Mexican military court acquits 6 of 7 in army slayings
Mexican military court acquits 6 of 7 in army slayings
Updated 5:23 pm, Wednesday, March 30, 2016
MEXICO CITY (AP) Leading Mexican human rights groups announced Wednesday that a military court acquitted six of seven soldiers charged with breach of discipline in the 2014 killing of 22 suspects, including between 12 and 15 who allegedly were executed after they surrendered.
The announcement by Miguel Agustin Pro Juarez Human Rights Center and others is the latest step backward in accountability for alleged military killings and rights abuses in the country. The sentences were handed down in October but were not made public until now, after the rights groups obtained the documents.
Mexico's government is now less transparent about such confrontations than it was in June 2014, when an army patrol engaged in a brief firefight with the suspects. Most of the suspects surrendered and were then executed, according to witness accounts and a governmental investigation.
One soldier was wounded in what the army initially described as a shootout in the township of Tlatlaya.
Later, only one soldier was convicted by the military court on charges of failure to obey orders. He was sentenced to one year, time which he has already served.
More:
http://www.chron.com/news/crime/article/Mexican-military-court-acquits-6-of-7-in-army-7218124.php