Security forces increase violence in Mexico drug war

Mexican President Felipe Calderon's military crackdown on drug gangs has led to a dramatic increase in killings and abuses by the security forces, Human Rights Watch said in a report Wednesday. "Instead of reducing violence, Mexico's 'war on drugs' has resulted in a dramatic increase in killings, torture and other appalling abuses by security forces," said Jose Miguel Vivanco, Americas director at the US-based watchdog. "Neither Rights Nor Security," a 200-page report released in Mexico City, focused on five of the most violent states, claiming that security forces took part in over 170 cases of torture, 39 disappearances and 24 extrajudicial killings since Calderon took office in December 2006. The report, based on more than 200 interviews with victims and officials, public information requests and government statistics, concluded that "virtually none" of the alleged abuses were being adequately investigated. It criticized the use of military tribunals to try soldiers for rights abuses despite rulings by the Supreme Court and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights that they should be investigated in civilian courts. It also called on judges to refuse to accept evidence obtained through torture. Calderon agreed to set up a joint working group to analyze the report, after meeting with a delegation from Human Rights Watch, the presidency said in a statement. Calderon deployed some 50,000 troops, as well as police and navy forces, to take on organized crime gangs shortly after he took office in 2006. More than 45,000 deaths have been blamed on drug violence since then, while the report also cast doubt on Calderon's claims that 90 percent of those victims were criminals.