PRODH Human Rights Center Gives New Evidence of Mexican Army Mass Killings teleSUR
go to original July 3, 2015

Update: Mexico Govt Denies Army Gave Orders to ‘Kill’ Criminals (Agence France-Presse)

A Mexican human rights organization published documents Thursday revealing that high-ranking officers within the Mexican army gave explicit orders to kill alleged criminals last year.

The Prodh human rights center revealed a document allegedly from the National Defense Secretary showing that "Soldiers should operate on a mass scale at night and reduce daytime activities, with the aim of killing criminals at night." According to the human rights group, this is proof that the soldiers who killed 15 people after they had already surrendered, were following direct orders.

The killings occurred in a military operation against an alleged group of armed civilians in the village of Cuadrilla Nueva, Tlataya, located in the State of Mexico. Three women survived the incident and subsequently suffered various human rights abuses, including arbitrary detention and torture, according to the UN.

The National Human Rights Commission of Mexico, which classified the killings as a case of serious human rights violations, established that 15 people were killed by soldiers after they had already surrendered.

The new evidence is part of a larger human rights report largely based on the testimony of one survivor, Clara Gomez, whose 15-year-old daughter was killed in the shooting. Gomez spoke publicly for the first time on Thursday, saying "I want justice to be done, justice for what they did to my daughter. God will not forgive them."

The human rights advocates hope this new evidence will generate an in-depth debate about the use of lethal force by corporations and security forces as well as an investigation into the army.

Read the rest at teleSUR

Photo: Reuters

Related: Mexican Soldiers Had Orders to Kill in the Darkness in Tlatlaya Massacre, Report Says (VICE News)

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