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From: "Dana" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Universal,Four police precinct chiefs reprimanded over Atenco abusesJun 14 Date: Wed, 14 Jun 2006 16:30:11 +0200 Police chiefs reprimanded Four police precinct chiefs and five other officers were disciplined over the abuses committed last month in the quelling of protests by campesinos in the State of Mexico town of San Salvador Atenco, officials said Wire services El Universal June 14, 2006 Four police precinct chiefs and five other officers were disciplined over the abuses committed last month in the quelling of protests by campesinos in the State of Mexico town of San Salvador Atenco, officials said. The May 3-4 clashes between flower vendors and their supporters, on one side, and police on the other left two dead, dozens injured and about 200 people under arrest. Many of those arrested complained they had been mistreated by police, and several women accused police officers of raping them. A 14-year-old boy died from a gunshot wound during the two days of disturbances in May, and a 20-year-old man died last week from wounds he suffered in the clashes. The government secretary of the State of Mexico, Humberto Beni'tez, said in a Monday news conference that a precinct chief and three officers were being kicked off the force, and the other three chiefs and two officers would be suspended for 90 days. The officers being disciplined belonged to the State Security Agency, or ASE, and "committed excesses" during the operation in San Salvador Atenco, according to Beni'tez. "There will not be impunity in any of the extremes: not for the macheteros (campesinos armed with machetes) who attacked the police or for the police officers who went too far in the use of force," Beni'tez said. Beni'tez said five other officers were also under investigation and "the appropriate disciplinary measures could be taken against them." The official said 22 officers nearly died from fire bombs, machete wounds and blows suffered during the clashes with the campesinos. The unrest early last month began in the town of Texcoco when police evicted a group of street vendors, most of them flower sellers, from the main square. That clash led to a second incident in nearby San Salvador Atenco, where residents mobilized to protest the eviction. The militants in Atenco - the town where machete-wielding campesinos rose up in 2002 to prevent President Vicente Fox's government from seizing their land to build a new airport for Mexico City - took several officers hostage and blocked a main highway with barricades of burning tires. "In addition to taking part in and tolerating acts of violence," the officers kicked out of the ASE disobeyed the orders of superiors, while the suspended officers were disciplined for allowing the abuse of prisoners while having a duty to ensure their safety, Beni'tez said. The government had vowed last month to discipline any police officer found to have committed abuses in the course of quelling the street protests. A judge has ordered 28 suspected ringleaders to stand trial for kidnapping police officers and blocking roads during the Atenco uprising, in which the security forces faced more than 400 campesinos armed with machetes, sticks, stones and Molotov cocktails. Magistrate Jaime Maldonado granted bail for 144 other prisoners and dropped charges against another 17 for lack of evidence. -- 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.
