The Mexican military executes five civilians
A group of Mexican soldiers are accused of executing five civilians in the city of Nuevo Laredo. The alleged crime happened three weeks ago and was recorded by surveillance cameras.
The pictures were revealed by the Spanish newspaper “El País” and the US television station Univisión, which had access to the footage from a surveillance camera.
The images show an armed military vehicle leaning against a pickup truck. The soldiers go down and shoot at the car, then remove the occupants, who seem dizzy from the collision. More soldiers arrive at the crime scene.
One of the soldiers kicks and throws one of the civilians to the ground, another hits him. They are then dragged and placed against the wall where you can partially see them.
The soldiers search the vehicle, one of them captures at least one large caliber weapon and a bulletproof vest. Soon after, according to Univisión’s report and some pictures, the prisoners are beaten, handcuffed and blindfolded.
In the sequence, the soldiers appear to be the target of an attack, to which they respond by firing guns, although the attackers are never seen in the video. According to the official report, no soldiers were injured.
At the same time, one of the soldiers, apparently sitting next to the prisoners to watch them, starts shooting at them.
One of them kicks as if to run away, but another soldier points a gun at him and he stops.
Afterward, one soldier places guns near the bodies of the prisoners, and another takes the handcuffs off one of the dead.
According to Univisión, an ambulance arrived an hour later to help a man who was alive but died on the way to hospital.
first consequences
It was reported on Tuesday evening that prosecutors had launched an investigation in coordination with the Defense Secretariat, the army’s top command.
The military prosecutor’s office also opened an investigation into the case and assured that “impunity in the exercise of military service will not be tolerated, nor will the rule of law be tolerated.”
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador admitted Wednesday that a group of military personnel may have executed the five civilians.
“Apparently there was justice and that cannot be allowed,” the president said. During his reign, the military gained power by expanding its functions to various sectors.
The military involved are isolated, López Obrador said at his daily press conference.
The representative said these were “isolated incidents” which “if they occur, will be punished” and attributed them to “excessive use of force” by the soldiers.
Other cases of violence
López Obrador also said in previous cases of suspected human rights abuses by military personnel that these were isolated cases and that, unlike previous administrations, he does not massacre or disappear with civilians.
collision and shooting
The latest incident took place in the same city where, last February, soldiers fired on a vehicle carrying seven young people, killing five of them. Apparently, the group left a party. In this case, four soldiers were prosecuted.
Nuevo Laredo is a frequent scene of violent acts attributed to drug traffickers.