Hickerson's comments did not go unchallenged.

"I think every checkpoint, every person detained is a triumph as
small as it is because it is helping stop the flow of drugs," said a
student, who didn't give his name. "... I have always thought that
the civil-rights commission was for the protection of society, but it
is protecting criminals."

Joint Operation Chihuahua

7,500 troops in Juarez in the coming weeks.

486 homicides so far this year in the state of Chihuahua, including
214 in Juarez.

Half of all homicides in Mexico this year have been in Chihuahua state.

Since the start of the operation last March:

101 tons of marijuana seized.

1,554 arrests for various crimes.

75,000 jobs could be lost if the situation does not improve.

5,000 businesses have closed.

3,000 families have moved.

Source: Joint Operation Chihuahua overview released Thursday by
Chihuahua Sen. Ramon Galindo.