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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | November 2006 
UN Criticizes Atenco Violence
 El Universal
| | The torture committee report called on Mexico "to guarantee that the use of force is solely employed as a last resort." (BBC) |
The United Nations on Friday expressed concern about police abuse in Mexico, particularly "the indiscriminate use of arbitrary detentions" against some protesters.
A report by the U.N. Committee Against Torture cites several police crackdowns on protests between 2004 and 2006 in which it says officers allegedly sexually abused female demonstrators and beat others.
In particular, the report cites San Salvador Atenco, 15 miles (25 kilometers) northeast of Mexico City, where federal police officers in May allegedly sexually abused women and beat protesters after demonstrators kidnapped and beat six policemen who tried to prevent street vendors from setting up stands.
Twenty-three female detainees said they were sexually abused by officers and others said they had been clubbed.
The committee also mentioned an anti-globalization protest in May 2004 in Guadalajara where police detained as many as 60 protesters after clashes broke out.
Several were later released without being charged.
"The committee is concerned about information that during these operations the indiscriminate use of arbitrary detentions was resorted to ... as well as abuses of all kind."
The report said similar abuses have also occurred in the conflict-ridden southern state of Oaxaca, where federal police were sent in late October to restore order after anti-government demonstrators kept local officers out of Oaxaca City´s Historic Center for nearly five months. The report did not give any details on those allegations.
The torture committee report called on Mexico "to guarantee that the use of force is solely employed as a last resort." The committee is made up of 10 independent experts who meet to review countries´ adherence to the 1984 U.N. Convention Against Torture.
On Thursday, U.N. officials in Mexico City released a report from the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women.
The report said Mexico needs to do more to stop the violence against women, especially in Ciudad Juárez, where officials say more than 100 women were murdered between 1993 and 2001 sparking an international outcry.
Most of the victims were dumped in the desert outside of Ciudad Juárez. They seemed to fit a pattern: Many of the victims were young women last seen in the city´s downtown or after taking buses. Their bodies often did not appear until months later.
Police have made several arrests - including an Egyptian chemist who died in prison earlier this year, a bus driver whose conviction was overturned, and his co-defendant who died in prison before sentencing. But U.N. officials say the city still remains dangerous for women. |
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