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From: "Dana Aldea" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Universal,Soldiers accused of drugging, beating and raping four teenage girls in Michoacan,May 16 Date: Wed, 16 May 2007 14:38:50 +0200 Soldiers accused of rape Soldiers fighting drug cartels have been accused of drugging, beating and raping four teenage girls over several days, the director of the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) said Tuesday Wire services / El Universal Mie'rcoles 16 de mayo de 2007 Soldiers fighting drug cartels have been accused of drugging, beating and raping four teenage girls over several days, the director of the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) said Tuesday. Jose' Luis Soberanes said the CNDH has testimony of the abuse from the girls and their families in Michoaca'n, where 7,000 soldiers have been battling gangs and burning marijuana crops. A medical examination confirmed that a 17-year-old girl had been raped, Soberanes said. The other three, ages 16 and 17, still were being examined. The Defense Secretariat said it will fully cooperate with an investigation and seek the maximum punishment for any soldier found guilty of abuse. Soberanes said the CNDH has also received complaints that soldiers tortured, beat and arbitrarily arrested another 48 residents in Michoaca'n, President Caldero'n's home state. Evidence of those abuses will be delivered to the Army and the state prosecutor's office, with demands for a joint investigation, he said. "We want the soldiers to know they are being watched and to avoid this behavior," he said. "In the battle against organized crime, you cannot break the law or violate human rights. It's possible to fight this battle legally," he added. The teenagers alleged that on May 2 they were taken to a military base with bags over their heads and forced to inhale a drug that made them sleepy as the soldiers beat and raped them. They were released three days later with threats that if they went to authorities their families would suffer. It was unclear how many soldiers were involved. Other residents say they were beaten with rifle butts and had their heads shoved into plastic bags or buckets of water, Soberanes said. Caldero'n sent the troops to Michoaca'n in mid-December shortly after taking office as part of a force of 24,000 soldiers and federal police that have since fanned out across Mexico to fight drug cartels. On May 1, suspected drug traffickers ambushed and killed five soldiers in Michoaca'n, one of the Army's worst losses in a decade. Soberanes said the Army cannot be immediately pulled out of the fight, but should support police. "The soldiers are not trained to carry out police work," he said. "If you make them do it, they go overboard and we see these type of cases." http://www.mexiconews.com.mx/miami/24621.html -- To unsubscribe from this list send a message containing the words unsubscribe chiapas95 (or chiapas95-lite, or chiapas95-english, or chiapas95-espanol) to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Previous messages are available from http://www.eco.utexas.edu/faculty/Cleaver/chiapas95.html or gopher to Texas, University of Texas at Austin, Department of Economics, Mailing Lists.
