Here's something you might be interested in.
There has been a lot of news coverage recently of the fate of Jon Hammar, a Marine veteran jailed for months in Mexico after trying to carry an heirloom shotgun across the border into Mexico. The intense media coverage in the US, coupled with cries for a boycott of Mexico from several American congressmen, seems to have finally gotten the attention of some high level Mexican officials, and Hammar was released from jail without any charges. He made it home in time for Christmas.
Other people are not so lucky. Mexicans are routinely brutalized by their fellow Mexicans under color of authority. Here is a news item about two very unlucky residents of Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua which was translated by Fulano from an article in Historias del Narco.
Three Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua municipal police officers were arrested, accused of abuse of authority, illegal use of public force, torture and sexual abuse.
The police are Miguel Pascual Melitón, 28 years old, Magdalena González Avellaneda, 41 and José Luis González Hernández, 28. The latter is accused of inserting a baseball bat into the rectum of one of the victims to make him confess a supposed sale of drugs.
All together there are five police officers accused, but two of them are fugitives.
The investigation indicates that on May 6, 2012, a man was travelling on a motorcycle, accompanied by another man, on boulevard Norzagaray, in colonia Felipe Ángeles.
When a group of police ordered them to stop, the motorcycle driver thought they were asking him about some car body work, as that is what he does.
However, the police started to question them with, "where do you have the drugs?"
One of the victims replied that they know nothing about that, and so both were put into a patrol car and taken to a nearby building.
There, the police started to beat them and force them to divulge the information, but as they did not "confess," the beatings continued.
A police officer covered the eyes of one of the victims with adhesive tape and emptied the contents of a bottle of liquor on his head.
As the victim continued denying that he was selling drugs, he was forced to swallow three bullets sprayed with urine. Two of them were vomited up, and one remained lodged in his intestine.
The men indicated that the police also threatened to shoot one of them in the head and that would, "finish off this problem."
Due to the fact that they still refused to confess that they were selling drugs, police officer José Luis González Hernández took a wood baseball bat and pushed it into the anus of one victim to force him to "confess." Meanwhile the other man continued to be beaten by the other police officers.
As they still refused to confess to selling drugs, the two men were taken to a police station and put before a judge where they were charged with drinking alcoholic beverages in the street.
After being held for several hours, they were finally freed and went to the Chihuahua State Attorney General to file a complaint.
The medical examiner determined that one of the men had a bullet lodged in his intestine.
In addition, he found evidence of anal tearing, for which he immediately prepared an investigation report that was placed before a judge who issued an arrest warrant on November 17, 2012.
The three municipal police officers were arrested by police from Internal Affairs.
This morning, the three police officers appeared before an investigating judge and the Public Prosecutor read the charges.
There has been a lot of news coverage recently of the fate of Jon Hammar, a Marine veteran jailed for months in Mexico after trying to carry an heirloom shotgun across the border into Mexico. The intense media coverage in the US, coupled with cries for a boycott of Mexico from several American congressmen, seems to have finally gotten the attention of some high level Mexican officials, and Hammar was released from jail without any charges. He made it home in time for Christmas.
Other people are not so lucky. Mexicans are routinely brutalized by their fellow Mexicans under color of authority. Here is a news item about two very unlucky residents of Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua which was translated by Fulano from an article in Historias del Narco.
Three Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua municipal police officers were arrested, accused of abuse of authority, illegal use of public force, torture and sexual abuse.
The police are Miguel Pascual Melitón, 28 years old, Magdalena González Avellaneda, 41 and José Luis González Hernández, 28. The latter is accused of inserting a baseball bat into the rectum of one of the victims to make him confess a supposed sale of drugs.
All together there are five police officers accused, but two of them are fugitives.
The investigation indicates that on May 6, 2012, a man was travelling on a motorcycle, accompanied by another man, on boulevard Norzagaray, in colonia Felipe Ángeles.
When a group of police ordered them to stop, the motorcycle driver thought they were asking him about some car body work, as that is what he does.
However, the police started to question them with, "where do you have the drugs?"
One of the victims replied that they know nothing about that, and so both were put into a patrol car and taken to a nearby building.
There, the police started to beat them and force them to divulge the information, but as they did not "confess," the beatings continued.
A police officer covered the eyes of one of the victims with adhesive tape and emptied the contents of a bottle of liquor on his head.
As the victim continued denying that he was selling drugs, he was forced to swallow three bullets sprayed with urine. Two of them were vomited up, and one remained lodged in his intestine.
The men indicated that the police also threatened to shoot one of them in the head and that would, "finish off this problem."
Due to the fact that they still refused to confess that they were selling drugs, police officer José Luis González Hernández took a wood baseball bat and pushed it into the anus of one victim to force him to "confess." Meanwhile the other man continued to be beaten by the other police officers.
As they still refused to confess to selling drugs, the two men were taken to a police station and put before a judge where they were charged with drinking alcoholic beverages in the street.
After being held for several hours, they were finally freed and went to the Chihuahua State Attorney General to file a complaint.
The medical examiner determined that one of the men had a bullet lodged in his intestine.
In addition, he found evidence of anal tearing, for which he immediately prepared an investigation report that was placed before a judge who issued an arrest warrant on November 17, 2012.
The three municipal police officers were arrested by police from Internal Affairs.
This morning, the three police officers appeared before an investigating judge and the Public Prosecutor read the charges.