EPA
The Mexican government's human rights body has
accused police of killing 22 people in extrajudicial executions in a raid on a
drug cartel last year.
One police officer and
42 suspects were killed in the raid on a ranch in Tanhuato, Michoacan state, on
15 May.
Officers said they had
returned fire in self-defence but the high death toll aroused suspicions.
The National Human
Rights Commission (CNDH) says police attempted a cover-up. Police dispute the
findings.
Human rights groups in
the country have long been demanding an improvement in policing standards and
an end to arbitrary killings.
Previously, the
government said there had been no human rights violations during the raid on
the ranch.
They said a war was
being fought between two local drug gangs and those killed were believed to be
members of one of the cartels.
'Four thousand rounds'
Police used a Black
Hawk helicopter during the operation, reportedly firing some 4,000 rounds into
the ranch, known as the Rancho del Sol, during the initial assault.
The helicopter itself
was hit by gunfire, investigators found.
In its report (in Spanish; warning: contains graphic
images), the CNDH asserts that:
§
5 suspects were killed
in the helicopter attack; 22 were arbitrarily executed; 15 died in unclear
circumstances
§
2 bodies were burnt by
police
§
2 suspects were
tortured in custody
§
police moved bodies
and weapons to cover up arbitrary killings
"The
investigation confirmed facts that show grave human rights violations
attributable to public servants of the federal police,'' commission President
Luis Raul Gonzalez Perez said.
Mexico's national
security commissioner, Renato Sales, who oversees the federal police, rejected
the CNDH allegations.
"The use of
weapons was necessary and proportional against the real and imminent and
unlawful aggression," he told reporters.
"That is to say,
in our minds they acted in legitimate defence."
Michoacan has become
one of Mexico's most violent states because of the rivalry between cartels.
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