Human-rights activists accused Mexico’s military and police Wednesday of engaging in widespread torture, including the use of cattle prods and waterboarding, in President Felipe Calderon’s U.S.- backed war against crime mafias and drug cartels.
In a highly critical report, the international group Human Rights Watch said it found credible evidence that “strongly suggests” the participation of Mexican security forces in more than 170 cases of torture, 39 “disappearances” and 24 extrajudicial killings in five Mexican states since Calderon began his military-led assault against the powerful crime syndicates in late 2006.
The group said Calderon’s deployment on the streets of 50,000 troops, alongside thousands of federal police, many schooled by U.S. trainers, has done little to reduce the soaring violence, which has left more 46,000 dead.
The report was presented to Calderon on Wednesday. According to a statement from the president’s office, Calderon repeated that criminals represent the main threat to human rights in Mexico.
