Mexico rights watchdog finds brutal police tactics

MEXICO CITY - Mexican police brutally put down riots in a rebellious town outside Mexico City this month and sexually abused some two dozen women in the operation, a rights watchdog said today.

In a preliminary report, the National Human Rights Commission, an autonomous government body, said it found evidence that federal and state police used excessive force against hundreds of protesters when riots erupted in San Salvador de Atenco in early May.

More than 200 protesters were arrested, but criminal investigations are continuing and no officers have been charged. The commission looked into 211 cases and found evidence of rights abuses.

A 14-year-old boy was shot dead in the violence. Authorities are investigating whether the bullet was fired by police or protesters, and the rights commission did not issue an opinion. It still plans to make a final report.

"Yes, there were rights violations. This is impossible to deny," rights ombudsman Jose Luis Soberanes told a news conference.

Soberanes, like other Mexican and international rights leaders such as Human Rights Watch, said protesters broke the law in attacking police officers, but the authorities responded by using illegal force.

The commission said it found evidence that 23 women, including four foreigners, were sexually abused, subjected to sexual touching and possibly forced to have oral sex with police officers, said Susana Thalia Pedroza, a rights monitor for the commission.

State prosecutors are investigating the sex abuse complaints.

The clashes raised tension ahead of the July 2 presidential election, with periodic protests in the capital over the government's brutal response. The candidates have accused one another of exploiting the episode.

The violence exploded after police tried to evict unlicensed flower sellers from a market in a town that has seen unrest in the past and has for years resisted government authority.

Protesters threw Molotov cocktails at police and kidnapped several officers. The police responded by arresting 200 people, many of whom were beaten.

- REUTERS