We recently posted about the Mexican military’s summary execution of 22 members of a drug gang in the Mexican state of Tylatlaya. Unlike the day-to-day kidnap, torture, rape and mutilation of civilians by American-armed Mexican military members, the massacre received international attention. President Obama himself murmured disapproval, assuring reporters that the Mexican government was looking into it (even as they worked to cover it up). Thanks to some brave AP reporting, the story had legs. And now the soldiers have been arrested. Justice? Don’t hold your breath. Here’s the update via borderlandbeat.com . . .
Proceso is reporting that a lieutenant and 24 enlisted men, involved in the slaughter of Tlatlaya, were booked into the prison of the Military Camp Number 1 this morning. Of what happened in Tlatlaya, State of Mexico, on the 30th June, has been handled by the government as a clash between soldiers and members of an organized crime group, however, testimonies of survivors, and evidence have defined it as an extrajudicial execution of 22 people who were reported dead.
On Monday, President Enrique Peña Nieto, visiting New York, told the Associated Press that the matter would be investigated by the Attorney General’s Office (PGR), which would be responsible for providing information on the progress of the investigation.
However, the soldiers who took part in the action were already arrested by members of the Federal Military Judicial Police, and taken to prison.
The charges against them so far, were disobedience and breach of military duties, contained in the Code of Military Justice. However, the action does not necessarily mean the case will proceed against them. There has been an influx of world attention on the killings, and international calls for justice, so the arrests could be a part of a show of “good intention”.
Yesterday two of the women previously deemed as kidnapping victims in the incident, were arrested. No further information was given, if in light of this new development if they are now released.
Mexico President Enrique Peña Nieto said “The attorney general is digging into the investigation and will be the agency responding to this issue,” Peña Nieto told The Associated Press after participating in an economic forum. He was in New York to attend the U.N. General Assembly meeting.
An AP reporter started to ask Peña Nieto for his reaction to two AP stories revealing doubts about the army’s version of the June 30 killings in southern rural Mexico, but he interrupted, saying, “I already know what your question is.” But did not add to his comment.
Sadly, it will be surprising if the public will ever know the true facts in the incident. There are several agencies involved that have already demonstrated they are not working together, nor share a common goal of attaining justice and truth.
Proceso-Fox-AP-Borderland Beat
Hey, if they were truly killing cartel drug gang members, good on ’em. Promote them. Bout time someone took it to them.
It’s still a lack of due process. Today they kill 20 actual gang members. Tomorrow they’ll kill another 20. Next week you’ll find out that one out of five was a civilian who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. There’s a reason why we have warrants, courts and juries of our peers.
@int19h, it is Mexico. There is no due process.
Maybe, but it doesn’t mean that there shouldn’t be. The whole point of having a state in the first place is having things like due process. If you don’t have that, it’s time to reboot the state.
The Mexicans need to reboot Mexico.
And yet, you’re applauding them.
@Johannes P, if the story is true and the military slayed a bunch of bad men, yep – I’m applauding that.
“if the story is true and the military slayed a bunch of bad men, yep – I’m applauding that.”
@El Mac, the whole point here is that we don’t know if they were bad men. That is what a justice system is for. Civilized people don’t condone the summary execution of captured suspects just because they might be criminals. This is not only an appalling breach of civil justice, it’s also an appalling breach of military code. If you can’t see the problem with that then you need to re-examine your personal ethics.
@Dyspeptic, in the face of a government that is corrupt, bought and paid for by the cartels, in the face of tens of thousands murdered every year, I could care less if these savages were slaughtered by a group of military dudes that were equally sick of it.
At any rate, it’s Mexico. Not the US.
@Dyspeptic in Mexico the Cartels own the judicial system. If the troopers turned the gang members of the court system, they’d be free in a day and back to take revenge on the soldiers anyway.
At this point, it is truly a war, not a legal matter anymore. If you take my meaning.
Now that’s an example of real militarised police.
The only good dirt bag is a dead one. But Mexico serves as a warning to The United States. We have the luxury of a justice system which operates on the basis of right and wrong. Mexico, sadly, is so awash in the drug money from us that right and wrong have been completely replaced by wealth and influence. Note that “Borderbeat” is published in Arizona. Ciudad Juarez’ “El Diarario” is published here in El Paso, the employees being forced to move to The U.S. for safety when The Mexican Army was patrolling Ciudad Juarez which was averaging >8 murders per day, while El Paso had 7 per YEAR!
