The President of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, said this Wednesday (7) that “apparently” the military has executed five civilians identified as criminals in the state of Tamaulipas (northeast), a fact captured on video and released by two media outlets foreigners.
“Apparently there has been lynching, and it should not (…) They are already about to put at their disposal (get hold of) those responsible”said Andrés Obrador when answering questions at his morning press conference.
However, the agent made that clear “these are isolated cases and if they occur they will be punished”.
He attributed them to “an excess of violence” on the part of the military.
“There is no cover-up, because we do not tolerate human rights violations”he stressed, recalling that the Defense Secretariat has already launched an investigation “for the alleged crime of extrajudicial execution”.
The incident took place May 18 in the city of Nuevo Laredo, which borders the United States, according to Spanish newspaper El País and American television Univisión.
It was reported Tuesday night that the Attorney General’s Office had launched an investigation in conjunction with the Secretariat of Defense, the military’s top command.
The military prosecutor also opened an investigation into the matter and assured that it will not be tolerated. “impunity in the conduct of the military, nor shall any conduct contrary to the rule of law prevail”.
collision and shooting
The images published by the two media outlets initially show the violent collision of a truck against the wall of a supermarket, in what appears to be an escape from a chase.
Shortly afterwards, an armed military vehicle deliberately crashes into the crashed truck.
The soldiers go down to fire at the car and then remove the occupants, who appear to be dizzy from the impact. More soldiers arrive on the scene.
One of the soldiers throws one of the alleged criminals to the ground, and another arrives to attack him. Then they are dragged and placed against the wall, where they are partially visible.
Soldiers search the vehicle and one of them pulls out a high caliber weapon. According to Univisión’s report and some images, the prisoners are beaten, handcuffed and blindfolded shortly afterwards.
In the sequence, the soldiers appear to be the target of an attack, to which they respond with gunfire, even though the attackers are never visible in the video. According to the official report, no soldiers were injured.
At the same time, apparently to keep an eye on them, one of the soldiers sitting next to the prisoners starts shooting at them.
Seconds later, one of them crawls away as if running, but another soldier points a gun at him. He quickly stops moving.
Moments later, there are attempts to change the crime scene, such as one soldier placing weapons near the detainees’ bodies, and another removing the handcuffs from one of the victims.
An hour later, an ambulance arrives to help a prisoner who was still alive but died on the way to the hospital, according to Univisión.
The incident took place in the same city where last February soldiers fired on a vehicle in which seven young people were travelling, killing five of them. Apparently the group left a party.
Four soldiers were prosecuted in this case.
Nuevo Laredo is the frequent scene of violent acts attributed to drug traffickers.
Source: DN
