Mexican Military Complains as Troops Face Trials in Civilian Courts Naharnet
November 14, 2014

On the frontlines of Mexico's drug war for years, the military is pushing back at attempts to put soldiers on trial for civilian charges as serious as murder.

Armed forces in Mexico have faced accusations of abuse, torture and illegal detentions ever since former president Felipe Calderon deployed soldiers against drug cartels in 2006.

Until 2012, they were exempt from civilian justice. But the Supreme Court ruled two years ago that the military trial system was the wrong place for crimes against civilians.

The reform is facing a major test with the recent civilian charges lodged against seven soldiers in connection with the killing of 22 gang suspects in June in Tlatlaya, 240 kilometers (149 miles) south of Mexico City.

In unusually blunt remarks this week that raised eyebrows, Defense Minister Salvador Cienfuegos, an army general, slammed the trials against soldiers.

"We will offer our best efforts at the service of citizens without fear of unfair trials, some of them without a doubt wrong, lacking foundation, malicious," Cienfuegos said.

"The national armed forces don't deserve it."

Read the rest at Naharnet

Photo: Wikipedia

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