Sadly there was never justice in Mexico. This is the legacy of the Conquistador and even the God Kings who slaughtered tens of thousands to appease their pagan gods. The blood letting hasn’t stopped. In my opinion the only way to stop this is to roll our military south and annex Mexico and Central America. Rather than forcing hundreds of thousands to flee north we will move the border south and wipe out the drug dealing vermin along the way.
Some actually wanted to do just that during the Mexican-American War (when it became clear that it was won, and the country could be taken if desired). The main reason why it didn’t happen is that the majority didn’t see Mexicans as “white enough” and was fearful of their influence on the political system if they would all suddenly become citizens.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_of_Mexico_Movement
They must have been transporting Barry’s choom shipment…
How about giving us back our Marine you have in prison and we will forget about the whole thing.
+1,000
Who’s to say that the 22 guys who were executed were cartel guys? Do you actually believe anything that the Mexican government says about anything? If you do, you’re not as smart as I thought you might be. Or should be.
That’s always my issue with the news coming out of Mexico. Little can be trusted. It is a wilderness of mirrors…
It is not a struggle between the cartels and the Mexican Government,it is a struggle between cartels and the Mexican government officials they own against other cartels and the Mexican officials they own.
I think you hit the nail on the head. One set of employees, whacking another set of employees.
I don’t understand why this county doesn’t do more about Mexico. I think it’s a major issue. We never condemn them publicly. We should treat them as hostiles, not our border ally.
NAFTA.
Because Republicans need Mexico for cheap slave labor. Democrats need Mexico for votes and building up the FSA. The media is owned by left wing politicians. Mexico needs us for all the money that Mexicans send to Mexico. Mexicans need us in order to have somewhere to flee to. None of the above want to impede any of this with border security or anything too extreme in the media or congress. With this symbiotic relationship, you can expect that “solutions” will not be tolerated, and to not hear anything too negative. Ever.
@Burnout, yep.
Mexico is such a failed state. I see the people flooding over our border not so much as chasing the American dream but to get the hell away from the Mexican nightmare.
Just another example of how various elements of the Mexican military,
whether the Army, Navy, Marines, or elite units, like those who eventually defected and became Los Zetas,
are subject to the pressure of the narco-terrorists (“plato or plomo”),
and become corrupt, and active participants in the drug smuggling process.
Same with the police, local, state or Federales/Justiciales. They are simply in competition with one another for a piece of the take, as gangs themselves, or allied to the narcos, more often than not.
http://www.cfr.org/mexico/mexicos-drug-war/p13689
And it is spreading across the border, too.
http://drugwarfacts.org/cms/Corruption
I defer to real LEOs here with experience, to comment further.
War on Drugs, failing and making everything worse since ever.
Amen. Idiotic drug laws granting massive “money fountain” franchises to criminal empires. When the criminals have more money and power than the government itself, predictable results follow. Libertarian approach to this is needed. If the US govt put a tenth of this drug war money into drug education, free rehab etc. we could slow this epidemic.
@sharpdoc, Yeah, that’ll work.
Juaquin “El Chapo Guzman and Fortune 500. The overwhelming desire for the average Mexican to improve his condition.
Hillary Clinton, the State Department and Fast & Furious, and the desire to bandaid the violence on the border and later claim accomplishment.
Hamas & international banking and the use of narco-terrorism to raise money for jihad.
China & the production / sale of pre-cursers to Mexico in exchange for natural resources.
The American appetite for illicit drugs for their excessive dibauchery.
Do any of you think that anyone really wants this to end or even cares the slightest bit about cause and effect???
This is the result of your “war on drugs” drug warriors.
And this is the result of the US trying to “help” the Mexican government, which should have stopped a long time ago.
The silence about fast and furious ,as well as arming the Mexican government, which is one and the same with the cartels technically, is deafening.
I’ve read about scores of government-sponsored massacres in places like Mexico, Guatemala, Sri Lanka, Chechnya and now (possibly) Ukraine and if the pattern holds there isn’t likely to be any justice for the victims. However, it may spur more acts of violence in revenge by anti-government militants.
Hate to say it, but maybe if the Mexican Gov could round up the Cartels and put them in a pen, this wouldn’t be necessary. Maybe the Cartels need to have fear for a change.
“Unlike the day-to-day kidnap, torture, rape and mutilation of civilians by American-armed Mexican military members, ”
Can someone source this please?
TIA.
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